This is one of the most beautiful months at Wisley - your own winter wonderland to explore. In the coldest weather, frosted seed heads and iced berries sparkle in the winter sun, and the air is full of scent from Sarcococca, Daphne, Lonicera, Viburnum and Hamamelis.
Birches (Betula) and maples (Acer) have bark in shades of white, peach and brown, sometimes hanging off in strips like the rich, glossy reddish-brown of the paperbark maple Acer griseum AGM. You can find these trees on Battleston Hill, Weather Hill, Seven Acres and down into the Pinetum and Howard’s Field.
Battleston Hill and the Wild Garden are relatively sheltered, and unless a harsh frost has got to them, this is the perfect month to admire the abundant and exquisite, colourful camellias.
On a sunny day you can be dazzled by the beautiful bark from regularly coppiced Salix (willow), Cornus (dogwood), and Rubus (bramble), mainly around the Seven Acres lake and in the Jubilee Arboretum. Young stems contrast against one another in groups of yellow, red, orange, mahogany and white. Outside Weather Hill Cottage is the fiery Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’.
At ground level, the beauty is delicate, especially in the patterned leaves of Cyclamen coum AGM, Arum italicum and Pulmonaria. Hellebores (Helleborus) are in flower, as are bright yellow winter aconites, Eranthis hyemalis AGM.
Spider-shaped flowers unfurl with petals resembling ribbons of yellow, orange or red, and some offer a glorious fragrance in the still winter air. Yellow-flowered ones types best planted against an evergreen background, whereas red or orange flowered witch hazels look finest if given light and space. Look out for them on Battleston Hill and in the Wild Garden.
Look out for Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida' AGM around the garden. It has large, bright sulphur-yellow flowers, with broad petals and a delicate but strong, sweet scent. It is probably the best sulphur-yellow cultivar available for garden use. It stands out well from a distance, and up close you can see the red-purple calyx.
Increasingly as the month progresses you will see small green shoots push up through the soil and reveal their sparkling white flowers. Snowdrops (Galanthus) are in abundance at Wisley, especially around the Rock Garden and Wild Garden.