February’s Gallery shows Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) a rather magical looking shrub. Witch Hazel is deciduous and produces spider like, scented flowers during late autumn through the winter. The flowers are produced on bare branches, making the stems very attractive and the flowers dramatic. Hamamelis are fully hardy and generally grow to around 4m, and are tolerant of most conditions. A later flowering shrub which also flowers on bare stems is Forsythia, which bears (usually) yellow flowers in early to mid spring and is a very easy to grow, reliable garden shrub.

Hellebores are a late winter and early spring flowering perennial and for advice on growing Hellebores 

Polyanthus are part of the massive Primula family, which has great variety, over 400 species in the genus. Primrose-Polyanthus primulas are winter to spring flowering and bring welcome early colour to the garden. Easy to grow, generally Polyanthus are yellow, red, blue orange, white or pink flowering and those sold in garden centres and on line are the more common varieties suited to sun, or partial shade and happy on neutral to acid soil. Primulas come in all shapes and sizes and are easy to grow for more about growing Primulas