Once your late summer garden has faded, been tidied up and all summer annuals removed, you can easily assess where the best places are to grow some winter and spring colour. If your budget is tight, plant only in the most prominent areas like entryways, patios and within the view of windows, where they can be admired.
For glorious, instant gratification nothing beats bedding plants, and just a few packets of seeds and some trays of seedlings will transform your winter garden into a kaleidoscope of brilliant colour.
Snapdragons Picture courtesy Ball Horticultural CompanyMany bedding plants grow beautifully in containers, and a few strategically placed groupings of flowering pots and hanging baskets will instantly add a warm and welcoming touch.
In cold winter regions, gardeners sow seeds and start planting out trays of winter seedlings once the soil temperatures have cooled down significantly in autumn. Sowing and planting times vary from region to region, and not all so-called called “winter annuals” are fully hardy to frost, so choose your varieties carefully.
In subtropical and humid regions, late summer, autumn and winter are the best times to plant a flower garden, and many winter annuals, as well as summer flowering annuals are sown during these cooler months.
In our winter rainfall regions autumn and winter are also prime times for growing a flower garden.
With the wide selection of beautiful bedding plants available to South African gardeners, there is no excuse not to have a beautiful winter garden this season.
I hope this list will inspire your to have some fun and grow some winter and spring joy.
Namaqualand Daisy. Image by NauticalVoyager from PixabayAfrican/Namaqualand Daisy
Namaqualand Daisies are easy to grow winter and spring flowering annuals which are sown directly into sunny garden beds in autumn. They grow quickly to about 35cm tall and 30cm wide, and their flowers come in the traditional bright orange and yellow, as well as pastel shades like salmon, cream and pure white. They require as much sunlight as you can provide as the flowers only open in the sun and will close at night or on overcast days.
These cheerful daisies are used as a low cover around shrubs in hot, sunny beds, or as the focal point in mass plantings. They make cheerful fillers amongst dormant roses, and pretty borders, so sow them in mass for hassle-free colour.
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Alyssum MixedAlyssum, Heuningblom
Alyssum is a compact plant that grows about 15cm tall and spreads about 20 to 25cm. It remains one of the most popular bedding plants because it is low maintenance, long flowering and very easy to grow all year round. Its honey scented flower spikes are available in lovely shades of pink, rose, purple, mauve, white and yellow.
This low grower makes a wonderful carpet-like ground cover that you can use as an edging plant in the garden, or to fill nooks and crannies on walkways and walls. Alyssum also mixes effortlessly with other flowering plants in hanging baskets and pots. The flowers attract vital insect pollinators like bees to the garden, so plant it as a border to the fruit and vegetable garden.
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Linaria Fairy BouquetBaby Snapdragon, Linaria
Baby snapdragons grow well throughout South Africa. In frost-free regions they are sown in late summer and autumn, and in cold and frosty gardens they are sown during spring and early summer. They require no special care, and the seeds can simply be thrown directly where they are to grow. They germinate readily and quickly produce emerald green leaves and charming, miniature, two-lipped snapdragon-like flowers in a rainbow mixture of red, pink, yellow, purple, blue and white. The varieties vary slightly in height from 20 to 45cm, with a spread of 20 to 30cm.
These babies look simply stunning when heavily seeded in an isolated area and will happily mingle with other annuals, perennials or grasses. Try them in gravel or rock gardens, borders, meadows or cottage gardens. Dwarf strains are lovely mixed with other annuals in containers, hanging baskets and window boxes. The blooms make charming little bouquets, and the more you pick them more they bloom.
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Bokbaaivygies Bokbaai Vygie
Bokbaai vygies are one of South Africa’s most famous wildflower exports and grown worldwide for their multitude of silky-textured flowers in dazzling shades of yellow, cream, pink, lavender, magenta, and orange. This winter-growing succulent forms a low groundcover around 10cm tall with a spread of 30cm. The green or maroon-tinted spoon-shaped leaves have conspicuous raised surface cells which are modified for water storage, and glisten beautifully in bright sunlight.
Bokbaaivygies can be used just about anywhere you have full sun. Their vibrant colours and glistening foliage are impossible to ignore in rock gardens, cascading over a wall, draping from a mixed container planting, or carpeting a garden bed. They are particularly beautiful if sown in large drifts, but for a brilliant display group them together with other annuals like alyssum, lobelia, nemesia, poor man’s orchid, poppies and delphiniums. An added bonus is they will attract butterflies and bees to the garden.
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Calendula Yellow. Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurseryCalendula
If it’s bright cheerful colour you like – go for Calendulas! Their dominant orange and yellow flowers demand attention, and will liven up the dreariest of garden corners.
