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Step 1
Choose tall hardy grasses. Tall ornamental grasses are great space fillers that add color throughout the year. But, choosing a winter hardy variety will bring interesting shades of color during even the coldest months. Hardy Pampas Grass, Northern Sea Oats, Miscanthus and Panicum Virgatum ornamental grasses are all hardy to zones 4 or 5 and good choices for winter garden color.
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Step 2
Play it safe with evergreens. Nothing says winter wonderland like a blanket of snow with evergreens dotting the landscape. But, gardeners are not stuck with the usual conical pine trees these days. There are a wide variety of sizes and shapes for winter gardening enthusiasts. Fir and Cypress are popular evergreen tree choices. For smaller spaces, opt for hardy evergreen shrubs such as Boxwoods and Juniper. The Arborvitae family of shrubs has a huge selection of evergreen plants.
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Step 3
Brighten a garden with berries. Berry shrubs and bushes offer a splash of gold, red, purple or orange color to an otherwise stark landscape. Holly, Nandina, Gaultheria, Bayberry and Firethorn offer eye-catching winter berries. For stunning enhancement to your winter garden, plant Beautyberries. Beautyberries are a tall shrub that flowers in the warm months and offers bright purple berries in colder weather.
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Step 4
Pick winter hardy flowers for a splash of color. Depending on your planting zone, you can find a variety of plants that thrive and bloom in the winter. Witch Hazel, Wintersweet, Daphne, Sweetbox and many shrubs from the Hellebores family such as Christmas or Winter Roses bloom during the winter.
Comments
godfather25 said
on 7/19/2009 Excellent article.