November Flowers to Brighten up Your Garden

Banish grey, gloomy days with colourful evergreens and autumn flowers. Plant tall ornamental grasses as a golden backdrop for nerines and chrysanthemums in sunny spots or use mahonias and skimmias to brighten up a shady garden.

It takes a bit of planning to make your garden look colourful in November, and I don’t blame you if you’re of the mind that it’s a fallow time of year when you’d rather conserve your energy for other things. But there’s nothing like the appearance of buds and flowers on a day when everything feels grey to remind you of everything you love about your garden. What’s more, the shrubs and plants that flower at this time of year are typically low-maintenance and require little care and attention to produce stunning displays of buds and flowers.

November is also a month when ornamental grasses come into their own. No longer simply a backdrop for colourful perennials, the warm autumn light makes the coloured leaves and seedheads glow. Choose a tall variety like Stipa gigantea or Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' for maximum effect.

There aren’t many flowers to plant in November, but tulips should be top of your list. It’s best to plant them once the weather cools off to prevent tulip fire. Find out what other November gardening jobs you can get on with this month.

 

Viburnum 'Lisarose' – November flower of the month

Viburnums are brilliant for winter interest, and Viburnum ‘Lisarose’ is an exceptionally pretty variety. Its buds form in early autumn and turn bright red as the season progresses. These blossom into clusters of white and pink flowers from December through to April, followed by dark blue berries. The evergreen foliage adds year-round interest and structure to your garden.

Viburnum ‘Lisarose’ is a versatile shrub that will grow in full sun or light shade. It tolerates different soil types, as long as it’s well drained, and can cope with exposed locations.

Plant it with…

Helleborus ‘Winter Sunshine’: Plant this winter-flowering perennial in front of viburnums to fill a shady border.

Skimmia 'White Globe': This evergreen shrub produces lime green buds in autumn, followed by white flowers in spring. A lovely companion for Viburnum ‘Lisarose’ in more shaded situations.

Geranium 'Rothbury Gem': Keep the pink theme going through summer with this low-growing hardy geranium. It flowers from late spring through the summer, so paired with Viburnum ‘Lisarose’, you get year-round colour.

 

Cyclamen

Cyclamen are a staple winter bedding plant, adding dashes of colour to pots and borders throughout the autumn and winter. Delicate flowers in shades of pink, red and white cluster above decorative silver-patterned leaves. Cyclamen are perennial plants, so they’ll come back year after year. Plant them outdoors in a sheltered spot (under trees or shrubs is ideal) and they’ll naturally spread over time.

Cyclamen coum is a hardy garden variety that flowers in late winter and early spring, along with snowdrops. For November colour, you want Cyclamen hederifolium, which flowers in early autumn and can carry on flowering through the winter months.

Plant it with…

Winter-flowering heather: Cyclamen pair well with winter-flowering heathers either in a container or in a rockery garden.

Galanthus nivalis: The common snowdrop is one of the first flowers to pop its head up in the new year. Plant it with cyclamen in woodland borders and other shady spots.

Winter pansy: A classic November flower to pair with cyclamen for colourful pots and hanging baskets throughout the colder months.

 

Mahonia ‘Volcano’

Mahonias are stars of the November garden, producing spikes of yellow flowers through the late autumn and winter. Mahonia ‘Volcano’ is a relatively new cultivar with slim, soft leaves and fiery orange-yellow flowers. It’s a compact variety, clocking in at around a metre tall when fully grown. This makes it ideal for small gardens or growing in containers. In larger gardens, plant it en masse in front of taller shrubs or trees for a striking autumnal display.

Mahonias prefer partial or full shade. Their evergreen foliage and hardy nature make them indispensable for low-maintenance, shaded gardens, and the lava-coloured buds and flowers are a welcome food source for pollinators.

Plant it with…

Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’: Plant this shade-tolerant hydrangea behind Mahonia ‘Volcano’ to provide structural interest, contrasting foliage and flowers throughout the summer.

Heucherella 'Sweet Tea': Heucherellas provide contrasting colour and texture to the slim-leaved Mahonia ‘Volcano’. Interplant this orange-red variety to create a real volcano lava effect when the mahonia blooms.

Liriope ‘Moneymaker’: This evergreen perennial is an excellent choice for groundcover around and in front of mahonias. It produces red stalks with pretty purple flowers in late summer, which will be over in time for Mahonia ‘Volcano’ to take centre stage.

 

Crocus sativus

Saffron is the most expensive spice by weight in the world, so it makes sense to grow your own, right? Just bear in mind, you need to handpick the red stamen from around 150 flowers to produce a single gram of saffron – there's a reason it's so expensive. Culinary benefits aside, Crocus sativus is a beautiful flower in its own right and a welcome sight on a grey November day when there are few other signs of life in your garden.

Crocus sativus is a sun-lover, so plant it in a south-facing location in well-drained soil. You can plant it in pots, under trees or shrubs (as long as the larger plants don’t block out the sun) or naturalise it in grass. As it grows well in gritty or poor soils, it also makes a nice addition to a rockery. Plant bulbs in August to get flowers in the same year.

Plant it with…

Rosa 'Timeless Pink': Roses are good companions for Croscus sativus as they also love the sun, but flower earlier in the year. ‘Timeless Pink’ has stunning scented pink flowers that bloom from June through to September.

Malus 'Evereste': Train this ornamental apple against a south-facing wall or trellis and enjoy spring flowers and summer fruits. Plant Crocus sativus at the base for a splash of colour when the tree is bare.

Lavender 'Hidcote': Lavender is another plant that worships the sun and thrives in grittier soils. Add rosemary and purple sage for a purple-themed culinary garden.

 

Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'

One of my favorite sights in the garden at this time of year is tall ornamental grasses turned golden by the November afternoon sun. Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' flowers in mid to late summer, but the tall-stemmed flowerheads remain into autumn and winter, adding height and architectural interest to your beds. Touched with frost, they look almost ethereal.

Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' is hardy and very easy to look after. It enjoys full sun or partial shade and is the perfect backdrop for a range of perennial flowers.

Plant it with…

Chrysanthemums: The birth flower for November is one of the few hardy perennials still blooming at this time of year. Plant it in front of Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' for vibrant colour throughout the autumn months.

Nerine 'Bowdenii': Nerines are autumn-flowering bulbs that add dazzling colour to your garden in the latter part of the year. This variety has bright pink trumpet-shaped flowers that contrast nicely with tall ornamental grasses.

Agastache 'Blue Fortune': Agastache’s tall stems topped with spires of tiny flowers are a delightful companion for tall ornamental grasses during summer and autumn. Leave the flowerheads on for contrasting texture in winter.

 

FAQ

What is November’s birth flower?

There are two birth flowers for November: chrysanthemums and peonies. As peonies flower in spring or summer, you’ll want to plant chrysanthemums to enjoy a fresh bouquet of flowers from your garden on your birthday. Chrysanthemums are hardy perennials that flower late in the year in a range of vibrant colours, including pink, yellow and white.

What flowers can I plant in November?

You can plant winter bedding plants such as cyclamen, winter pansies and violas in pots or beds to add colour to any garden in November. As the weather turns colder, it’s also time to plant tulip bulbs. You can also plant container grown flowering perennials and shrubs this month, but avoid planting when the ground is frozen.