Blue-stem willow
The common name of Salix irrorata may be a slight bending of the truth (imagine glaucous grey instead, possibly lavender blue in the right light) but this robust species is far happier in damp, troublesome soil than many other shrubs. The stems are initially deep red, before developing their grey bloom as winter arrives, and later that season they’re joined by showy catkins that start out the fluffiest grey, then become dusted with yellow pollen as they mature.
Stem colour is best in full sun, and catkins are most prolific on new wood, so hard-prune each spring. A similar effect can be achieved with white-stemmed bramble (Rubus cockburnianus) if you prefer arching stems to upright ones.
Dogwood ‘Midwinter Fire’
An obvious choice, but I’ll take the hit because this shrub is simply stunning. Position this cornus anywhere but the front of a border, because it’s pretty dull in summer yet it makes a good foil for smaller deciduous shrubs or herbaceous perennials. Come winter, though, the vivid stems - golden yellow at the base and pink-orange at the tips - will shine out like a beacon. Best planted in groups for maximum glow – prune back hard just as the buds break in spring.
Stachyurus ‘Magpie’
Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
A scrambling deciduous shrub, you can easily add impact to shady walls by training this woodland dweller against them. Kept moist and cool at the roots with a thick mulch, the lanky stems lend themselves perfectly to fan training.
One used to grow against the staff entrance of the RHS Wisley laboratory building. Walking past it in summer was nice enough – I used to gaze at the teardrop-shaped leaves that were splashed on their margins with yellow, cream and white variegations. But come late winter, this shrub reveals its trump card: pendulous racemes of cream, bell-shaped flowers. It heightened my spirits before many a staff meeting. Fragrant winter hazel (Corylopsis glabrescens) is a good substitute if you’d prefer a free-standing shrub for shade, with the bonus of fragrant flowers, too.
Loropetalum chinense ‘Fire Dance’
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing more uplifting than the waft then sight of a witch hazel in full bloom, but this hamamelis relative is a refreshing change to the usual yellows and oranges. It bears hot pink spidery winter flowers among small evergreen leaves which have a dusky purple tone. It’s not fully hardy, so we grow ours in a pot (50:50 mix of John Innes No 3 and ericaceous compost) so it can be brought into a conservatory or cool greenhouse for winter. Keep the roots just moist during this time.
Rosa pteracantha
This vigorous species rose would be a fairly mundane garden addition (the white flowers are average) were it not for its oversized transparent red thorns. Site it at the back of a border or allow it to be freestanding in rough grassland – it can easily throw up shoots 10ft long. Removing a proportion of older stems completely in winter will ensure a succession of new, vigorous shoots – these have the showiest thorns.
Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’
Another classic. This evergreen shrub works well against sunny, sheltered walls (it’s prone to leaf scorch otherwise, which looks pretty ugly). It minds its own business for three quarters of the year, but come late autumn, tiny silver catkins emerge against the holly-like leaves. Slowly but surely they elongate – and by mid to late winter they’ve stretched to 20cm in length. This male variety has particularly long catkins.
Rosemary grevillea
Another great contender for the conservatory or greenhouse during winter, this mound-forming evergreen shrub (as the name implies) bears needle-like foliage – green on top and silver underneath.
The tubular spider-like flowers of Grevillea rosmarinifolia are rosy-red and appear in clustered bursts from midwinter right through till summer. Grow it in a pot of ericaceous compost so it can easily be moved outside during the warmer months – or popped aside when it’s having a rest from all that flowering.
Abeliophyllum distichum Roseum Group
Meet the forsythia’s less brazen cousin, the white forsythia (or, in this case, pale pink). It’s far more dainty than a yellow forsythia, too, producing lax shoots that can be wall-trained if you have the patience. Site it against a sunny backdrop to encourage wood to ripen (this improves winter hardiness). A frost would turn flowers brown, so the shelter of a sunny wall or fence helps keep cold at bay. Claims of fragrance are true, but only just in my experience. But the spidery winter and spring flowers more than make up for it.
Correa ‘Dusky Bells’
One more contender for the winter conservatory is the Australian fuchsia. This particular variety has deep, buff-pink bells as flowers. The gentle reflex makes them look a little like the dress you’d wear if attempting a ballroom waltz. The blooms can appear any time from October till March, so you get plenty of bang for your buck.
Keep these tender evergreens compact by occasionally pinching out any straggly shoots. In time you may need to insert a few canes to support larger plants, but generally growth is sturdy and woody unless low light or high temperatures cause it to stretch.
Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’
I tend to shy away from daphnes, having seen far too many samples brought to the RHS advisory desks that just look sickly. Their roots are fussy – soil can’t be too dry, too wet or too shallow, and roots mustn’t “cook” in full sun. Exposure to any of these scenarios knocks plants back considerably and recovery is slow.
Having said that, the Beth Chatto mantra “right plant, right place” is never more apt. This particular variegated daphne also graced a shady yet free-draining border of the Wisley laboratory, and when it was in full winter bloom I would find any excuse to walk across the courtyard from the advisory offices to the library, visitor reception, pathology lab or wherever just so that I could inhale the air. The variegation is an attractive addition, too.
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