Winter Plants
Winter is the season when you get some of the best fruits and flowers in the market, yes many plants flower in the winter months. Growing winter plants is an interesting subject and before you start planting all your winter plants you must be sure of how to and when to plant them.
The southern table lands of NSW have an altitude of over a 1000 metres and the plants that are grown here have to sustain long winters with temperatures falling below 0 degrees.
Some winter plants grown in NSW:
The Spindle Berry (Euonymus europaeus)- the wood of this plant was used in making spindles and grows only five feet in height. The colours of this plant in autumn are so vibrant red and orange that it attracts many birds who sprinkle the seeds all around the garden causing baby spindle berries to sprout all over.
Tibetan Cherry (Prunus serrula)- arough red bark which becomes more rich and redder as the tree grows, this will add a lovely colour to your garden
Viburnum davidiiis – a plant with glossy green leaves that bear blue berries if a male and female are planted together.
Aspens (Populus tremula)- this plant will propagate through out your garden, filling the entire garden with saplings. The bark is nice and grey in the winter and turns a catkin brown by spring. The leaves are clear brown with a grey under surface making them look amazing in the breeze.
Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea)- this is different from the garden hydrangea. The plant gets flowerheads in summer and these last till the end of winter.
Hellebores – these are planted below trees that become bare in winter so that the white flowers of the hellebores stand out.
Winter is an amazing season when all the plants either become bare or flower, you must select a combination of correct winter plants so that the garden looks full and colourfull through out the year. So be sure to know which plant flowers and fruits in which season before you plant your winter plants.