This is supposed to be the time of year when we put our feet up and enjoy the view of the garden at rest. But there is nothing quiet about the colour and texture that's on offer come the final months of the year. Foliage, stems, berries and seedheads provide the height of the dazzle, while autumn crocus and snowdrops in turn, make ground level glow. I talked with Åsa Gregers-Warg, Head Gardener at Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens in Elmstead Market, who remembers how the structure of the garden in autumn and winter stood out for her when she arrived in the UK from Sweden in 2001. Åsa and I compared notes on the visual offerings of plants, such as Rhus typhina ‘Dissecta’ (sumach), with its foliage that seems to drip with colour in autumn in the Reservoir Garden, and the massive, iconic Eucalyptus dalrympleana in the Gravel Garden, which provides silver-white, tactile bark and aromatic grey foliage. Both are strong players in nature's seasonal drama each year.

The iconic eucalyptus dalrympleana, with its aromatic grey foliage, in Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden.The iconic eucalyptus dalrympleana, with its aromatic grey foliage, in Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden. (Image: Supplied) At the edge of the Water Garden, the mature Taxodium distichum provides a firework display in November as its foliage turns from green to burnt-orange before it falls. In winter the edges of its branches are sometimes a framework for harsh air frosts. There is a similar foliage display from the golden larch, Pseudolarix amabilis, that grows near to Beth’s former home. Here its falling leaves also provides a ground-level carpet.

It is wonderful to have plants that offer good strong colour in their evergreen foliage, but it is equally pleasing at this time of year to enjoy the bark and stems of plants, such as the twisted willow, Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa'. Its slightly yellow-to-rusty-orange twisted stems, make a wonderful statement against a clear, blue sky in winter. At the Beth Chatto Gardens Salix alba subsp. vitellina ‘Britzensis’ is pollarded, and the heads of massed stem wands near the first garden pond make similar dramatic statements against a blue sky in winter.

It is in winter that the silver stems of the thorny Rubus cockburnianus offer their ghostly reflections near to the back of the first of the garden ponds in the Water Garden at the Beth Chatto Gardens. The water doubles the effect of these twisted leafless stems.

Salix alba subsp. vitellina 'Britzensis' and Cornus sanguinea 'Anny Winter Orange' make dramatic statements.Salix alba subsp. vitellina 'Britzensis' and Cornus sanguinea 'Anny Winter Orange' make dramatic statements. (Image: Barbara Segall) Barbara's choices for winter gardens

I love birches with their slender papery white stems at this time of year. I particularly like Betula jacquemontii,, which you can find with multiple stems. It is hard to go by the tree without peeling off some of its papery bark to reveal the whiter bark beneath. At the Beth Chatto Gardens Betula pendula ‘Dalecarlica’ holds court near the front door of Beth’s former home.

Cornus 'Midwinter Fire' certainly lives up to its name.Cornus 'Midwinter Fire' certainly lives up to its name. (Image: Leanne Crozier) Dogwoods, with red or lime-green stems are useful too, as they can be cut back or stooled, so that they make long and colourful wands to enjoy in winter. In particular, Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ is one that will literally fire up the garden. At the Beth Chatto Gardens, ‘Midwinter Fire’ and Cornus sanguinea ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’, with the brightest orange stems, glow through the winter near the garden ponds. ‘Midwinter Fire’ also lights up the edge of the Woodland Garden.

In my own garden I make a special point of planting winter-flowering plants or evergreens that delight me in this low-key season. I place them so that I could get the maximum impact and see it from various windows in the house. Holly and ivy are my first choices for the season's greetings. The two plants are entwined in our minds in festive carols and cards, but for me they are particularly significant, as my book, The Holly and the Ivy: A Celebration of Christmas, drew attention to the wide range of colour and shape in the foliage of these plants, as well as in the berry colour in the case of holly. For me there is nothing lovelier than a gleaming holly hedge, or a golden-edged holly specimen in the garden. One of the best is ‘Golden King’ (which is actually a female plant). It has golden-edged leaves and bright red berries. Also good for berries is 'Madame Briot'. For its unusual tooth-edged, oval leaves and clusters of matt red berries I grow Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’. Ivy, too, has many foliage shapes and colours, such as Hedera helix 'Buttercup', which burns with a special glow in winter, and the very oldest species of ivy, poet's ivy has bosses of golden berries, that the birds leave until last. Also worth trying is an ivy called 'Goldheart' which seems to take on a purple hue in very cold weather.

Unusual Ilex x koehneana 'Chestnut Leaf', with its spiky leaves and abundance of berries.Unusual Ilex x koehneana 'Chestnut Leaf', with its spiky leaves and abundance of berries. (Image: Barbara Segall) If you want berries but no prickles use Cotoneaster cornubia, which produces bright red berries in abundance on arching light stems. It grows to form a shrub-like tree. In summer it produces small clusters of not-very-special flowers, but it makes up for it in autumn and winter.

There are many other plants that offer their charms on dull days. The shrub Garrya elliptica, with its grey pendulous tassles is a star plant for a difficult site, such as a north-facing wall. Climbers that flower in winter are prime candidates. The small-flowered clematis, Clematis cirrhosa, which flowers from September to March, with its bell-like flowers that seem to be filled with a brush-like collection of stamens, is a good choice. 'Freckles' has red freckle-like markings on the inside of the petals, while 'Wisley Cream' is cream with no markings on the petals.

