Plants For Winter Interest: Popular Shrubs And Trees With Winter Interest
Many gardeners like to include shrubs and trees with winter interest in their backyard landscape. The idea is to add interest and beauty to the winter landscape to compensate for the garden’s lack of spring flowers and new green leaves during the cold season. You can brighten your winter landscape by selecting winter plants for gardens that possess ornamental characteristics. You can use trees and shrubs with winter interest, such as colorful fruit or exfoliating bark. Read on for information about plants for winter interest.
Plants for Winter Interest
Just because winter days are cold and cloudy does not mean you cannot have colorful displays of shrubs with winter interest that lure birds into your backyard. Nature always manages to offer variety and beauty in the garden with sunshine, rain, and snow. Ideal winter plants for gardens thrive in the backyard when the cold settles in, creating texture and surprises in the landscape when summer shrubs are dormant.
Shrubs with Winter Interest
For those who live in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 9, camellias (Camellia spp.) are excellent winter plants for gardens. The shrubs boast glossy, evergreen leaves and showy flowers in colors ranging from pink to brilliant red. Choose from hundreds of camellia species to select shrubs with winter interests that fit your landscape. If you don’t need flowers to grace winter plants for gardens, consider bush berries, with bright fruit that adds dots of vibrant color. Berries attract birds to your yard and might just help them survive through the long winter. Berry-producing shrubs with winter interest include:
- Firethorn (Pyracantha)
- Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
- Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
- Chinaberry (Melia azedarach)
Trees with Winter Interest
Evergreen holly (Ilex spp.) is a berry producer that grows into a lovely tree. The bright red berries and shiny, green holly leaves may make you think of Christmas, but these trees with winter interest also liven up your garden in the cold season. With hundreds of varieties of holly to choose from, you can find a tree that works well in the space you have. Another plant for winter interest is the crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). This beautiful tree is native to Southeast Asia. It grows to 25 feet (7.5 m.) in height and produces 12-inch (30.5 cm.) clusters of ruffled white or purple flowers. Its gray-brown bark peels back in patches along the branches and trunk, revealing the layer of bark beneath.
Gardening tips, videos, info and more delivered right to your inbox!
Sign up for the Gardening Know How newsletter today and receive a free download of our DIY eBook "Bring Your Garden Indoors: 13 DIY Projects For Fall And Winter".
Teo Spengler has been gardening for 30 years. She is a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Her passion is trees, 250 of which she has planted on her land in France.
-
Foraging Flowers: How To Forage Floral Plants – And Which Flowers You Can Pick For Free Edibles!
It’s fun to forage flowers, but it’s important to know the rules. Avoid areas that have been sprayed, beware of imposters and take only what you need.
By Tonya Barnett
-
9 Contemporary Small Garden Ideas – Maximize Style With A Modern Design
Some simple conceptual ideas can transform even the tiniest plot from humdrum to dream design. Try these 9 contemporary small garden ideas to modernize your plot
By Amy Grant
-
Best Trees For Carbon Sequestration And Climate Change
Let’s keep planting trees. They are our best bet for capturing carbon and may help with our global warming issues.
By Teo Spengler
-
7 Invasive Trees You Should Never Plant In Your Yard Or Garden
What are some invasive trees you should never plant in your yard? Click here to find out.
By Teo Spengler
-
How Close Can You Plant A Tree To A Stump?
Looking to plant new trees near old stumps or where stumps have been removed? Click here to learn how.
By Teo Spengler
-
Messiest Trees That Drop Debris Everywhere
Want to know which trees will create the biggest messes in your home landscape? Click here to find out.
By Amy Grant
-
How To Get Rid Of Tree Sprouts In The Yard From Nearby Trees
Learn the simple way to keep pesky tree seedlings in your lawn from becoming saplings.
By Teo Spengler
-
7 Common Tree Care Mistakes That Kill Trees
Are you accidentally killing your tree? It's easier than you think, if you're committing one of these common mistakes. Click here for more.
By Teo Spengler
-
How To Tell How Old A Tree Is
Ever wondered how to calculate the age of a tree? Click here to learn all about it.
By Teo Spengler
-
When To Remove Tree Stakes From Saplings
A newly planted tree may grow strong when it’s staked, but don’t forget to remove the stakes when it’s stable.
By Teo Spengler