Winter gardens in the dark days of the dead of winter
There are dark days in the dead of winter when you might think there is no natural colour left in the world. These are days when a visit to a winter garden can prove you wrong. A whole garden of winter-hardy plants or a temperate glasshouse* is able to make a much bigger statement about plants and growing than the winter colour many of us can manage.
(*It was from Victorian palm houses, such as the large glass and steel-arched one built in Blackpool in 1897, that ballrooms and entertainment venues with the name ‘Winter Gardens’ developed.)
There are winter gardens inside and out all over the country. Winter gardens in glasshouses bring exotic plants and palms (and welcome warmth!) to chilled or frozen visitors. Outside gardens bring coloured stems, bark and foliage texture together with winter flowers and fragrance.
You have arrived!
There is no sidling into the four-acre Winter Garden at the Hillier Gardens in Hampshire. A strong entrance helps to set the boundaries of the garden and makes sure it hangs together as a complete entity.
The planting features a palette of bark, bold coloured stems, scent and foliage. Close to the Visitor Centre is a large new bed planted with Salix (willow), Cornus (dogwoods) and with extra height provided by some existing birch trees. It is a simple combination of just four or five plant groups to help denote a bolder sense of arrival to the Winter Garden.
The importance of light in winter gardens
Cambridge Botanic Garden’s Winter Garden emphasises trying to capture light in wintertime, something that people have tried to do over millennia.
The handling of light is crucial for the success of the overall design. The level site was landscaped to provide a shallow valley into which a gently curving path runs. The site is open to the south so that the light of the setting sun in winter floods into the valley.
Rhythm in the winter garden
Rhythm in a garden, often brought about through repetition, can really bring it alive. This beautiful picture of different Cornus (dogwood) shows so clearly what repetition of colour, form, shape and line can do. When combined with light, the effect is breathtaking.
This fantastic display of colour comes from various dogwood species (Cornus) at Broadview Gardens, part of Hadlow College.
© Nick Smith and reused under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence.
In the image below, massed snowdrops in the green and white section have started up their own rhythm.
Snowdrops in January, Cambridge University Botanic Garden. © Cait Stewart and reused under CC BY-SA 2.0 licence.
Abundance and vigour
Glasshouses allow tropical plants from around the world to grow with abundance and vigour, and allow winter visitors to luxuriate a little and marvel. The 21st century tropical paradise of Sunderland Winter Gardens, for example, is housed under a glass rotunda, a single span 30-metre dome.
The Gardens are home to a botanical collection of 2,000 plants. Visitors can see growing examples of many important plants from around the world, such as tea, coffee, sugar, citrus fruits, date palms, bananas, pineapple, mango, the vanilla orchid and gingers, as well as a number of plants that are used to make important medicines. There is also a tree-top walkway.
Sheffield, too, has a 21st century winter garden, one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years. More than 2,500 plants from around the world create a superb display. The building itself is 70 metres long and 22 metres high - large enough to house 5,000 domestic greenhouses!
A haven for exotic plants, the Winter Garden in Sheffield is a wonderful place to visit. © Copyright Des Colhoun and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 2.0
The exotic palms and plants of Glasgow's People's Palace Winter Gardens have been providing a winter haven for visitors since 1898. The People's Palace is set in Glasgow Green, a park established in the fifteenth century.
The Winter Gardens at the rear of the People's Palace museum in Glasgow Green. The people sitting on the bench give an indication of the vast size of the glasshouse. © Copyright Thomas Nugent and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 2.0
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