Cold play

FROM SHOWY YELLOW TO POPS OF FUCHSIA AND PURPLE, COOL-SEASON BLOOMERS STRIKE A HAPPY NOTE

At this time of year your garden can look and feel a little ho-hum. Rather than wait for spring to bring the bling, beat the winter blues with pots of colour and plant-now species to brighten beds and borders.

The strappy leaves and bright flowers of clivia – available in yellow, orange and cream – make it a spectacular winter-flowering bloom for your patch

With varieties ranging from small to medium shrubs and larger trees, the late-winter flowering rhododendron is a great choice for cool-season colour

Get down low

For small and low growers, horticulturist

Angie Thomas of Yates recommends a mix of perennials and annuals.

“Winter-flowering annuals like pansies, violas and primulas are perfect for dotting around the garden,” she says. “Plant them in drifts in garden beds or mass plant in pots for splashes of seasonal colour.” A coloured mediumsized pot full of pansies is a welcoming sight by the front or back door.

When choosing perennials, the options are abundant, and not limited to florals. “Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) has year-round purple-green leaves and is a wonderful groundcover in dappled shade,” says Angie.

“Similarly, Alternanthera ‘Little Ruby’ has rich burgundy leaves that pop throughout the year.”

Two timeless winter blooms are hellebores and clivias. “They’re both tough, flower profusely and are ideal for shaded areas,” says Angie. And to get a head start on scent, early flowering lavender varieties, such as ‘Winter Lace’ and ‘Violet Lace’, provide florals and fragrance and grow best in full sun.

If you want natives, horticulturist

Bryce Hillig of Local Green Bean (@local_green_bean) has a few go-to favourites. “Pigface (Carpobrotus) and Grevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’ are attractive groundcovers, with interesting foliage and colourful flowers,” he says. They’re great for rockeries or steep embankments. Dwarf banksias, including Banksia ‘Birthday Candles’ and Banksia

‘Honey Pots’ are superb choices, too.

A mixed bed of hellebores, polyanthus and groundcovers brings stunning pops of colour to a tired winter landscape

Find middle ground

A classic cool-climate winter-flowering shrub is daphne, much loved for its waxy white-pink flowers and exquisite perfume, says Angie. “A position in dappled shade with moist well-drained soil will keep it happy.” For a daphne tolerant of warmer climes, try Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’.

Foliage candidates include hostas, brunneras and purple-leafed loropetalums. Hostas and brunneras have striking coloured foliage and are ideal mass planted in low-light areas. “Cordylines are also great and come in a range of colours, including purple, red and mottled patterns,” says Angie.

A standout native is Acacia cognata ‘Limelight’, with its graceful weeping lime-green foliage. It’s also available in a grafted standard form, elevating it to 1.8 metres. One plant in a rustic or modern pot is a statement piece.

For colour and fragrance, Bryce recommends the native wax flower Philotheca myoporoides. “It has dense evergreen foliage with pink or white star-shaped flowers in winter,

Shop

adding a burst of colour and perfume to the garden,” he says. “My favourite part is crushing the leaves to release the green-apple scent.”

Hit the high notes

“Japonica camellias are winter floral stars,” says Angie. “Large varieties can grow up to four metres tall with single or double flowers in pinks, reds, cream and white.” Camellias can be grown as a hedge or as feature plantings.

For an impressive display of colour, it’s hard to go past the orange trumpet vine (Pyrostegia venusta). “This fastgrowing climber is covered with bright orange tubular flowers in winter and will easily clamber over fences, pergolas and walls in sunny spots,” says Angie.

Wattles are traditionally late-winter bloomers with golden flowers. “There are lots of species and varieties,” says Angie. “Large wattles can be used as fast-growing screen trees.” The coast banksia (Banksia integrifolia) is another gorgeous native, says Bryce. “Its large, yellow flower spikes are highly attractive to nectar-feeding birds.”

1 Orange trumpet vine plant 2 Daphne ‘Spring Pink Eternal Fragrance’ plant

3 Coast banksia plant. 4 Tuscan Path 370mm half barrel wooden planter, $35.98, I/N: 2890296. 5 Acacia ‘Limelight’ plant. 6 Banksia ‘Birthday Candles’ plant 7 Tuscan Path ‘Harper’ 54cm egg pot in White, $133.10, I/N: 0252490.

8 Northcote Pottery 54cm studded pot in Green, $114.40, I/N: 2860804.

9 Lavender ‘Winter Lace’ plant. Some products are not available at all Bunnings stores, but may be ordered.

Primula japonica is ideal for dotting throughout flower beds: it comes in a variety of colours to suit different styles of garden, has attractive foliage and grows to about 45cm tall

Come Inside

Don’t let the garden have all the fun. Here are some wonderful plants that are set to take your interiors from blah to beautiful.

Moth orchid (Phalaenopsis spp)

The flowers range from large to miniature-sized and are available in various colours. Position in a warm, brightly lit spot out of direct sunlight and water as required. It will provide months of colour to enjoy indoors.

African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha)

Has velvety deep-green leaves and blooms in shades of pink, purple, red, yellow and white. Flowers may be single or bi-coloured and appear throughout the year. Keep in bright filtered light and liquid feed regularly.

Flamingo flower (Anthurium andreanum)

An easy-care indoor plant with heart-shaped glossy-green leaves and deep burgundy, pink or red flowers. The blooms appear at various times throughout the year and last for weeks. Prefers a bright spot and water when the potting mix is nearly dry.

Nerve plant (Fittonia verschaffeltii)

What the leaves lack in size, they make up for with intriguing shapes and colours. Foliage can be green, pink or red and patterned with distinct lacy venations, typically in contrasting colours. Position nerve plants in medium-to-bright light and water when the soil is nearly dry.

Calathea (Calathea and Goeppertia spp)

Calathea’s strikingly beautiful leaves may be variegated or patterned with brushstrokes, splashes, splotches and dots. Medium-to-bright light is best, and some species require humid conditions.