Winter Aconite

Eranthis hyemalis

Welsh: Bleidd-dag y Gaeaf

A true harbinger of spring, Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) brings welcome colour to the garden in the very earliest weeks of the year, its cheerful golden flowers surrounded by a neat ruff of fresh green bracts. Native to mainland Europe, it has long been naturalised throughout the British Isles, where it is a familiar and much-loved sight in woodland, old plantations, and naturalistic gardens.

Particularly well suited to woodland edges, beneath deciduous trees, or naturalising in grass where the soil remains reasonably moist in winter and spring, it will establish happily over time in suitable conditions. Few plants offer such a cheerful promise of the gardening year to come. AGM