Cheer in the winter garden

from The Oxford Times

Winter can be a gloomy time in the garden, but Val Bourne, gardening correspondent of The Oxford Times, has plenty of good ideas in her new book.

In The Winter Garden (Casell, £16.99), she looks at how to create interest during the coldest months, explaining that the low sun can highlight details of textured bark, stems and branches, intensifying the winter palette of warm reds, rich browns, khaki greens and silver fawns.

Sun-loving mediterranean plants (with some exceptions such as lavender) should be left in place all winter, until the danger of frost has passed.

If the weather is bad, the reader can curl up and enjoy the sumptuous illustrations, planning how to make the garden sparkle next winter.