Calendula is a satisfying choice for novice gardeners and children because it rewards quickly with generous crops of showy flowers. This fun and fast growing winter and spring flowering annual is easy to germinate and simple to care for, producing large, single or double flowers that last long in a vase. The clear, bright colours come in shades of orange to apricot-orange and golden to lemon-yellow. Both dwarf and tall strains are available, varying in height from 20 to 75cm tall, but the dwarf varieties are the most freely available in South Africa.
Calendula has many uses in cooking and medicinally, and is a renowned companion plant as it helps to keep plants growing nearby healthy. Sow them between your winter vegetable crops for a healthier and very pretty winter veggie patch. Sown in massed beds or as an edging plant alongside walkways, calendulas can put on quite a show. For containers, purchase trays of calendula seedlings and mix them with other winter annuals in pots, window boxes and hanging baskets for warm winter colour.
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Dianthus Diamond Mix. Picture courtesy Ball StraathofDianthus
Dianthus is an old-fashioned flower which has always been favoured by gardeners because it is a tough little annual with the most irresistible flowers. It’s also easy to grow and can be planted almost throughout the year in South Africa because it not only withstands our summer heat and heavy rainfall, but is also frost hardy. With a little TLC these little plants can bloom all season long.
The newer garden hybrids often have frilled or zigzag edges to their petals, and come in hues of salmon, pink, red, violet and white, and bi-colours. They are also available in lovely clear colours.
Pinks are excellent value for money, and their long flowering season makes them perfect to liven-up flower borders and rockeries. They are also essential in mixed containers like hanging baskets or window boxes. Pinks are cottage garden favourites, and the fragrant varieties are a ‘must have’ for scented gardens, mixed with roses, scented geraniums and lavender. Like their close relative the carnation, pinks are excellent cut flowers, and even though their stems are much shorter, they are delightful in small bouquets.
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English DaisyEnglish Daisy
In hot and sunny South Africa English daisies are grown in the cooler months, blooming continuously throughout winter and spring. They remain extremely popular not only for their charm but because they are unfussy and easy to grow. The plants are neat and compact, growing about 15 to 20cm tall, and they never fail to delight with their masses of tightly quilled, single, or double daisies which stand above the fresh, bright-green leaves. The blooms have cheerful yellow centres and come in shades of pink, white and rosy red.
Because they love moisture English daisies thrive in our winter rainfall regions, and in the cooler mist belt regions. They are superb edging plants for pathways and flower borders, and perfect companions for pansies and violas, inter-planted with winter and spring flowering bulbs like Dutch Iris, tulips or daffodils. An added bonus is that English daisies will attract butterflies to the garden, providing vital nectar when food is scarce.
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Blue LobeliaLobelia
Lobelia can be grown almost throughout the year in South Africa and are semi-hardy to moderate frost. Lobelia is beloved around the world for its charm, and plant breeders have created garden hybrids which are even more prolific, producing a profusion of tiny flowers in delightful shades of blue, lilac, purple, pink, carmine and white. Some varieties have bronzy foliage and others bright green leaves. They vary slightly in height but the modern varieties are very compact and will grow about 15cm tall with a mounded habit. Water them regularly, especially in dry regions.
Lobelias are invaluable as edging plants and because of their dainty, compact growth, are perfect combined with bulbs and other winter flowering annuals. The cascading varieties produce billowing masses of flowers up to 30cm long and are favourites to mix with other plants in hanging baskets and containers. These easy-to-grow plants will attract butterflies and deserve a place in every garden, large or small. Keep the plants moist for best results.
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Nemesia Sundrops Mix. Picture courtesy Ball StraathofNemesia, Cape Jewels
Nemesias are one of those endearing little South African annuals that never fail to delight gardeners. The winter rainfall species bloom in winter and spring and the summer rainfall species flower in spring and early summer. Although all the wild species are delightful and many show great horticultural potential, only a few have been selected for breeding purposes, and due to extensive hybridization have produced a wonderful selection of garden varieties in gorgeous colours. Popular hybrids include: 'Carnival Mix' which blooms in winter and comes in hues of cream, yellow, orange, crimson, pink, and bi-colours; and ‘Sundrops Mix' which blooms late winter and spring and has a very diverse colour range of gold, orange, rose pink, and white.
All nemesias are amazing landscaping species for gardens small or large, and can be just as pretty planted in pots and hanging baskets as they are when used as an edging plant in mixed borders, or as fillers between larger plants and shrubs. Use them to add pops of colour in grassy gardens or rocky outcrops, and paired with alyssum, dianthus, stocks, pansies or violas, and winter and spring flowering bulbs, they put on an irresistible show. Plant drifts of these delightful little annuals, and you will never be able to imagine your garden without them again.
