Many weeks after the bright blooms of summer have faded, when the fallen leaves are crisp underfoot and the earth gives off the rich smell of autumn, work begins on clearing away the remnants of the flowering season.
Dahlias blackened by frost are consigned to the compost heap along with the other stalks and stems and foliage that is starting to droop.
But not everything is ready to bow out, not while it can still hold its seed-heads high or wave a feathery plume. Bleached and browned they may be, but these survivors from longer, warmer days are getting ready to stand sentinel through the winter months, coming magically back to life when lit by the sun or bejewelled by frost.
Colin McBeath of Quercus Land Art has spent a lot of time contemplating the effects that these strong silhouettes can have on the garden as the year draws to a close. Colin is a planting designer who specialises in creating gardens that perform throughout the seasons and he has grown many of those flowers and grasses lauded for their winter form, rejecting some that have failed to perform and adding others that he has found to be worthy of a place in his designs.
He looks for strong silhouettes, filament-like foliage that sparkles with raindrops and shades of brown and parchment for sepia effects.
Not all those that might immediately suggest themselves for this role have the staying-power to withstand the worsening elements.
“Both teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) and globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) start the season well but have a tendency to collapse and echinacea does the same,” says Colin.
Yet that still leaves many striking alternatives, some seemingly no more substantial than layers of tissue paper, but perfectly able to add their brittle beauty to the garden in winter. Here are some of those that Colin has found to live up to their promise.
Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’ - As the year moves on, the magenta pink flowers of the stachys take on a cinnamon colour and they stand through the winter. 70cm.
Achillea filipendulina ‘Gold Plate’ - There are plenty of newer achilleas, but these can be a bit of a flash in the pan, dying out after a couple of years, whereas this older form just keeps on going. Its flat heads are useful horizontal accents. Grow it in an exposed position and it will be shorter but bushier, forming more of a dome with lots of small flower heads. 1.2m.
Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’ - This large, robust sedum is a much better plant than the better-known ‘Autumn Joy’. When the pale pink flowers disappear the seed heads that remain are russet brown. 75cm.
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’ - This big grass is a bold presence in the garden and in winter it takes on shades or red and brown. 3m.
Digitalis ferruginea - This perennial foxglove grows from an evergreen rosette, producing tight spikes of rusty iron flowers. It is a brilliant plant for vertical accents. 1.5m.
Anemanthele lessoniana - New Zealand wind grass (also known as Stipa arundinacea) turns orange as winter approaches. The seed heads, which appear in summer, look like a fine, pink veil and these create a hazy effect that lasts well into the winter. If you do want to grow echinacea, then grow it amongst these as the Anemanthele will support its stems. 1m.
Agastache ‘Black Adder’ - This giant hyssop can be a little on the tender side and in some gardens may be short-lived, but it is worth growing for its vertical flower spikes, which are held like candles long into the winter. 80cm.
Phlomis russeliana - Grow this through parchment-coloured grasses and it will appear to float above them. When the flowers appear these can look a bit tatty, but then the seed heads form, first acid green before fading to brown, and always adding wonderful structure to any planting scheme. 90cm.
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