Our festive traditions may feel rooted in celebrations of the birth of Christ, but the trees and plants we use for decoration tell a different story

Celebrated in the loveliest of carols, holly warms hearts anew each winter, but there’s more to the spiky gem than merely Christmas cheer, writes Deborah Nicholls-Lee

Step into a magical winter garden in the Weald of Kent, where cyclamens, hellebores and crocuses add splashes of pink and purple to the white carpet of snowdrops

Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ Forgive me please because I have, in my youth, been a bit sneery about mahonias. I recognise that this was a mistake as they have an awful lot in their favour: colour at a

Stefan Buczacki

Discover what makes these plants popular around Christmas time