Plants for January

In January, weather permitting, we recommend you plant:

A deciduous upright shrub producing densely packed sweetly scented flowers in small bunches or clusters
The little flowers are tinged a rosy red colour and this plant will flower over a long period during the winter, depending on the weather and can start flowering as early as October.
The flowers are frost resistant and this makes an impressive medium to large size shrub for the garden on a cold winter’s day
It is tolerant of neutral to slightly acidic soils and will give the best flowers if positioned in good sunlight.
Due to its eventual size it is best positioned to the back of a border to allow it to flourish, without any pruning to keep it in check
The variety Viburnum Farreri can sometimes be found and may from time to time be described as Viburnum fragrans

Commonly known as the Chinese Witch Hazel, this deciduous shrub has striking unusual sweetly scented contorted flowers during December to March
The flowers are very resistant to cold weather and frosts and the flowers stay on the plant for a long period
It has striking autumn foliage normally in yellow hues
It will tolerate most positions quite happily in soils that have a neutral to alkaline ph
This is a medium to large shrub and needs good space to allow it to develop its rounded form without the need to prune
There are a number of really excellent varieties of this plant and it is always best to phone the Garden Centre each year to see which ones are currently popular

Very vigorous evergreen shrub ideally suited for North and East facing positions
This variety produces masses of very long silvery, grey-green catkins from January through into February
This is a good plant for seaside areas and is very tolerant of atmospheric pollution
It will thrive in a well-drained neutral to alkaline soils and makes a good background shrub in most gardens against a wall or fence
Occasionally the straight variety Garrya elliptica may be available but generally the form ‘James Roof’ is considered the better type

Commonly known as the ‘Christmas Box’ this small to medium sized evergreen shrub produces sweetly scented white flowers from December through to February
The glossy green foliage makes this a useful shrub for the border and will often produce dark near black berries after the flowers have finished
It is very tolerant of most soils and will thrive on chalky or alkaline soils
It will tolerate shade as well as more open positions in the garden and the fragrance is a real bonus in the depths of winter
Other varieties found at the Garden Centres from time to time include S. humilis, S.ruscifolia and S. confusa all have very similar habit and flowers but the colour of the berries and the size and shape of the foliage may vary

Commonly described as the ‘Winter Jasmine’ this yellow flowered wall or fence shrub has been a firm garden favourite for generations
The bright yellow flowers appear over a long period from November to February and are very hardy to winter frosts and cold.
The vigorous green upright stems are deciduous throughout the winter but the colour of the stems creates an evergreen look
This plant is often used on arbours or arches and requires only the minimum of maintenance
It will thrive on most soils and in most situations

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