Grow more winter colour

Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: winter colour

- Anne Swithinbank

Q Having admired colourful winter borders at RHS gardens, I’d like to create more winter colour at home. How would this work on a smaller scale while retaining interest for the rest of the year? Yvonne Critchley, Doncaster, S. Yorks

A Winter walks and borders designed as special features are spectacular wonderlands full of colourful stems, winter-flowering heathers and fragrant blooms. Large gardens have the space to devote whole areas to plants that perform during the dark months, packing them in together for a vibrant display. This also works well on a smaller scale and, with careful planning, would not look plain at other times of the year.

You could devote a border or corner to a winter-flowering cherry, a stand of mahonias or a pink-flowered viburnum flanked by red or lime-green stemmed dogwoods, with undergrowths of marbled arums, hellebores, Daphne odora, winter aconites and snowdrops.