Winter doesn’t mean that you’ve to look at only grey twigs, branches and trees in your landscape. There are several options to create a vibrant and colourful yard even during the long cold winter months. If you’re looking for ways to introduce beautiful colours to your winter landscape, here are six plants that you can add to your garden.
1. Jelena Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’)
It’s a small deciduous tree best known for its distinctive flowers that bloom from late fall till January. The best variety of witch hazels, they grow in small clusters typically along the branch and often stay in bloom after the leaves have fallen. The late winter flowers are coppery-orange in colour that lends the winter garden its much-needed colour. Slightly acidic, organic, and well-drained soil is ideal for the growth of this vase-shaped tree that can grow 10-14 feet tall.
2. Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium)
The name “Oregon grape” originated from a purple coloured cluster of berries that look like grapes. If you’re looking for a combination of fragrance and vibrant colour, this evergreen shrub is what you need to have in your winter garden. Their dark-green sharply toothed leaves turn purple during the winter months and the blooms are yellow in colour. The scent of the flowers resembles the fragrance of the lily-of-the-valley flowers. The shrub can grow to an average height of 3-6 feet in loam soil. It also has several medicinal uses, including skin disorders and digestive problems
3. Gladwin Iris (Iris foetidissima)
Also known as stinking iris, gladdon, and roast-beef plant, this iris species produces attractive scarlet seeds that appear in fall and remain throughout the winter. The plant grows to a height of 2.6 feet and can thrive in both damp and dry soil conditions.
4. Japanese Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles japonica)
It’s a thorny deciduous shrub that thrives in extreme climates and blooms during the winter. The colour of the flowers varies from scarlet to fiery red. Japanese Flowering Quince makes an excellent natural fence and isn’t difficult to grow. Having a ground-hugging pattern of growth, it can grow up to 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide when mature. It’s a highly tolerant shrub that can grow in any type of soil.
5. Hellebore (H.niger)
They’re a popular garden flower and known as Christmas roses for their resemblance to fresh cut red roses. Hellebores come in a wide variety of colours such as white, pink, burgundy, light green and rose. These flowers are usually dormant in the summer months and bloom during November to April. Hellebores are perennial plants that can thrive in little sunlight or shade.
6. Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)
Snowdrops come with pendant ethereal looking white flowers that bloom during the late winter months. It’s a slightly honey-scented plant variety that grows to a height of 1 foot in moist soil. They’re relatively easy to grow and can bloom underneath the snow. You can even brush away the snow and find the vibrant petals not curling up or dying. However, the flowers always droop downwards, so it’s best to cultivate it on raised beds.
Now that you have this list of plants, add some of them to your garden and get ready to enjoy the beautiful colours on your winter lawn. Start working today with your gardening tools and create a mesmerising window view for future winters!