The need to get some enjoyment from our gardens is more pronounced in winter.
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The glorious sunny days that follow cold frosty nights are much more conducive to spending time outside, but there are a number of plants that flower in winter and provide colour or scent to lure you into the garden.
Euryops virgineus is a hardy, fast growing, spreading shrub with attractive evergreen foliage that grows up to 1.5 metres tall.
In winter and early spring masses of bright golden yellow flowers are produced that are conspicuous from a long way off and which provide food for lots of insects.
Many Camellias are flowering now; some have enormous flowers, ranging from white through to pink and bright red.
Many Camellias are flowering now; some have enormous flowers, ranging from white through to pink and bright red.
Float fallen Camellia flowers in a decorative bowl of water for some extra colour indoors.
Cyclamens have brilliant colour and this is their natural flowering time.
Cyclamen coum has green or patterned, round or kidney-shaped leaves that typically appear in autumn, followed by small, bright flowers that poke up through the foliage in midwinter.
The hardy miniature cyclamen, C. hederifolium, naturalises beneath deciduous trees, tolerates cold winters and survives the drought of summer by being dormant then. Note that C hederifolium is quite different to the larger house plant variety, Cyclamen persicum.
Bergenia and Hellebores flower at this time of year and can add really bright cheery notes, especially when planted in groups.
The native creeper, Hardenbergia, is also flowering now and looks great climbing over an archway, up a tree or through a deciduous shrub, with its masses of white or purple flowers.
Take a look around your garden to see what is flowering and a source of food, especially for the small native birds.
Many of our native shrubs not only provide nectar in winter but also have dense foliage that provides good nesting sites for small birds.
Many of the wattles, Callistemons (bottlebrushes) and Grevilleas flower throughout winter; also some Banksias and Hakeas.
The Grevilleas provide great, safe nesting sites and some seem to flower endlessly through winter to the delight of the small native birds.
The next meeting of the Armidale Garden Club is on Thursday 28 August, at 7:00 pm in the Uniting Church Youth Club Hall.
Everyone is welcome and all COVID requirements will be adhered to.
