Two plants that never fail to give me some winter cheer, include, Chimonanthus praecox and Galanthus plicatus ‘Three Ships’.
Chimonanthus praecox or “Wintersweet” is, in my experience, a deciduous, winter-flowering shrub but is often described as semi-evergreen. A native of China, I would recommend planting this species on a sunny wall that is afforded some protection from the severest of frosts. When planted close to your house, the fragrant flowers maybe appreciated at close quarters or the bare stems maybe cut when the flowers are still in advanced bud and they will open indoors. On closer inspection the individual flowers consist of two sets of petals, the outer ones a lovely shade of lemon-yellow, while the inner petals are streaked with reddish-purple.
I would recommend training the shrub against a wall and patience will be a virtue, as the specimen will take several years to flower. The better the treatment it is given the quicker it will flower and this would include a generous mulch of compost/well-rotted manure in the spring. Care should be taken not to prune until it is well established as a flowering shrub and then only remove old and crossing wood (or reduce new growth back to two buds, after flowering) as it flowers on mature wood.
Availability: www.bluebellnursery.com
Galanthus plicatus ‘Three Ships’ commenced flowering with me a good week before Christmas, this year (2011). This is a superb form of the species, aptly named (after the famous carol), as it generally flowers for the Christmas celebration. It is rarely offered and when it is, it will be justifiably expensive. The chance form was discovered by John Morley (of North Green Snowdrops) under an ancient cork oak at Henham Park, Suffolk in 1984. I find it to be a “good-doer”, when planted in an open, sunny position and given a generous top-dressing of very well-rotted horse manure after flowering. It is large-flowered and the typically plicate, glaucous foliage makes this a very desirable plant.
Available from: www.harveysgardenplants.co.uk