By Jim McCausland, Sunset senior garden writer
In some ways, the Butchart Gardens near Victoria, BC, has more to get the attention of both avid gardeners and their non-gardening families in winter than in any other season.
For non-gardeners, there’s caroling, outdoor ice skating (they install a 3,300-square-foot outdoor rink every winter), restaurants, shops, and greenhouses full of Christmas plants. Walk through the 
gardens and find the Twelve Days of Christmas displays, see the fountains, and enjoy the ornaments that fill the trees along the way. And after dark, which comes early this month, look at the jaw-dropping display of colored lights that illuminate plants throughout the garden.
The most hard-core gardeners will probably walk right past all this and focus on the plant combinations and the structure that makes this garden great. Rick Los, the gardens’ horticulturist, wrote me that “In 1999 we developed a small garden area which was planted specifically for plants with winter interest. This area is located near two towering Redwood trees and contains a collection of ferns, bulbs, perennials, shrubs and trees that provide winter interest (not specifically December) in some shape or form.”
His plant choices really cover the bases for winter gardening. Here are his categories, and the plants that fill them.
Bark & ornamental thorns
Betula utilis jacquemontii—Jacquemontii birch
Cornus sericea—Redtwig dogwood
Rubus cockburnianus—White-stemmed bramble
Berries
Callicarpa—Beautyberry
Ilex ‘Sparkleberry’—Holly
Bulbs, corms, rhizomes
Chionodoxa lucilae—Glory of the snow
Convallaria majalis—Lily of the Valley
Crocus species
Eranthis hyemalis—Winter aconite
Galanthus elwesii ‘Floro Pleno’—Snowdrop
Galanthus nivalis—Common snowdrop
Iris danfordiae
Iris reticulata
Muscari—Grape hyacinth
Puschkinia scilloides
Scilla siberica—Siberian squill
Deciduous trees for structure
Acer palmatum—Japanese maple (several; check out the Japanese garden)
Shrubs and small trees for flowers
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’—Sasanqua camellia
Cornus mas—Cornelian cherry
Corylopsis platypetala and Corylopsis spicata—Winter hazel
Jasminium nudiflorum—winter jasmine
Mahonia japonica ‘Hivernant’
Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana
Pieris japonica—Japanese andromeda
Stachyrus praecox
Sycopsis sinensis
Prunus cerasifera—Flowering plum
Viburnum tinus
Shrubs for fragrance
Chimonanthus praecox—Wintersweet
Daphne bholua
D. mezereum—Winter daphne
Daphne retusa
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’ and Hamamelis mollis—Witch hazel
Lonicera x purpusii—winter honeysuckle
Sarcococca hookeriana humilis
Viburnum bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’
Shrubs for golden and variegated leaves
Buxus sempervirens ‘Aurea’—Golden boxwood
Euonymous fortunei ‘Blondy’
Euoymous fortunei ‘Emerald Gaity’
Euonymous fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n Gold’
Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Tricolor’—Holly-leaf osmanthus
Winter perennials
Bergenia cordifolia ‘Silberlicht’
Cornus canadensis—Canadian bunchberry
Helleborus (23 varieties)
Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’
Pulmonaria (6 varieties)
Shrubs for structure
Ilex crenata ‘Convexa’
The Butchart Gardens is 14 miles north of Victoria in Brentwood Bay. For driving directions, public transit information, and a list of special holiday events, go to www.butchartgardens.com or call 866 652-4422. Open 9-9 Dec 1-Jan 6 (open 1-9 Christmas Day). Admission $22.50 CAN for adults; $11.25 CAN ages 13-17; $3.00 CAN ages 5-12.
