December plants

I don’t get to walk through the 17 acres of gardens at Bressingham every day, but sometimes I am able to enjoy a walk on a frosty morning in midwinter as the sun comes up over the horizon. On a frosty

FACT FILE What A genus of architectural, evergreen and predominantly spiny-leaved shrubs from the barberry family (Berberidaceae), bearing remarkably luminous, highly fragrant flowers in autumn and wi

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

If you want evidence that His Majesty The King has a whimsical sense of humour, you only have to look at his Thyme Walk. When he moved to Highgrove House near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in 1980, the go

Winter is for restoration. The garden is pared back and elemental: everything is visible and in its stillness there’s time to reflect on the preceding year and to imagine and plan the year to come. Ye

Long overlooked and unfairly maligned, these tough, colourful and low-maintenance plants deliver year-round structure and style