Snowdrop lite

I have just read another article about snowdrops and think we must be obsessed. They are undoubtedly fine floral citizens and fully play their part in the winter garden with delicately pendulous flowers nodding gently amongst the leaf litter. Each year though they are given acres of column inches in the garden media, to the extent that you would be forgiven for having a sense of deja vu. A visitor from another country would assume that nothing else had flowered here for months such is the reverence that we bestow upon these little flowers. 

Don't get me wrong, I love snowdrops. It's just that they seem to steal so much of the limelight from the many other plants working hard in the garden at this time of year. Give me bright cheeky winter aconites over cool demure snowdrops anytime. This little court jester of a plant will carpet the ground like a golden tapestry at the same time as its more celebrated companion (and to be fair they look great together). A spot of gardening last week revealed a few other seasonal treats including an autumn flowering cherry (Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis'), christmas roses (Helleborus niger) and an Algerian iris (Iris unguicularis), all busy doing their thing.

There are also many plants in late winter that have sensational scent. Probably the best right now for pure impact is sweetbox (Sarcoccocca confusa or S. humulis). The small cream flowers are not showy but the sweet scent is a heavyweight that will stop you in your tracks from some distance. My favourite though is witchhazel with its unusual spidery flowers in bright yellow, orange or red (Hamamellis mollis, H. 'Jelena' and H. 'Diane' respectively). Their elegant shape and vibrant autumn foliage add to the arsenal of assets that make this a must have shrub. Finally no discussion about winter scent would be complete without mention of Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' whose clusters of pink flushed tubular flowers cover bare upright stems for many months between autumn and spring. If the scent and the colour are a bit strident for your liking try one its parents, Viburnum farreri, with its more subtle cream flowers.