Five Flowers to Grow for Colour in Winter
Winter gardens get written off as a grey stretch you just wait out, and they do not have to be. There is a handful of flowers that do their best work in the cold, and if you get them in before it turns properly you have got colour out there through the months when nothing else is doing much at all.
1. Calendula, Art Shades
Also called pot marigold, and it is the one I would start anybody on. Yellows and oranges, it flowers hard, and it is close to unkillable, which is a fair chunk of why it is worth growing.
Full sun and soil that drains. Sow it straight into the garden or into pots, it does not mind either. Up in 10 to 14 days. Keep the soil damp without letting it sit wet.
2. Pansy, Swiss Giants
The obvious winter pick and it earns it. Deep purples through to yellows and reds, and it takes frost without dropping its head, so it keeps flowering when a lot of things have given up.
Soil that drains, a decent bit of sun, and it actually prefers the cold to the heat. Seed or seedlings both work. Water regularly, but pansies do not want wet feet.
3. Alyssum, Pastel Carpet Mixed
Tiny flowers, low and spreading, and the smell is the reason to grow it. Good along a border, good spilling out of a pot or a hanging basket where you will walk past it.
Sunny spot suits it best though it will cope with part shade. Sow the seed thinly and only just cover it. Up in about 10 to 14 days. Keep the soil evenly damp.
4. Heartsease, Johnny Jump Up
A little wild-looking viola in purple, yellow and white, usually two or three of those on the one flower. Hardy, cheerful, and it will self seed around the place if you let it, which I do.
Well drained, sunny for preference, and it will take some shade. Sow thinly about 3mm deep where it is going to grow. Up in 15 to 21 days. Thin the seedlings to 15 to 20cm apart, then water and deadhead and it keeps going.
5. Snapdragon, Cheerio Mixed F2
The one that gives you height. Everything else on this list sits low, so a row of snapdragon spikes up the back changes how the whole bed reads. Cheerio Mixed runs soft pinks through to strong reds.
Sunny position, soil that drains, sow into pots or straight in the ground and keep it lightly damp. Up in 14 to 21 days. Keep deadheading and it keeps throwing new spikes.
Getting them going
The one thing that will undo all five of these is soil that stays wet. Winter rain plus a bed that does not drain means seed rots before it comes up, so if your patch holds water, get some compost through it first or grow these in pots where you can control it.
Come and have a look
The garden centre at the shop has the whole D.T. Brown flower rack along with the seed raising mix and the compost, so you can sort the lot in one trip. If you are not sure what will handle your spot, come and tell us where it faces and how much sun it gets and we will work it out from there.
Shop related products
- D.T Brown Calendula 150 seed pack. The easiest of the five to get going.
- D.T Brown Pansy Swiss Giants 150 seed pack. Takes frost and keeps flowering.
- D.T Brown Alyssum 750 seed pack. Borders, pots and hanging baskets.
- D.T Brown Heartsease 150 seed pack. Self seeds around if you let it.
- D.T Brown Snapdragon 500 seed pack. For height up the back of the bed.
- Brunnings Seed Raising Mix 5L. Fine enough for small flower seed.
The full seed rack is D.T. Brown, and there is more in the garden centre range.
Read next
- Seeds or Seedlings: Which Should You Start Your Garden With?
- What to Plant in Autumn in a South Australian Veggie Patch
- Preparing Your Garden Soil for a Winter Vegetable Garden
My alyssum has escaped the border and is now growing in the gravel, and I have decided that counts as a design choice.
Cheers,
Candeece