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Ornamental Kale. Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurseryOrnamental Kale
Ornamental cabbages look much the same as their edible cousins, but produce giant rosettes of frilly leaves in wonderful shades of lavender, rose; white, and creamy yellow, making them a favourite addition to cold winter gardens. The plants will grow about 20cm tall and 30cm wide, depending on the variety. The pigmentations for which these plants are known do not appear until after prolonged cool weather and several frosts.
Because these showy cabbages can hold their brilliant colour all the way into spring, they are ideal for displaying on porches, patios, beside entryways, or in garden beds. When massed in large beds they make a striking contrast to modern architecture. Be adventurous and try combining them with other flowering seedlings in pots and window boxes. They all make unusual additions to fresh flower arrangements and the taller growing varieties are especially sought after by florists for their long stems.
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Pansy Cool Wave. Picture courtesy Ball StraathofPansies & Violas
Pansies and violas are timeless winter and spring flowering favourites that never go out of fashion. They continue to inspire plant breeders to produce even more exciting garden varieties with exciting colours like the newer antique mixes, as well as gorgeous new bicolour combinations. Breeding is also focused on producing even more compact and floriferous plants. Grab a couple of trays of pansies and violas from you garden centre and plant them in a few key locations in the winter garden, they are worth their weight in gold!
Pansies and violas are easy to grow and perfect for pots, hanging basket, window boxes and containers of all kinds. They are charming when combined with spring flowering bulbs and also grow well with other winter and spring flowering annuals for full sun. Line the borders of the vegetable, flower or herb garden with them to attract bees and other valuable pollinators at a time when food is scarce.
Violas can take a bit more shade than pansies making them perfect for brightening up slightly more shady areas. Violas will also often re-seed themselves in the garden.
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Petunia Mixed. Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurseryPetunias
Petunias can be planted almost all year round in South Africa and are semi-hardy to moderate frost. Thousands of hybrids have been bred throughout the years and the flower colours, sizes and shapes vary greatly. The different varieties vary in height and spread so check carefully before making your selection. The two oldest types of petunias are 'Grandifloras' and 'Multifloras' and both grow in a mound-like shape. Grandiflora varieties have larger flowers, but multiflora varieties with their smaller flowers hold up better in the rain. Petunias are so versatile in the garden because they are available in an outstanding array of colours varying from fiery reds, burgundy and purples, to all shades of pink, lilac, blue, yellow and white. The also bloom continuously all season with little maintenance.
Petunias make perfect centre pieces to mixed plantings in pots, hanging baskets and window boxes. They are excellent border plants and if planted in mass, will provide brilliant colour for months on end. Use the cascading varieties in containers and the compact varieties in the garden.
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Phlox '21st Century' Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurseryPhlox
Phlox can be grown almost throughout the year in South Africa but grow best in the cooler seasons. In hot and humid regions plant them when the weather cools down in autumn. They are hardy to all but severe frost, and grow well throughout the country as long as they can be watered regularly. The latest varieties are both free-flowering and compact growing. The flowers are fragrant and splendid for cutting, and the large clusters of delicate blooms come in many pastel and bright shades of red, pink, coral, blue, lilac, purple white and even yellow. Some varieties have beautiful fringed, star-shaped petals with a white edge.
The new compact varieties will grow quickly to about 25cm tall and 20cm wide, and these low-growing plants look gorgeous if massed together in annual flowerbeds and along walkways. They also grow easily in containers of all shapes and sizes.
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Schizanthus Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurseryPoor Man's Orchid
These unforgettable natives of Chile form dense bushes of feathery foliage which is smothered in a profusion of butterfly-like flowers in winter and spring. These annuals grow well throughout South Africa, except for those areas that experience severe frost. They are wonderful cut-flowers with an infinite range of patterns and colours; from pink, blue, violet, lavender, magenta, white, yellow, orange, gold, red and salmon. Hybrid plants vary in height from 20 to 40cm tall.
Poor Man's Orchids make excellent border plants to the winter flower garden and because they bloom best when their roots are restricted they grow exceptionally well in containers, so fill your window boxes and pots with them for a dazzling display.
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Iceland PoppyIceland Poppies
Iceland Poppies are old-time favourites that are easy to grow and will brighten up even the coldest winter day. They are available in bright and pastel shades of red, pink, yellow, orange, cream and white, as well as bicoloured varieties. There are several varieties like ‘Champagne Bubbles’ which is available in mixed and single colours.
