Best winter shade plants
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Tuesday, 27 August 2019 at 9:06 am
Discover the best shade-loving plants to grow for winter flowers, scent, berries and evergreen foliage.
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A spectacular shady garden in winter relies upon the presence of plants with berries, seed heads, flowers, evergreen foliage or architectural beauty.
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For plants with bright, scented flowers, try growing witch hazel and mahonia, planted near a path where you can enjoy the fragrant blooms.
Hollies and skimmia are practically aglow with berries in winter, while winter aconites, snowdrops and cyclamen can be planted in large drifts to create a beautiful floriferous carpet.
More winter gardening advice:
- How to plant winter cabbages (video)
- How to protect plants over winter (video)
- Sow Japanese and Chinese salad leaves for winter (video)
Take a look at seven of our favourite winter shade plants, below.
Witch hazel
Yellow-flowered witch hazel
Hamamelis will happily grow in partial shade, where the bright, sweetly-scented flowers combine well with the bold stems of rubus, cornus and winter-flowering bulbs. Try growing Hamamelis 'Savill Starlight', for its lemon-sherbert coloured flowers.
Rubus biflorus
White-stemmed bramble
The white stems of this scrambling bramble, Rubus biflorus, look stunning in winter light. To enhance the effect, plant the low-growing black grass-like plant ophiopogon in the foreground. Hard-prune it each spring for the whitest winter stems.
Evergreen grasses
Variegated evergreen carex
Soft evergreen grasses like carex are ideal for brightening up dark areas of bare soil. Grow it in partial shade and try combining with the scorching hot stems of dogwoods like Cornus sanguinea and Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'.
Dogwood
Red-stemmed cornus in winter
Winter can be a bit drab, so brightly coloured plants are invaluable, especially in shade. Dogwoods (in the genus Cornus) do this job admirably and will enjoy growing in partial shade. Just be sure to prune them hard in spring to encourage vibrant, new stems to grow. Cornus alba 'Sibirica' has beautiful red stems.
Hellebores
Hellebore flowers
Hellebores are among the first plants to flower in the year, so they're perfect for cheering up gloomy, shady areas in winter. They're also perfectly at home in partial shade, and are generally healthy and robust plants.
Evergreen ferns
Evergreen asplenium fern
If it's evergreen foliage that you seek, then look no further than ferns. Generally trouble-free, there are many beautiful types to grow, including the glossy hart's tongue fern, common polypody as a ground cover or the leathery-leaved hard fern.
Holly
Holly foliage and berries
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Not only can holly be used to create attractive Christmas decorations, but birds will thank you for the berried rewards, too. It's happy in full shade, but bear in mind that only females will produce berries, and you'll need a male plant nearby for this to happen.
Ornamental grasses in winter
Don't cut back deciduous ornamental grasses in autumn - their buff colour and striking forms look beautiful during the winter months. Cut them back in early spring when new green shoots appear at the base.
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