Just like the Knights who say Ni of Monty Pythons’ “The Holy Grail,” you will be chanting, “We want shrubbery” when you hear these helpful hints on how to get your garden awash in colorful bushes all winter long.

According to Marlyn Myers, former Orcas Island Gardening Club president and avid gardener, “Fall is always good time to plant because all of this incredible rain allow roots to get established.”

At her house near Rosario, Myers has been tracking the amount of rainfall and since Oct. 13 the number has reached ten inches.

So this is the perfect time to get hearty perennials with woodsy stems into the soil. Myers adds that every shrub should be in the ground by the end of November. Beware of any plants left in pots this season as low temperature could crack the pottery.

Here are a few of Myers’ suggestions of what to plant:

Best all-around plants

Rhododendrons, Pieris japonica or “Japanese andromeda” and small Japanese maples.

Prettiest flowering plants

Camellias, the Christmas rose and the Linton rose, which flower at this time of year.

“It’s beautiful in the middle of winter to have flowering shrubs,” said Myers.

Best ferns

Autumn ferns are a kind of green and rust color now and then green most of the year.

“We also have a lot of native sword fern,” said Myers. “This is the perfect time to transfer them.”

Best plants with berries

The beauty bush has – you guessed it – beautiful metallic-blue berries in the fall and winter.

The cotoneaster plant has bright green leaves and is ornamented with bunches of bright, red berries

Best clothing options

Myers loves to be outdoors whether it be rainy, windy or cold. Her secret to gardening in winter temperatures? Wear two layers of long underwear.