Winter interest

Hello All
Please dont pelt me with rotten eggs for mentioning the "winter" word so soon. My feeble excuse is that I am new to gardening and need advice on what will create interest and colour through the winter months. So far in my new container only garden I have purchased two twisted hazels, the ones with the purple catkins, allegedly. I have a green Cordaline and an Acer thats about 2ft tall.
I am in Warrington Cheshire. At the minute its looks kind of ok as I have various bedding plants about but think it wil look realy bare come winter..oops I said it again. Maybe some pictures would have been easier.
Thanks in advance
Ange

 

If you want something that will give a bit of structural colour thorugh the winter it is worth having a look at some of the dogwoods - the bark on the stems comes in several colourse and can look very impressive.

 

Hi Tim
Thanks for the info. I just did a search on line to see what they looked like and they are stunning and hardy and suitable for beginners Great colours too. Your a star...... Only downside is the sound of creaking hinges on my purse.... again
Once again many thanks
Ange.

 

"Only downside is the sound of creaking hinges on my purse"

They root easily. We had hundreds at our previous place because you need to cut them back hard in the Spring, as its the new wood that has colour for the next winter, and we used the prunings as pea-sticks. Many of them rooted!

 

Thks Kristen
I will pop along to my local garden centre tomorrow and see if they have any. I am a tad brassed off with the prices they charge. Dont get me wrong Im not a miser. It would have thought that garden centres would have such great buying power that they would sell plants at a reasonable price. I purchased a hazel for £10.00 from my local garden centre. Quite by chance I saw the same plant in better condition on a market stall for a fiver. I did the typical female thing and bought it just because it was half the price so now i have two :o
I am really loving this gardening thing though. Its so rewarding. I happily sit outside rain or shine and plan.
Is it wrong to take pictures on my mobile and bore my work colleagues with them?

 

"Is it wrong to take pictures on my mobile and bore my work colleagues with them?"

Haven't you got a Garden Webcam they can watch? :D

 

Good call :thumb: Why didnt I think of that? Maybe I could launch it on the internet for ALL to see :rolleyes:

 

Ange, do you have a Wilkinsons near you ? They are a gardeners best friend.:D

 

Hi David. Yes I do I bought my Acer from them it was only £30.00 the same thing at my garden centre was £45.00. I wasnt sure if it was a healthy plant though as it was kept indoors, probably so they didnt get stolen. It looks a big leggy but what would I know. I would post a pic and get some fedback off this site but for some reason I cant upload any. I have checked the size and thats ok. Anyway I have bought other plants from Wilkinsons and they have been ok so fingers crossed.

 

Winter?!! DId you just say winter???? (throws a whole basket of rotten eggs and a few stones for good measure)

Lol, no it is a good question!

Some willows look very good in winter, and nothing roots easier than a willow, so if you can get cuttings, you are halfway there. Topiary box is the most lovely thing in winter but that will be either expensive or slow. I would not give it up though. There are fairly vigourous box varieties that will grow into decent sized shapes in a reasonable time. Or you can train small leaved ivy or hardy jasmine (rhyncospermumn) over wire shapes for a similar, but faster, effect.

Among perennials all hellebores are winter stars, and they can be raised from seed. Again it will take some time (three years from seed to bloom probably), but it´s worth the wait. You can have hundreds of plants for a couple of pounds. There are also some winter blooming shrubs. Hamamelis mollis, for example, not very showy but fragrant. Even winter flowering cherries. And don´t forget winter bulbs, like snowdrops.

 

Firstly OUCH!! did you boil those eggs?
Secondly plants come from seeds?????? Novice here. I intend to cheat for at least the next 20 yrs and buy them already weaned. Snowdrops sound lovely I hadnt considered bulbs at all. Right I need to go look up when to plant bulbs. Thanks so mulch.. oops much

 

Yup it really works. I am told that in nature there are no garden centers and they have to make do with seeds :D

Well then my suggestion is to buy smallish plants and make them grow... talking of hellebores they are for offer NOW, because they look a bit shabby in summer. so this is the moment to buy adult plants cheap if you are interested!

I didn´t boil the eggs, may have been a stone!

Kidding, welcome to the forum love the avatar!!!

 

They are my babies. They are house cats so not allowed out to dig in others gardens (wheres my halo) Thanks for the welcme Ivory I am loving GC its just packed with info and ideas. I have spent most of the day rummaging through threads. Well its been raining so I couldnt get in the garden, thats my excuse.

 

They look like norwegian cats, are they?

I also have two very adored cats, but they have the run of the garden. That is good: else we wd never eat any currant or strawberries, with all the birds that crowd around here, but the cats are very effective at scaring birds off. They kill a few, but not many, mostly they catch lots of mice.

 

Close..they are Main Coons
Chantall shes 4 going on 34 and Lilly Wing Nut.... no laughing at the name please as shes watching shes the baby at 15months old.