With winter just a few months away and most plants going dormant, you can still have an interesting property, because a winter landscape has a beauty of its own. Winter brings its own set of striking colours, so fall is the perfect time to start planting a few selections that will stay colourful and look great while everything else is brown and leafless.
Instead of having your gardens look dull or lifeless, you can incorporate different varieties of plants, evergreens, and shrubs to make your garden look interesting and colourful all year long. Therefore, now is the time to add these winter-hardy plants that will produce strong interest and colour before the really cold weather settles in.
Evergreens
Any type of evergreen is a winter candidate because they retain their green colour throughout the winter season. Against the white snow, green reminds us of the summer months and all its glory, but these colourful winter plants can add interest because of their contrast to the dull months.
Many evergreens have structures for eye appeal with rounded or upright stature, also many produce berries that add colour and interest to their frames. Take, for example, the Evergreen Holly that boasts the glossy green foliage and bright red berries. A cousin to this evergreen is the winterberry that punctuates winter with its showy berry display. This not only draws the eye, but it is an attractive winter display in any part of your landscape.
The Japanese False Cypress is a lovely addition to the garden for winter colour with its fine, soft needles or threadlike appearance. The shaggy or mop-like top of this evergreen is one of the false cypress cultivars that adds a bright golden green colour to the landscape in contract with darker evergreens.
The Winter Daphne is another great example of an evergreen shrub that is stunning in a colourful winter garden. This hardy shrub has variegated leaves edged in yellow and blooms in early spring to late winter with rosy pinkish purple flower buds that open to light pink or white star-shaped blooms.
The Firethorn is a semi-evergreen plant that produces bright orange-red berries in the fall through the winter. It provides a sharp contrast to the blanket of winter white and great focal point in any colourful garden. This variety looks particularly good in a hedge or on a trellis.
The Cold-Hardy Camellias is an evergreen plant with beautiful white or pink blooms that will make you do a double-take because the stunning blooms startle everyone in the cold months. This plant is now available throughout North America and can be found under the names ‘Polar Ice’, ‘Snow Flurry’, ‘Winter’s Hope’, ‘Winter’s Rose’, ‘Winter’s Star’, and ‘Winter’s Charm’.
Plants & Shrubs
Red Osier Dogwood is one of the favourite deciduous shrubs that grace many gardens. The bright green bark, twigs, and leaves of spring and summer turn to a deep red in fall when the leaves drop revealing its rich burgundy colours.
The Witch Hazel is a deciduous shrub that has delicate, threadlike bright yellow petals that bloom in late fall and accents winter. It is a multi-stemmed rounded plant that, in addition to its petals, curls up at night but unfurls on sunny days.
Winter Gardens
There are many choices available to keep your garden from looking lifeless and dull throughout the winter months. With a little planning and the right evergreen, outdoor winter plants and shrubs, you can have a garden that dazzles all winter long.
Don’t want to go through the trouble of designing and building a colourful winter garden yourself? Evergreen Landscapes is committed to creating and maintaining the garden of your dreams, regardless of the season. Contact us today and our team of experts will be ready to help.
