I was invited to join the BBC Radio Kent Sunday Gardening programme on December 1^st 2019 to talk about Plants for Winter Interest.  As a regular listener to the show it was a treat to meet Andy Garland again, the show’s host and a keen gardener, and one of the Sunday Gardening resident horticultural experts Steve Bradley.

Winter can easily be a rather dull time in gardens that rely on flowers but filling gaps with plants chosen for their height and shape transforms an empty border into an all year round focal point.  We were all agreed that coloured foliage shrubs and the newly fashionable ornamental grasses are prime candidates for winter interest along with at least one winter flowering tree or shrub that delivers fragrance too.

My favourite plant for the winter border? It has to be Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’, an evergreen rounded shrubs reaching 1m in diameter after 7-10 years with the most beautiful oval leaves that open pale green and age to darkest purple.

Read more about my winter plant suggestions here

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