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Working in an office environment can often leave us feeling detached from the natural world, however, this doesn’t have to be the case. As we grow and evolve in the workplace, many companies are seeing the value of making an office feel more like a home for its employees. This is where a garden comes into play.
A garden within the boundaries of your office can be a wonderful place for people to relax, reset, and improve their mental health before heading back for the afternoon. It has been proven many times that fresh air and sunlight both have a positive impact on mental health and productivity, and today we want to help you create a wonderful sensory space in your office garden even in the winter.
Here are some of the easiest flowers and plants you can grow during the winter months to help yourself and your employees relax and reset during their working day.
Pansies
When we think of pansies we often think about them as being spring flowers and very much a sign of the warmer weather returning, but actually, pansies are a great example of a winter plant that will bloom all the way from autumn to the early spring. If you plant them this weekend they will be able to bloom and add color to your garden all through the season and it will make your garden look stunning. To help get them started, you can also source a fertilizer wholesaler and ensure that your whole office garden space is ready for bloom and growth.
Crocus
Crocus is a stunning little flower that grows from a bulb and will serve as one of the first signs of life in a garden in late February to early March. For those in the office who are struggling with seasonal affective disorder, these stunning purple and yellow gems can be the perfect medicine. If you plant some bulbs around your office garden space now, they will keep coming back year after year to brighten up a dark and dingy winter day.
Violas
If you aren’t familiar with violas, they are basically like mini pansies and therefore they act in much the same way as the former. Viola plants produce lots of cute little flowers and they are a very dainty plant to have in the space at this time of year. There are lots of different varieties of violas so you should pretty much be able to find something to suit any style and any garden space you have access to. These work really well in hanging baskets too so keep that in mind!
Primrose
The primrose is one of those followers which seem to be a sign of the spring to come and they are the epitome of spring life, color, and delicacy. Of course, these lovely flowers will grow more swiftly if you use a greenhouse, however, they are happy to stay in the cold too. This is a beautiful cottage flower that is a popular choice for gardens all over the world due to its diverse colors and pretty petals. If you plant these beauties in the early autumn you should gain some lovely flowers by early winter and these will last for pretty much the whole season depending on the variety and the conditions you use.
Sweet William
Sweet Williams are one of those flowers which are ideal for picking during the year and placing in a little vase in your kitchen, they have stiff stems and stunning little flowers which come in a range of colors and give a beautiful scent. You can plant these in the autumn and they will grow and flower the following year towards the end of the summer, they have colors ranging from white to red to purple and are a beautiful addition to your garden space.
Snowdrops
Perhaps the most infamous winter flower of all time, the snowdrop is a stunning, delicate little flower that looks exactly as it sounds. Even during the harsh frost and snowstorms, you will be able to find these little gems popping up all over your garden bringing a beautiful white flower with it. You can plant these bulbs in the ground anytime now and then they will start to flower during December and January when it is at its coldest.
Polyanthus
Polyanthus are similar style plants to primroses but they have umbels on top which is slightly different from primrose. You will need to think about planting these guys pretty soon and they will be ideal for your flower beds or borders to bring small bursts of beautiful color and delicate shape for the winter period. These are other plants that work amazingly in window boxes and in hanging baskets outside the house.
Wallflower
Wallflowers are probably the easiest options to plant out of everything on our list in the winter. Whereas other plants will have certain preferences when it comes to light and soil, wallflowers really aren’t fussy at all and this means that they can pretty much be planted anywhere in the garden or in a window box if you prefer. If you plant these at the start of autumn you can get varieties that either flower during autumn or will flower late winter coming into spring. You can have some fun with these plants and add them in several areas of the garden to really bring life and light to the space.
Forget-me-not
Forget-me-nots are one of those plants where you are able to sow a small amount of seed and they will slowly spread throughout your bed bringing small blue, purple, and pink flowers with them. They are super hardy and happy to thrive almost anywhere so when you plant these guys you shouldn’t have any problems with keeping them alive through the winter and early spring.
Try planting some of these plants this winter in your office garden and see a huge improvement in the morale of your workers going forward into spring.
