These beautiful florals will brighten up the colder months, says Katie Wright.
With the introduction of new lockdown rules looking likely for many of us, and restrictions already in place for some, there are plenty of reasons to feel pessimistic about the months ahead – especially as we inch ever closer to the clocks going back and dreary, dark days become more frequent.
One way to cheer up the chillier months? Buying plants and sowing seeds now that will flower during winter. Whether you’re lucky enough to have a garden, or you’re restricted to pot plants on a windowsill, there are plenty of easy-to-grow options that will deliver an abundance of colour later down the line.
Here are five winter-flowering plants to sow now…
1. Winter flowering pansies
Flowering from autumn until mid-spring, winter flowering pansies are bright and hardy, making them ideal for beginners, and can be grown in flower beds or pots. Fill a window box with yellow, purple or pink pansies to enjoy a daily splash of colour throughout winter.
2. Cyclamen
With delicate flowers in shades of pink, red and white alongside dark green leaves, cyclamen are very pretty perennials and they’ll start to flower from early winter. In the garden, they’re ideal for positioning at the base of small trees and shrubs, but they can also be grown in pots – and make for a great display either side of your front door.
3. Crocuses
Perfect for planting in pots, crocus bulbs can be sown up until the end of November, and will bloom from February onwards, their purple, yellow or white petals poking up through the soil. Many consider them the first sign that spring is beginning to wake up the earth. Alternatively, plant them throughout your lawn to create a beautiful meadow towards the end of winter.
4. Winter clematis
There’s a clematis for every season: cirrhosa is a winter-flowering variety with cream and maroon speckled petals. The climbing plant is ideal for covering a shed wall or trellis, and will bloom from November to February.
5. Christmas rose
Dreaming of a white Christmas? We can’t promise a flurry of snowflakes, but with the Christmas rose or helleborus niger you can have snowy white flowers during the festive season – if you’re lucky. This hellebore variety usually flowers from January onwards, but can bloom as early as December.