Most people only visit gardens in the winter for their holiday light displays, but I like to visit them to get ideas for plants that give gardens winter interest. Like most gardens, Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, South Carolina has a popular winter lights display. I have visited Hopelands Gardens to see the lights, and of course I loved them. The more Christmas lights, the better I say. This time, however, I visited Hopelands Gardens during the day to see what plants were still beautiful in winter.
One plant that looked just as impressive in the winter as in the spring was the live oak tree. Hopelands Gardens boasted impressive live oak trees (and this is coming from someone who has seen Angel Oak). The above image shows one such tree at the gardens. The live oak trees look just as alive as in spring because they have evergreen foliage and there are the number of plants that take residence on the tree. Resurrection ferns grow on the live oak trees creating an even more dense canopy.
One of the many live oak trees Lights and live oaks lining the pathways Resurrection ferns on the live oak The live oaks create a dense canopy
Another plant that had interest in winter was the bald cypress. In addition to being an evergreen tree, the roots have “knees” that grow above ground. Some people aren’t fans of the “knees” of bald cypress trees, but I find them fascinating.
Some people find them annoying or unsightly in the landscape… … but I think they look cool
I just love oddities like this in nature. I can’t help but wonder what purpose they serve. Regardless of their purpose, they remind me of meerkats and that just tickles me.
In addition to the evergreen trees at Hopelands Gardens, there were also several types of evergreen shrubs. Evergreen shrubs with red berries provide extra visual interest in the winter when other evergreen shrubs look the same all year long.
I love the red berries and green leaves against the blue sky These red berries were so vibrant
Hopelands Gardens also had an impressive camellia collection showcasing many varieties that I had never seen before. I didn’t see any names for the varieties, so your guess is as good as mine!
This variety reminds me of a peppermint I love the stamens of this variety A ruffly white camellia flower This camellia has been trained to a circle around the Garden Club of South Carolina sign
This variety reminds me of ice cream! This was my favorite variety This flower was on the same plant as the peppermint-looking flower A picture to give an idea of scale of the camellia plant
The camellias were all very tall – we estimated some about 20 feet tall. That’s why you should always check to see height in maturity! Some camellias can get very large, especially when they are mature.
And, I would be remiss if I didn’t show some annuals in containers that provide pops of color throughout the garden. Violas seem to do well and hold up through winter.
A benefit of violas as opposed to pansies is that you don’t need to deadhead them for them to rebloom. So, there you have it! It is possible to have flowers in winter, and it is possible to provide visual interest beyond flowers in your garden in the winter. Throughtfully choosing plants that are evergreen, have different color leaves or berries in the winter, or that flower in the winter give your garden visual interest in all four seasons. I hope you got some ideas from Hopelands Gardens like I did! What winter interest plants do you have in your garden?
