10 winter vegetables to grow now

Winter is often viewed as ‘down time’ in the garden, with little to do but wait until spring. Not so. There are many winter plants for the garden, particularly when used in seasonal pot and container displays.

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Winter-flowering plants are perfect for adding a splash of colour to the garden in the coldest, darkest months, helping to extend the season of interest beyond the traditional growing season of spring to autumn. There’s a huge range of winter flowering plants to grow, including climbers such as winter clematis and winter honeysuckle, shrubs like mahonia and daphne, and bedding plants like winter pansies – there’s a flowering plant for every part of the garden. What’s more, many winter-flowering plants are suitable for growing in pots, so you can add a splash of colour anywhere you fancy – perhaps a colourful display outside your front door is enough to bring some winter cheer?

How to Lift and Store Canna Lilies for Winter

13 of the Best Winter Pear Varieties to Grow at Home

After a summer of volatile weather, gardens up and down the country blossomed and bloomed — often with weeds more than plants.

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Winter and Summer Pears: What’s the Difference?

A couple of weeks ago my mother asked me if I was putting the garden to bed for the winter. It’s a common gardening phrase, and yet I have very little understanding of what it means. It implies the garden is going to be hibernating all winter, which isn’t true for a well-designed ornamental garden, and certainly isn’t true for a kitchen garden. Perhaps it means the gardener is going to be hibernating all winter, and the garden needs to be prepared for a long, untended stint? It can’t be about getting the kitchen garden ready for winter, I have been doing that all year.

If there’s a plant that’s destined to explode onto the Grow Your Own scene this year, then it has to be agretti (Salsola soda). Agretti got good press last year as being a vegetable sought-after by chefs; it didn’t hurt that seed was in short supply! Suppliers have taken note, however, and there are plenty more sources this year.

Last weekend, as the temperatures soared, I found a certain amount of solace in learning more about how plants are being grown in Antarctica – the coldest place on Earth. 

Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! In this episode, Emma talks to Grace Crain, a researcher on the MELiSSA project developing circular life support systems.