At this time of year I always appreciate those plants that did lovely things in spring or summer – delicate spring blossom or glorious summer flowers for instance – but now give a little bit more into autumn and winter. They’re like the best type of friend, those who go the extra mile for you when you weren’t expecting it!

Plants with 2+ seasons of interest are also the best friends of a small garden/space owner. You need plants that don’t just do one fabulous thing for two weeks then fade shyly into the background (Peonies come to mind!). You want something that earns its place, twice over. These are also great plants for prominent positions: near a front gate, or close to the house for instance.

So here are some of my favourite 2+ season stars in my own garden:

Hip-bearing roses: Rosa ‘Ballerina’

I used to peruse the David Austin Roses online catalogue and be wooed by floriforous visions of glorious roses in bloom, and nothing wrong with that. But how do they look in autumn and winter? Sometimes pretty sad and leggy! But if you go for a hip-bearing rose, you get a bonus. They add interest and provide food for the birds.

Rosa ballerina, an old hybrid musk, makes sweet round orange-red hips that look like little balls, mine are just coming through now. Not only that, it’s been producing large clusters of pretty single flowers since May, which are a huge hit with bees.

Winter structure perennials: Sedum / Hylotelephium spectabile

Perennials are the crucial element in any garden, but do they keep on giving after flowering? Hylotelephium spectabile does, its fat clusters of blooms keep their structure wonderfully all through winter, adding something genuinely interesting in the bleaker months.

I’ll be using Sedum in a planting scheme for a very hot front garden facing south. Its architectural form seems to compliment looser planting really nicely. It’s also very drought tolerant, great for a hot sunny area. It stores water in its fleshy leaves so you don’t have to water it!

Grasses for autumn to winter interest: Hakonechloa macra

Ornamental grasses are fantastic for adding movement to a garden, and many have interesting seed heads or simply look good even after the leaves have died. Hakonechloa, the Japanese forest grass makes great dense clumps, best in partial shade. The leaves turn coppery brown after the first frost but I think this still looks nice, lots of texture remains through winter until storms and wet eventually get the better of them.

Fruiting trees: Malus ‘Evereste’

I love a fruiting tree, and an all time favourite of mine is crabapple. Lovely spring blossom followed by cute little apples which stay on well into winter, until the birds devour them (blackbirds enjoy them in my garden). Great also as a small tree within view of the house or near a patio. Here’s one I planted in a client’s garden this spring:

They also look lovely on a Christmas wreath!

So there are a few that I’m enjoying at the moment. Do you have any great plants that keep on giving to add to my list?

Have a lovely Sunday, I’m taking a break now after a busy day yesterday planting new borders in a client’s garden. Some multi-season star plants went in there too (there’s more on that on my Instagram @the_nostalgic_gardener).