The garden does not have to be dead in winter; there are many plant species that have a particular ornamental interest in this season.
This can result in unexpected blooms, or aesthetic forms or structures.
Plants in flower in winter
Daphne
Daphne are shrubs with an upright or creeping habit and very interesting winter blooms.
- Daphne odora 'Variegata' is a shrub of 1 meter to 1,20 m high at adulthood, which is covered with flowers grouped in pinkish white umbels in this season (February) and which offer an extraordinary perfume which will embalm all the garden. Its green foliage largely bordered of white is persistent.
- Daphne mezereum (Bois-joli or bois-gentil), is a shrub of about 1.20 m with very fragrant pink-purple flowers which appear on the wood from February to April.
Camellias
The shiny evergreen foliage and long blooming period of camellias make them a must-have shrub in winter.
- Madame Lourmand' is a camellia with large, pure white single flowers and yellow stamens;
- Freedom Bell' is a very floriferous camellia (December/May), with double orange-red flowers;
- 'Noblissima' is one of the first camellias to bloom (November to February). Its double flowers are white with slight yellow reflections.
Note: white camellias are very beautiful but also fragile; as soon as it rains, the flowers tend to turn yellow.
Mimosas: trees with yellow pompon flowers, emblematic of the French Riviera, can also be grown in colder regions (hardiness around -10°C depending on the variety and growing conditions) but also in pots on the terrace.
Trees with aesthetic shapes
- The weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Pendula'): its astonishing silhouette is revealed in winter; the branches can sometimes bend to the ground.
- The paper bush (Edgeworthia chrysantha): it is a shrub of 1,50 meter high with a very graphic port, with a very dense interlacing of branches, but also with small white perfumed flowers which appear in winter, directly on the naked wood.
