Alan Titchmarsh on the incredible flower to give you blooms all through the winter
EXCLUSIVE: Alan Titchmarsh has revealed to the Mirror which plant you should opt for if you are looking for stunning blooms in your garden in the chilly months.
by Emma Mackenzie · The MirrorTV and garden legend Alan Titchmarsh has revealed the exact flower you should have in your garden to spruce up your space this winter. Whether you have a small outside space, simply an apartment balcony, or a larger garden, you can easily incorporate this stunning plant into your green space.
Alan explains exclusively to the Mirror that anyone looking to fill their gardens with winter flowers should opt to plant Winter Jasmine. "Its botanical name, Jasminum nudiflorum, refers to the fact that it flowers on naked stems, and the yellow flowers are carried at any time from November until February," Alan said.
Each winter, Jasminum nudiflorum produces stunningly delicate yellow flowers, that will add some serious cheer to the months of cold, dark days .Winter Jasmine is also a tough, hardy plant, meaning it doesn't require a lot of frost protection, and can thrive throughout the coldest weather.
Alan explains "Only severe weather – when the stems are rimed with frost – will cause its blooms to be stopped in their tracks, but once the cold snap has passed the plant recovers and the flowering continues."
Depending on where you plant your Winter Jasmine, you shouldn't need to train it, but you may want to if it is going to be placed by a wall or fence, "A wall or fence of any aspect will suit this scrambler and horizontal wires or trellis will allow its stems to be tied in," Alan explains. It also can be grown in pots, where you will be treated to a gorgeous trailing effect, per Gardener's World. You should plant Winter Jasmine in the autumn or winter itself, and Alan explains that in terms of ongoing maintenance, it's pretty simple to keep this plant healthy and thriving.
"Only when it stops flowering will you need to worry about pruning. Cut out a few of the oldest flowered stems each year in March and tie in new, healthy green ones," the expert says.
Winter Jasmine's flowers are unscented, but the optimism and splash of colour they will bring to your garden during the coldest most dreary months is well worth it, and it grows really easily, Alan explains, "A shoot of jasmine has only to touch the soil to form roots and start up life."
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