A very lovely Helleborus orientalis - just look at her speckles…

Goodness it’s a grey day today - again. And, if I’m honest I’ve been finding this second part of winter harder. January seems relentless and it’s several days now since we’ve seen any sun.

I’ve just lit my candle in an effort to lift my mood (which works) and am now sitting next to the Aga thinking about the plants that cheer me at this time of year. I’ve been enjoying quite a few of them, in my own garden, and as I move around over the last couple of days, so thought I’d share.

And before I do, a little tip - plant winter flowering plants where you’ll be sure to spot them - there’s no point in having them hidden at the bottom of your garden - unless you think it will inspire you to get out there, Make it easy. Keep them close to your front and back doors and where you’ll see them out of the window and you’re in for a daily treat.

If you don’t have a suitable bed consider making one - I did by my front door and its a joy all year, or use pots - i have a huge clump of white hellebores by my back door that I rescued from the bed that is now my veg patch. And they’re happy - oblivious seemingly to the fact that they are contained.

Hellebores, a group of plants that includes Helleborus niger (evergreen and fairly modest in it’s green flowers), Helleborus orientalis (a huge range of colours are available) and the common Christmas Rose are definitely having their moment right now as the buds open to show their pretty faces. Stop for a second to lift the modest little nodding head of any you see and you will be rewarded with smile inducing freckles - don’t those little dainty faces just make you happy?

Snowdrops are another accessible joy right now. Seeing their tiny leaves pushing pluckily through the ground, where there was nothing before, followed by pure little nodding white faces with green markings, is like a promise that spring is on its way and that all is ok - despite the grey sky. I’ve got a couple of good clumps in my garden near the stream and I’ve been visiting daily recently.

I’m not bothered about special varieties - I just enjoy the fact that they’re flowering - but there are hundreds of specials available - some of which change hands at great cost so you can become a collector if you fancy. Or, like me, just go with the simple forms and plant them in quantity where you’ll see them without trying too hard.

I’ve also got the sweetly scented and very pretty, when you look closely, witchhazel - Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’. Planted near my studio it has bright orange flowers on bare stems, creates a really lovely bowl shaped shrub under which you can plant snowdrops and other bulbs and is well worth having if you’ve got space - it will also work well in a pot. I’ve positioned mine so she is lit by the evening sun and the last time we saw sun she glowed…and I captured her.

Witchhazel - the lovely Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ glowing in the evening light.

As I drove through the next door village yesterday I spotted several, less obvious, winter flowering plants also doing their thing. Doesn’t the sight of a flower - however modest and seemingly insignificant, in late January, makes a difference to how you feel? It just lifts my heart somehow.

I went home, got my camera and turned right back, so I could share what I’d spotted with you. These plants are flowering right now and, if you add them to your garden, you could be enjoying them, and the promise they offer for years to come.

The first I spotted was Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’. She is a quite large, fairly inelegant, twiggy shrub but with the sweetest scented pink flowers on bare stems. Her leaves come in later. She is best used at the rear of a border or in a mixed hedge perhaps because she isn’t of much interest the rest of year. Her moment is now.

The very lovely scented Viburnum - the scent is always stronger in the evening.

Then I spotted Garrya elliptica (her common name is wavy leaf silk-tassel) again a large shrub, this time evergreen with wonderful deep green shiny leaves and the most beautiful long tassel catkins at this time of year. She is best planted next to a wall and she thrives in shade. Plant her against an ugly north or east facing wall that you want to cover and she will do the job beautifully. She doesn’t shout about her looks - she’s more modest than that - and she’s still very well worth having if you’ve got the right spot.

Clematis cirrhosis ‘Freckles’ was my next joy - she’s a large and spreading clematis covered in the sweetest little white bells with freckled insides which are followed by silky seedheads. She will clamber wherever you let her and winds back on herself to create a mass of stems - best planted at the base of a large boring shrub perhaps to add winter interest. Her leaves are evergreen but she doesn’t seem to have many once she’s a bit mature. She needs keeping in check as she is rampant so prune after the risk of frost has passed in mid to late spring. Very worthwhile if you’ve got the right spot.

And then, just as I thought that was it I spotted a cherry tree (Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’) merrily flowering away in someone’s sweet little front garden. It was like the icing on the cake - literally. Little pale pink and glowing single flowers which looked so pretty against the grey day. Not as pretty as they would have done against a blue sky - but we can’t have it all, can we?

Flowering cherry in deepest winter - the dainty little flowers of Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis”.

But I was happy - that few minutes behind my lens capturing plants that were doing their thing so cheerfully under a grey sky in January just made my day and my cup floweth over…

Six winter flowers to lift your heart...