GINA PARKINSON suggests plants to bring some colour to your winter garden

Mahonia x media 'Charity' is a popular plant for winter flowers, blooming as it does from December to February with tall spikes of scented yellow flowers.

It is an architectural plant, growing two metres high or more with shiny evergreen leaves sometimes tinged purple in winter.

Varieties include 'Lionel Fortesque', 'Winter Sun' and the rarer 'Underway' and 'Buckland' all of which are similar in growth and flower.

As the flowers can sometimes be damaged by early frosts, Mahonia x media varieties are best planted in the shelter of a wall. Pruning can be done after flowering on plants that have become leggy - take out the top rosette of leaves to encourage branching.

Mahonia japonica is another well-known early-flowering species, with soft yellow blooms and long glossy leaves divided into leaflets. It will eventually grow to three metres with a similar spread and fill the surrounding area with a lovely fragrance.

The variety 'Bealii' has shorter, more erect racemes of flowers and both need shelter from cold winds.

While the above Mahonias are used for winter colour there are several other later flowering species in the family including Mahonia aquifolium or Oregon grape from western North America and named for the clusters of dark fruit in summer and autumn.

Growing to a height of one metre, with a spread double that, it can be used for ground cover and will do well in shade or for retaining soil on sloping banks. Flowers open in April and May and dark green leaves change to bronze or purple in winter.

The variety 'Apollo' has large rich yellow flowers and is less invasive, while 'Atropupurea' is deep yellow with red-purple winter foliage. Both grow to around 120cm tall.

The Danish variety 'Smaragd' has bright yellow flowers and is taller, growing and spreading about 1.5 metres.

Updated: 08:30 Saturday, January 26, 2002