Winning winter flowers: a guide to the best blooms for your garden

Is your garden needing a winter transformation? While the season may present some tricky conditions for some provinces, there are great winter flowers sure to thrive in your climate. Looking for groundcover or container friendly blooms? We have a variety of plant picks to keep your winter garden looking better than ever.

Achieve an attractive winter garden

Selecting the best winter flowers is dependent on your interests, as well as your garden’s location and environment. When considering floral features for your garden, keep in mind the conditions of where you want to plant them. Some can do well in most places, but always consider the severity of cold your area experiences. We always suggest aloe varieties or a few other national wonders. But there is so much more to explore below!

Plantland’s recommended winter flowers

Explore our list of seasonal flower selections and find your new winter favourite(s).

Antirrhinum (Snapdragons)

Welcome in a touch of the mystical with snapdragons. These blooms appear like the face and mouth of a dragon when squeezed. They are bee-friendly and great as multi-coloured borders, around perennials or spring-flowering bulbs. While they need to be in full sun to semi-shade, they don’t fare well in extreme heat.

Bokbaai vygies

Succulent lovers – meet vygies. These daisy-like evergreen flowers dazzle and march on in the ‘purple parade’ variety as a grand groundcover from late winter to spring. Plus, they are a great water-wise choice. They are cold and frost hardy – be sure to plant them in the full sun.

Daisies

We highly recommend both African and English daisies for not just their beauty, but their resilience. They grow well in pots and containers, as well as in rockeries and landscaping. These evergreen delights also attract butterflies. Osteospermum daisy (African daisies) are perennial, while the Marguerite daisy (Argyranthemums) are annual plants (flower continuously for a year only).

Iceland poppies

Hint, hint – Iceland poppies do well in cold temperatures. Try your hand at growing a variety of poppies with our mix of poppy seedlings. Plant them in autumn to achieve a spectacular pop of large, bright multi-coloured flowers from winter to spring. Plant them in a sunny position and they will tolerate cold and frost.

Lobelia

Imagine a sea of purple, indigo and magenta in your garden. We have three varieties of this spreading perennial groundcover, which all love semi-shaded to sunny spots and can tolerate cold and frost.

Pansies and violas

These flowers, while they look incredibly similar, there is a way to tell them apart. Pansies have four petals pointing upward and only one pointing downward, whereas a viola has two petals pointing upward and three petals pointing downward. Violas are notably more tolerant of extreme temperatures and pansies offer a wide spectrum of colours. They are great as container plants, as well as for use in landscaping. Plant them in a semi-shaded to sunny position and you’ll be sure to enjoy blooms in winter well into spring.

Protea

The iconic floral pride of our nation. You can’t go wrong with this low-maintenance, sun-loving and water-wise choice. There are approximately 70 protea species in South Africa’s winter rainfall area and 19 species in southern Africa’s summer rainfall zones. Most protea varieties are relatively frost hardy and a great addition to gardens to attract nectar-loving birds. Unless you have well-draining acidic soil, keep them in containers or add lots of mulch into flowerbeds. They thrive in coastal and mountainous regions.

Rhododendron

Enjoy the bright and colourful world of rhododendrons, from vivid pinks to fiery reds. These evergreens are known for their prolific blooms. Help them thrive by giving them semi-shaded areas and acidic soil. We have selections that bloom from autumn to late summer – and those that flower from summer to autumn and bloom again in the spring.

Roses

With around 16 varieties available at Plantland, you’re sure to find the rose for your needs. From thorned to thornless, climbers or shrubs, bright or neutral, groundcover or container – they all have wonderful characteristics to choose from. Roses are typically cold and frost hardy and enjoy the full sun.

Strelitiza

Enjoy orange and blue flowers from autumn to winter with this evergreen shrub. This tuft-forming shrub strikes as a feature plant with its upright sword-like leaves. It’s a great pick because it’s water-wise and also attracts birds. It enjoys full sun to partially shaded areas.

Get bold with winter cold

May your winter flowers thrive! For more seasonal garden suggestions and advice, explore our blog or contact us at your nearest Plantland.