Bringing Year‑Round Colour to a Rose‑Filled Garden with MyGardenTeam
Every garden has its quiet moments, and for Mr Smith’s Hampshire plot those lulls arrived in early spring and again after the roses had finished their June flourish. Keen to enjoy colour for twelve months of the year, Mr Smith booked a GardenAdvice One Day Gardening Course to understand the soil, light and planting opportunities in his garden. The session introduced him to the MyGardenTeam service – an ongoing partnership with our horticulturists designed to keep the garden evolving season by season.
Below is the planting plan we are now implementing together, focusing on early‑spring sparkle and late‑summer to autumn fireworks while complementing the existing roses.
Early‑Spring Colour
To lift the garden out of winter we are weaving in low‑maintenance bulbs and shade‑tolerant perennials that flower before the roses wake up:
- Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) for the first hint of white in January–February
- Crocus ‘Ruby Giant’ and ‘Cream Beauty’ to carpet sunny spots in March
- Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’ for reliable yellow cheer in pots and borders
- Helleborus orientalis hybrids for long-lasting flowers in dappled shade
- Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ whose cobalt blooms lure early pollinators
Late‑Summer & Autumn Brilliance
Once the roses have had their moment we rely on bold perennials and graceful grasses to keep the borders glowing until the first frosts:
- Dahlias ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ and ‘Café au Lait’ for dramatic heads from July to October
- Asters (Symphyotrichum) such as ‘Little Carlow’ for clouds of lavender‑blue in September
- Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’ (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’) whose pink heads age to copper
- Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ for golden daisies that light up the middle of the border
- Japanese Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ for elegant white spires in partial shade
- Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ adding movement and silver plumes through winter
Evergreen Structure & Winter Interest
Colour is nothing without structure, so we are threading evergreen shrubs and foliage plants through the scheme to anchor the display in the colder months:
- Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ for glossy leaves and winter flower buds
- Sarcococca confusa (Sweet Box) providing fragrance and berries in January
- Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ adding evergreen burgundy mounds at the front of the border
- Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’ offering pink‑tinged buds and white blooms mid‑winter
Over the coming months the MyGardenTeam horticulturists will visit quarterly to help Mr Smith plant, prune and fine‑tune the scheme, ensuring every corner of the garden delivers colour and wildlife value from January through December. If your own borders feel flat outside rose season, book a One Day Gardening Course and let our team guide you towards year‑round interest.
