At this time of the year, some plants that can be overlooked in summer come into their own.

Coloured stems of Cornus (dogwoods) and Salix (willows) look superb in the winter sunshine on a crisp day.

The berries of Cotoneaster (a brilliant bee-plant), persist well and, on the tree-like proportions of Cotoneaster cornubia, look stunning.

Other plants offer us scent in the form of flowers held along leafless stems. Such glories as the under-used Chimonanthus praecox (Wintersweet), Lonicera x purpusii and fragrantissima, Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and ‘Charles Lamont’ are seriously good additions to the winter garden.

The Witch Hazel (Hamamelis) is also a corker. Wonderful spidery flowers adorn the length of the leafless stems in shades of yellows, oranges and burnt copper. Hamamelis x media ‘Diane’ is the reddest, ‘Jelena’ is a coppery-orange and ‘Pallida’ is a shining yellow.

They prefer moist but not wet soil with a pH between 4.5 and 6.5. They will tolerate some chalk if the soil depth over it is adequate. Plant them in a dappled shade area but so the low winter light can shine through the flowers, and give them space to grow. Expect to pay a good sum for a good-sized plant.

Scent also comes in the shape of the prepared Hyacinths given as gifts in baskets over the Christmas period. These are exactly the same bulb as the garden/bedding Hyacinths that normally bloom in March, except that they have been temperature-treated to force them into flower earlier.

This means that you can plant them out in the garden once they have gone over as a houseplant, and they will revert to their normal flowering period.

There is still plenty of time to get bare-rooted things into the ground as well – such things as deciduous trees, hedging, soft fruit and roses. The only proviso is to stay off the soil if it is too wet to work properly as you will damage its structure.

If bare-root stuff arrives in the post and you are not able to plant it immediately, pop it in a bucket of water for a day or two and then either whack it in a pot of compost or heel it in a part of the garden that is at least accessible. You can lift it out to plant properly at a later time.

Helleborus orientalis will be budding up but the old leaves will be looking manky by now – they often get black fungal spots on them and need to be cut right off and put in the recycling bin rather than your garden compost. The emerging buds are tough enough to cope with whatever the weather throws at them.

A mention of pansies here – they often get fungal leaf spots as well and there is no cure. Simply pick off the worst leaves or, if the whole plant is looking sickly, hoik it out.