Winter Colour

For the Winter 2008 edition of The Mulch, I took photographs of nine different plants providing splashes of colour in my garden in late November. I thought this was fairly impressive until I visited the Smith’s garden in Bassett, Southampton. On December 15th 2008, I counted more than 25 plants providing some colour interest in their garden, and not including some others which were about to flower (Sarcococca, Hamamelis) and those with colourful berries (Myrtle, Holly, Daphne). Here’s a selection from my visit:

Clockwise spiral from top left image: Rosa Graham Thomas; Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’; Schizostylis Coccinea ‘Pink Princess’; Penstemon ‘Rich Ruby’; Coreopsis sp.; Tagetes sp.; Abelia grandiflora; Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’; Lavandula sp.; Fuchsia ‘Genie’; Solanum jasminoides ‘Alba’; Cotinus coggygria ‘Grace’ leaves; Rosa ‘Alec’s Red’; Penstemon ‘Apple Blossom’; Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’; Felicia aethiopica; Chaenomeles japonica (Quince); Magnolia stellata ‘Waterlily’ buds; Viburnum Rhytidophyllum (Leatherleaf Viburnum); Betula utilis ‘Jacquemontii’ – bark.