The Winter White Garden

Early Winter can be such a dull and dreary time in the garden, it can easily be dismissed as a season that is not worth planning and planting the garden for.

This is such an unfair thought, the early winter can be such a beautiful time in the garden, a start of a new albeit crisp season, that should be celebrated in the garden.

After the creation of my handmade foliage & white floral's wreath that I had made for a friend, I thought it would be fun to write up an inspirational list of garden plants that can make YOUR early winter garden look elegant, classy and something to be proud of.

After all, early winter is the beginning of such a fun and vibrant season, why should your garden miss out on all the fun?

Beginning with a fantastic garden performer whose blooming longevity never disappoints:

Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllian'

Above Viburnum used in my wreath alongside Euonymus & Abies nordmandii

Viburnum tinus is a wonderful evergreen shrub, giving the garden a fantastic base to work from for 12 months of the year.
For the autumn & the winter beautiful elegant clusters of creamy-pink buds adorn this lovely vibrant green shrub. These bursting buds open out into very cute, tiny star-shaped flowers that look so elegant & pure. Sometimes, if Viburnum tinus is happy where she is, you will also enjoy the striking navy-black shiny ornamental berry clusters that follow the stunning blooms.
These ornamental berries add another colour contrast to this wonderful evergreen shrub, whilst adding depth, the berries also give an extension to the seasonal interest this gorgeous shrub provides.

In the spring & summer months, the vibrant & fresh green foliage creates a lovely backdrop for herbaceous plants & flowering seasonal perennials. The green base of the foliage allows the colours of flowering perennials to really pop & come into their own.

Above, Viburnum tinus freshly cut for flowering arranging

Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllian' is not only wonderful in the garden, but a fantastic addition to your cutting garden!

The pretty almost tear-drop shaped vibrant green foliage is just ideal for using as a back drop or filler foliage within floral arrangements for the home. 

When in flower, I like to cut long stems of the foliage embellished with these stunningly white elegant blooms. I then, simply strip off some of the lower foliage making the lower stems bare and ready to arrange straight into a glass vase with a touch of water.

I have actually just used this lovely shrub for its flowers in a wreath that had I made for a friend, for my full DIY & gallery of this striking wreath please click the link at the end of this blog.

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Euonymus japonica 'Bravo'

12 months worth of colour!

And elegant bit of colour at that...

This cultivar of Euonymus has beautiful oval shaped leaves that cover white-green stems standing proudly above the ground. These lovely ovate leaves have a deep green centre which are tipped and surrounded with white tones creating a light, fresh and elegant colouring of foliage.

Another fantastic garden performer which keeps its foliage colour & leaves throughout 12 months of the year. Not only does this evergreen wonder-shrub looks beautiful, but it also acts as an ideal habitat for wildlife. If let to grow & bush out well, with its closed and compact foliage Euonymus j 'Bravo' provides a nice little hiding place for small birds or small mammals along with other insects & wildlife throughout the year.

Euonymus j 'Bravo' looking fresh 'n' frosty, adding winter charm to my garden

'Bravo' makes for a great patio shrub and will grow happily in a large container on a sunny or even part shaded patio, terrace, front garden or balcony garden.

Of course, you can also plant this beauty in your garden borders, the front-middle of your border is best as a guide for position. 

With it's striking light & silvery foliage, 'Bravo' lends itself to not only the elegance of the white garden, but also works as a fantastic contrasting colour when planted next to deep purples such as Heuchera 'Palace Purple' or the darkness of Ophiopogn planiscapus, the black ornamental grass.

Euonymus j 'Bravo' pre-cut before using in my wreath for Christmas 

Euonymus j 'Bravo' is again not only a beauty in the garden, but can be used in flower arrangements & mini posies too! 

I cut little tips of this beautiful foliage, bundled up & wired together before wiring into my lovely winter wreath, the effect of 'Bravo's' stunning foliage colour was fabulous against the silvery Abies nordmanniana.

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Winter white-flowering Heather

AKA Erica carnea 'Springwood White'

I love Heather, all Heather, any colour, any time of flowering.. I just LOVE Heather!

This white flowering variety looks so pretty, adding a lovely charm & pure feel to my garden during the early winter season. 

The dark green, needle-like foliage adds depth, really off-setting the gorgeous & bright tiny closed-bell shaped blooms that cover each stem proudly sitting above the ground.

Super pretty Heather blooms running from the base to the tip of each stem

Heather is a great ground cover plant in the sense that it is low in height and has a relatively tidy form, planted in groups it gives a sturdy covering. Lovely for the front of a border too, however I will suggest that they do need to be topped up with an acid-loving-plant feed (such as Miracle Grow Ericaceous Plant Food) to keep them looking fresh & vibrant.

Heather is also a lovely plant for the container garden, even if you only have a small space such as a balcony or windowsill, these little beauties are a winner when it comes to flower longevity & seasonal garden colour.

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Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus

Now this could be classed as controversial as the Snowberry can be known to take over a little bit in the garden, IF and ONLY IF left unattended.

Snowberry is a fantastic shrub, ideal for hedging or filling in a shaded gap in the garden due to its tough nature (and its suckering roots). The ornamental bright white berries look so striking from late autumn and well into mid winter, adding a lovely festive kind of seasonal interest into the garden.

Snowberry bunched up for my wreath creation

As well as looking so pretty, these snowy white ornamental berries provide food for the winter wildlife in the garden. In the summer, when this shrub is full of vibrant ovate shaped leaves, wildlife can create habitats within the bushy parts of this plant too.

Snowberry is a deciduous plant, in the autumn its lovely foliage will fall, leaving just the ornamental berries hanging from the light brown, naked stems. 

Clusters of white Snowberry's ready to use in my wreath

So there you are my lovely readers & followers, a few little plant ideas to make your early-mid winter (and autumn!) garden really shine.

If you'd like to see how I used all these lovely plants in my festive winter wreath, be sure to click on the below:
Fresh Foliage Wreath DIY Blog

I hope this little plant blog helps to inspire you to enhance your garden for the early-mid winter.
A garden doesn't only have to look good in the spring & summer, make it look fabulous throughout the whole year!

Happy Gardening

Lottie x