Iceland poppies attract butterflies to the garden and combine beautifully with most winter flowering annuals, and make a fantastic backdrop for spring flowering bulbs. Try planting them in drifts, inter-planted with pansies or violas in complimentary or contrasting colours, for a brilliant display. They are wonderful in meadow and cottage gardens and also do well in containers with other annuals. Iceland poppies are sought after cut flowers and the more you pick them, the more they bloom!
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Antirrhinum Dwarf Mixed. Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurserySnapdragons
Snapdragons never go out of fashion because they are reliable and easy to grow. They can be grown throughout the year in most regions of South Africa, but they prefer growing during the cooler months. The flowers of modern strains come in almost every colour or bicolour, including red, bronze, yellow, orange, pink, purple, cream, and white.
Snaps have long been a favourite garden play-thing of children, and are highly recommended for a child’s garden. Taller growing types are wonderful planted in large swathes in mixed flower borders, and the dwarf varieties make excellent edging plants and are perfect in pots. No matter their height, the upright growth habit of snapdragons adds vertical contrast to garden beds and pots, and their vast colour palette allows you to mix them effortlessly with other flowering annuals and bulbs for a long-lasting effect. Try planting them between spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, ranunculus, anemone, or sparaxis with a border of pansies and violas in front for a beautiful effect.
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Stocks Picture courtesy Nu-leaf NurseryStocks
Stocks are among our oldest and most dearly-loved garden flowers, grown for their sweet perfume at night, and handsome cut-flowers in shades of pink, mauve, crimson, purple, cream, yellow, peach and white. They are grown throughout South Africa in winter and spring. There are both dwarf and tall varieties available, ranging in height from 30 to 70cm tall.
Stocks are invaluable in the flower border and the dwarf varieties are easy-to-grow in containers. Plant them near the house, underneath windows, along walkways, and in containers on patios where their perfume can be enjoyed. Double-flowered stocks are prized by gardeners for their floral display but are sterile and have to be produced from single varieties. Therefore, stocks do not always produce double flowers but modern strains produce doubles in high proportions of 60% or even 80%
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Sweetpeas Picture courtesy Nu-Leaf NurserySweet Pea
Sweet peas have a long history but are certainly not considered to be old fashioned, and today they are as lovely and rewarding as ever. New ever more enchanting and fragrant cultivars are continually being released, and today sweet peas are available in a mind-blowing selection of single and mixed colours ranging from almost black to pink, blue, lilac, purple, red, white, and all the shades in-between. In fact they are available in almost every conceivable colour, except for the ever elusive yellow.
Sweet peas grow well throughout South Africa and are generally pretty hardy to frost. However, in extremely cold regions where the weather remains cool during spring and early summer, the late flowering varieties are sown, or trays of seedling are planted out in spring to flower in early summer. In the winter rainfall regions they are wonderful water-wise additions. In subtropical regions the key to growing sweet peas is to purchase a variety that will bloom before the summer heat sets in. Look out for varieties that say ‘early flowering’ or ‘early multiflora’.
Sweet peas are lovely cut flowers, spreading their heady scent throughout the garden and home, and the more you pick them, the more they bloom. Climbing sweet peas can be grown anywhere they have some support, knee-high’s are great in the middle of a winter and spring flower border, and dwarf varieties are perfect border plants and fabulous in pots, window boxes and hanging, pairing well with many winter and spring flowering annuals and bulbs.
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Virginian Stocks Virginian Stocks
Virginian stocks are delightful little annuals that deserve a place in every winter and spring garden. They are very hardy, grow throughout the country, and are probably one of the easiest of all annuals to grow from seed sown directly into garden beds.
This delightful little annual deserves a place in every winter and spring garden. Not only does it flower profusely in delightful shades of pink, rose red, lilac, and creamy-white, it also smells heavenly. Virginian stocks germinate readily and grow quickly to produce small bushes about 20 to 30cm tall and 10 to 15cm wide.
To be really effective in the garden Virginian stocks need to be sown in mass, and go perfectly with all spring-time bloomers, especially bulbs. Try sowing them on top of taller bulbs like daffodils or Dutch Iris for a stunning effect. They also pair well with poppies and other taller spring flowers in borders, along pathways, and even in the crevices between paving stones and rocks. Virginian stocks are also perfect to soe between dormant roses, and they blend beautifully with night scented stocks for brightness and a heady fragrance. Because of its rapid growth and appealing fragrance, children love to sow the tiny seeds and watch them grow, so if you see seed packets for sale, grab a few!