IT’S that part of the year that no matter how excited you are about what your 2025 garden will bring, when we look at our actual outside space, a lot of it’s looking, well, a bit cr*p.
It’s no surprise – our lives seem ridiculously busy, and when the jobs are mainly leaf raking, cutting back slimy remains and pruning spikey roses – chocolate and a Christmas film suddenly sounds very appealing.
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But there are ways to glow up your outside space – including some beautiful winter blooms.
And – top tip – a lot of them thrive in pots – so you can keep them elsewhere – and move them into the limelight once they really start to shine.
Here’s five Christmas crackers to add festive cheer to your garden.
CYCLAMEN
A true winter gem, cyclamen is a hardy flower that thrives in the cold months. Available in some incredible shades of pink, red, and white, these delicate flowers bring a pop of color to any garden. Plant them in shaded spots, and they will bloom from late autumn through to early spring – just make sure you’ve bought the hardy variety – coum not persicum. Buy a set of three for £4.50 from Homebase.
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HELEBORES
Known as the “Christmas Rose,” hellebores are a must-have for winter. With their beautiful nodding flowers in shades of pink, white, and even deep purple, these perennials bloom through the colder months, and thrive in partially shaded areas. Plus their leaves are great ground cover. Buy for just £1 at Gardening Express
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WINTER JASMINE
Winter jasmine’s bright yellow flowers bloom from December through to March, and although it doesn’t look exactly fabulous the rest of the year – you can forgive it anything when it adds that cheerful burst of fragrant sunshine to those dreary winter days. It’s a climbing plant, so hide it at the back to grow up fences and walls. B&Q are offering a 20-30cm pot for £12.99
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CLEMATIS ‘ADVENT BELLS’
This is a new (ish) hybrid evergreen climber that produces lovely bell-shaped blooms with cream petals with purple-y spot and splashes. Great for a sheltered wall. Its on sale at Suttons Seeds for just £10.
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CALLICARPA ‘BEAUTY BERRY’
This has fabulous almost neon purple berries at this time of year – giving a disco vibe a bit like verbena bonariensis. Plant near a path – mines by my front door – or outside a window so you can enjoy for the longest time. You get the most fruit if it’s south or west facing. Currently on sale at Hayloft for £15.
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ALSO IN VERONICA’S COLUMN THIS WEEK…
Poinsetta alternatives, top tips and a lawn mower competition
POINSETTIA’S scream Christmas. But they can be an incredibly fussy plant – so if you don’t fancy splashing out for a flower where you’re lucky if it holds out for the Big Day – then there are some lovely alternatives.
AMARYLIS – half the excitement is planting the giant bulb in December and watching it grow – until it explodes into bright tropical trumpet. Great for a festive family competition to see who’s blooms first. £10 at Ornamental Trees.
CHRISTMAS CACTUS – looks like a firework with beautiful pink tips when it blooms any time between late November and early February – just needs the occasional water year round. Buy for £1 from Gardening Express.
INDOOR CYCLAMEN – its a thing and they look just like the outside ones – but warm and cosy inside with you. Just £9.09 at Crocus
RED ORCHIDS – symbolising passion and love, they’re a great alternative Christmas houseplant – and if you’re lucky – they’ll carry on for years. Bunches have sprays for £27.75
NEWS! DON’T worry if your holly is looking a bit bare of berries – they’re ‘taking a year off’. Experts knew that after such a bumper crop last year – there would be much less berries this year. It’s due to – a bit like a new mum – the bushes feeling a bit exhausted, so they give themselves a rest. Holly farmer Nick Coller, from the edge of the Norfolk Broads, said his takings would be a fifth of what they usually are.
NEWS! Check out gardening websites right now for some incredible bulb sales – it’s not too late to get them in. Suttons Seeds and Thompson & Morgan are offering 80 per cent off, while J Parkers are half price.
WIN! Webb Garden Machinery are giving one lucky Sun Gardening reader a Cordless Rotary Lawnmower worth £159 and a Cordless Line Trimmer worth £79.99. To enter visit www.thesun.co.uk/webbcomp or write to Sun Gardening Webb competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 4.1.25 T&Cs apply.
SAVE! Protect your plants with a roll of gardening fleece – B&Q do a 2x5m packet from BLOSTM for £14.99, or Amazon’s Takzuaa 2x5m version for £6.39
JOB OF THE WEEK Cut back all the rotting crocosmia, thin out any yellowing leaves from any surviving Geranium Rozannes, rake your lawn and cutback anything else that’s completely collapsed. Fleece your less hardy plants.
TOP TIP! To give your Poinsetta a fighting chance – don’t buy from places that display them by the door or a petrol forecourt – they’ve been too exposed to the cold and they won’t last.
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