John & Maria's Garden Pages

Wintergreen foliage

December can be bleak in English gardens, even ones in the relatively mild maritime climate of the South West.  We may have missed the worst of the recent harsh frosts and snow, though it fell, was fleeting and mostly confined to Dartmoor, but it's still a bit dreary and drab at this time of year.

Yet there is still promise and interest for even the smallest plot.  One such delight lies in brightly patterned wintergreen foliage, produced by perennials that, in the wild, take advantage of leafless winter canopies to bask in what little sun there is before going dormant during the darker months of woodland summers.

Plants such as Cyclamen. C. hederifolium may have flowered back in September but the often ornately patterned leaves persist till spring.  Variation is rife - and certainly adds to winter interest..

Or consider Arum italicum 'Pictum'. Tough and hardy enough to stand up to winter weather, the wintergreen foliage has brightly intricate traceries of silver among a green background.

Both of these can add interest to the winter garden and, because of their summer dormancy, fit nicely among taller growing, summer flowering perennials to provide twelve months interest in even a tiny space.