Winter Flowering Garden Plants


Winter flowering garden plants can create a wonderful array of colour during the dismal months of winter. With little sun and shorter days, most plant growth slows down to a dormant crawl. Deciduous trees look barren and gangly, roses and other summer flowers have long since disappeared and the garden looks empty and colourless.
Following is a list of winter flowering garden plants that can bring your dreary garden back to life, creating an optimistic landscape, a winter bright spot with an endless array of colour. Let's start with the world's number one flowering winter garden plant, the pansy.
Pansies: The world's foremost favourite flowering annual, the pansy has an enormous array of colours and colour combinations. Pansies grow and flower readily in cooler conditions and with correct positioning can flower all year round. A must have annual in any garden anytime, especially through drab winters.
Kale: Renowned for its ornamental foliage, kale is actually a variety of cabbage. With stunning colour displays in pink, brown and purple, the colours deepen and change as the temperature drops.
Viola: Similar to pansies but with smaller flowers, these fragrant little beauties flower abundantly throughout early autumn to late spring. Their masses of flowers in endless colours are a wonderful sight in any garden.
Primula: These slender plants usually grow on a long stem surrounded with either small pink, white, or mauve flowers. Easy to grow and able to withstand climatic fluctuations, primula add a touch of elegance and a cottage garden feel to any array of winter flowering garden beds.
Polyanthus: Low growing and compact, the polyanthus has small but striking groups of flowers which grow from the center of a leafy plant. Polyanthus enjoy cooler conditions, enduring cold days even better than the loyal pansy. They are available in many colours.
Cineraria: A stunning, compact mass of flower and foliage. The cineraria is a shade loving winter annual which proudly displays flowers from winter to late spring. Available in many colours.
Begonias: Another quick growing and winter loving plant is the Gypsy begonia. Small and compact, this shade loving plant can actually grow and flower anytime of the year. vailable in both green and brown foliage with pink, red or white flowers, the begonia requires little water and little care.
While many more flowering annuals are available to bring winter colour to an otherwise dreary garden, the above list is simply 7 of the most popular varieties and easily the most attractive. Preparing and planting up your winter flowering garden plants can begin as soon as summer is nearing its end.
With the waning of the hot, dry Melbourne summers, watering is less intense with winter flowering annuals. Keeping the ground moist and some liquid fertilizer at fortnightly intervals is all it takes to get your winter flowering garden plants looking their best.


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