Winter is the ever-returning friend and foe of gardeners. You may rue the arrival of Jack Frost every year, driving you inside and sapping all the color from your garden. But did you know that there are many plants that keep your garden looking beautiful throughout the cold months of the year too?
Looking to liven up your white-washed winter landscape? Dust the dreariness with one of these winter interest shrubs!
#5 Arctic Fire® Dogwood Bushes
During the growing season, the Arctic Fire® Dogwood shrub is a gorgeous flowering deciduous shrub! Round and green and merry, it is a cute little ball of greenery that birds and butterflies adore, especially when the clusters of creamy blooms appear!
But then when winter comes, its leaves fall away, exposing its fiery red-orange branches! They spray upward from the snow like fire, boldly defying the cold. Snip the stems for winter décor and bouquets, or just enjoy them outdoors for brilliant color that stands out against the winter snow!
- 3 - 4 Feet Tall & Wide
- Lush Green Leaves & Rounded Form
- White Clusters of Blooms
- Fiery Red Fall & Winter Color
- Bird & Butterfly-Friendly
- Privacy, Specimens, Hedges & Accents
#4 Holly Bushes
Holly Bushes are a timeless winter tradition! Stalwart and green all year long, many are broad-leaf evergreens, while others are deciduous varieties. The iconic spiny leaves of many varieties make it a great pop-up in any garden location. Not only are these ornamental foliage of evergreen varieties gorgeous all winter, but the brilliant red berries of deciduous shrubs stand out incredibly!
Holly are beautiful as a border shrub, hedge, specimen, foundation shrub, framing an entrance, or simply standing in a field of snow. The best part? Its berries are bird-friendly and look great in floral décor. Consider them an early burst of color to herald the coming spring!
- Deciduous Holly - American Holly, Winterberry, Yaupon, & Possumhaw
- Evergreen Holly - Inkberry, English, Japanese Holly, Hybrid Red, Chinese & Meserve
#3 Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
Gorgeous contorted shrubby trees, the twisting, curving, and spiraling stems of the Contorted Filbert variety Harry Lauder's Walking Stick will really show its stuff in the winter once the deciduous leaves drop! The way these show off in the winter landscape, especially when sculpted with snow, the curly branches twisting every which way in an ornamental manner!
These unique umbrella-shaped specimen trees look great year-round and can even provide edible nuts like their Hazelnut relatives. Go bold with the dark stems and deep burgundy foliage of the Red Dragon Contorted Filbert shrub or tree form!
- Unique Catkins in Spring
- Harry Lauders Walking Stick Has Nuts in Fall (Red Dragon does not)
- Contorted Twisting Branching
- Textured Green Leaves
- Gorgeous Winter Interest
#2 Fire Chief™ Arborvitae
Arborvitae often transform into bronzy hues for the winter in cold growing zones, but none are as brilliant as the Fire Chief™ Arborvitae Shrub! This little red-tipped evergreen grows in sun and becomes a naturally round shrub and easy-care hedge.
During the winter, it is a valuable source of food and shelter for your garden's visitors. Fire Chief™ will make your yard a popular spot for migrating birds as well as deer and other non-hibernating herbivores. If you're a wildlife lover in a temperate climate, this Thuja is your friend.
- Bright gold foliage turns brighter in spring
- Red-tipped bright green Evergreen
- Rounded fluffy globe-shaped shrub
- Resists sun and winter burning
- Wildlife friendly
#1 Cardinal Candy® Viburnum
Taking the crown for winter wonders, the Cardinal Candy® Viburnum is the full package! It's cold-hardy, of course, and highly ornamental in every season, and panders to the local pollinators and wildlife. During the growing seasons, it grows tall and wide and features white flower clusters that form gorgeous pollinator-friendly clusters.
As autumn falls, its leaves turn burgundy and its flowers turn to large clusters of brilliant bright-red fruit that birds love! The fruits persist throughout the winter, always shining ruby bright despite snow and chill. Plant with another Viburnum dilatatum for increased pollination and therefore more of those incredible red berries!
- Gorgeous clusters of creamy white blooms
- Lush green leaves and burgundy fall color
- Brilliant red berry clusters with a pollinator nearby
- Dense round form that wildlife love
Winter Doesn't Have to Win! Fight Back With Winter Interest Shrubs!
Bring on the bold winter color with these and many more shrubs, trees, and plants that display incredible color when you need it most!
Whether it is incredible persisting berries, fiery winter stems, evergreen foliage, unique contorted form, or dramatic evergreen foliage, Winter Interest plants will amaze you all year round!
Check out these unique late-season plants for your landscape today at Nature Hills Nursery!
Happy Planting!