Another choice climber or scrambling plant that offers bright flowers is the winter-flowering jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum. It needs the support of a wall or trellis to hold its arching stems, but it puts on such a strong show that it can be forgiven its untidy sprawling habit. Prune it in spring, so that it keeps sending out new flowering shoots for the winter.

Shrubs offer so much in the winter garden. For heady perfume, bright flowers and whorls of dark green foliage, Mahonia 'Charity', also known as the Oregon grape, since the flowers are followed by purple, grape-like fruits, is an indestructible choice.

Another golden-foliage charmer is Elaeagnus pungens 'Maculata'. Its green and gold foliage is evergreen, so it makes a bold and bright show all through the winter and in late autumn and winter, its perfume seems to float in the air, held in places as if by autumn cobwebs.

Euonymus 'Red Wine' brings a glow to the winter garden.Euonymus 'Red Wine' brings a glow to the winter garden. (Image: Barbara Segall) At the Beth Chatto Gardens, Euonymus carnosus ‘Red Wine’ provides a striking foliage show before offering its fruit in colourful pink and yellow.

Flowers on bare stems are welcome in my garden. Witch hazels are among my first choice. They carry their fizzing firework-like flowers on bare stems through the winter, drawing you to look closely at their yellow or burnt-amber petals. Another tree that offers similar pyrotechnics is Cornus mas, a dogwood, that loses its fiery coloured leaves in winter and produces its tiny yellow flowers en masse on its bare stems in winter.

Galactites tomentosa Alba, with its veined and silvery leaves.Galactites tomentosa Alba, with its veined and silvery leaves. (Image: Barbara Segall) Probably my favourite small tree for this time of year, is the winter-flowering cherry, Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis', which starts its seasonal performance in late autumn, producing clusters of showy pale pink flowers that hang in the air, eventually falling to create its very own cherry blossom time in early spring.

Ornamental grasses and herbaceous plants with attractive seedheads are ‘must-haves’ in this seasonal context. In the Reservoir Garden at the Beth Chatto Garden Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ and many species of miscanthus offer strong lines which, when backlit by low autumnal sun, seem to double their beauty. In winter their flowerheads and stems are best left to shimmer in seasonal sunshine and possibly to trap frost if temperatures sink.

Phlomis russeliana, with its striking seedheads, shown here with the ornamental grass Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' in winter.Phlomis russeliana, with its striking seedheads, shown here with the ornamental grass Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' in winter. (Image: Barbara Segall) Phlomis russeliana is one of many perennials with seedheads that provide good colour, attract wildlife and look stunning in frosts, hear the Reservoir Garden at the Beth Chatto Gardens. Galactites tomentosa, with its spiny foliage, attractively veined silver, will also offer interest. Native to the Mediterranean region it thrives here in the free-draining soil of the Gravel Garden. A hardy annual or biennial, it produces tall thistle-like flowers in summer.

Bring colour to your borders with the Bergenia 'Abendglocken'.Bring colour to your borders with the Bergenia 'Abendglocken'. (Image: dm@lamaison.fsnet.co.uk) Then at ground level in my garden, there is a steady succession of bulbs in the borders, as well as in containers. Snowdrops, narcissus, crocus and tulip: there are so many to choose from. Also at ground level and making great foliage statements in apple green that change to burgundy red as the temperatures drop are a number of bergenias that will fire up the winter borders. At the Beth Chatto Gardens there are several to choose from , including ‘Abendglocken’, ‘Abendglut’, ‘Admiral’, ‘Eric Smith’, and ‘Irish Crimson’.

In autumn I plant containers packed with tulips to burst through in spring. While I wait for them, and to delight me through the winter, the surfaces of the pots are planted with winter-flowering pansies and violas in blues and yellow. You can sow your own pansies from May to July ready to plant out in autumn for winter flowering, but these wonderful plants are also readily available from garden centres in autumn ready to plant straight into the pots earmarked for them. They are available in a wide range of single colours or mixed colours, so you just have to decide on a colour scheme.

If you haven't already got some winter delights to look forward to in your own garden, make a trip to one of the many special winter gardens and see what can be done in the quiet season. Give yourself a treat and visit just after a frost and see an extra dimension. Buy the plants and plan for next year's winter garden.

READ MORE: Gardening gift books for green-fingered fans: Christmas 2024

Visual warmth at the coldest time of the year: Bergenia purpurascens Irish CrimsonVisual warmth at the coldest time of the year: Bergenia purpurascens Irish Crimson (Image: Barbara Segall) Winter gardens to visit

Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens
October 31 2024 - December 14 2024
Thursday to Saturday 10am to 4pm
bethchatto.co.uk/garden-nursery

RHS Hyde Hall
rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall

Marks Hall
September to March : open Tuesday – Sunday
Markshall.org.uk

Green Island Gardens
November, December and January: Tuesday – Saturday 10am - 4pm
Greenislandgardens.co.uk

Barbara Segall is a garden writer and author of several books, including The Holly and the Ivy, A Celebration of Christmas (£11.99, Ebury Press). She writes at thegardenpost.substack.com