Perennial plants with winter interest help to maintain a vibrant landscape during the coldest months of the year. Even in regions with freezing winters, there are certain perennials that will continue to contribute a level of attractiveness through the season. These plants create a garden scene that you can enjoy until the weather warms, and the rest of your plants return from their dormancy in the spring.
Evergreen Perennial Plants
Evergreen perennial plants not only provide a consistent background in your landscape, but they also add depth and structure to winter gardens. In areas that receive snow, they create a striking contrast against the white background of early snowfalls. After remaining buried under snowfall for a couple of months, these plants will be the first plants to peek through and lift your spirits as the snow melts.
Evergreen Plants with Beautiful Leaf Shapes
Plants with unusual-shaped leaves add variety to your landscape in any season, but they really shine in a winter garden when most other plants are dormant, and their unique features can become a focal point. A combination of varied leaf textures and shapes – smooth, serrated, or lobed – can come together to create a dynamic winter garden scene.
Epimedium, Bishop’s Hat, Barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum)
Epimedium is a clump-forming perennial plant native to Japan. The plants produce delicate-looking wiry stems supporting a canopy of beautiful heart-shaped leaves. Foliage is evergreen in regions with mild winters. Small sprays of crimson and white flowers appear in spring.
European Ginger (Asarum europaeum)
European ginger makes a lovely groundcover with its dark green, glossy, heart-shaped leaves. This is a slow spreader, so you don’t have to worry about European ginger overwhelming surrounding plants. The foliage maintains a tidy mounded form as it spreads outward over time. Best of all the plants are evergreen, adding some color to dreary winter landscapes. Use in the foreground of a shrub or flower border, near water, or naturalized in moist woodland settings.
Green English Ivy (Hedera helix)
English Ivy is a true classic when it comes to groundcovers. Its rich green foliage creates a dense mass of color that can be used to cover large areas of ground, or encouraged as a vine to hide unsightly walls or fences. Evergreen foliage looks great year round and plants are easily pruned and trained for topiary or just to limit the spread. Commonly used to climb fences or walls. A reliable groundcover for any location.
Hellebore’s dense growing, palmate foliage brings lush coverage to shady gardens. Large, yet elegant saucer to cup-like blooms appear anywhere from late winter to mid-spring depending on the variety and your garden zone. The evergreen foliage is a welcome sight in the winter landscape. Beautiful in shady borders and woodland gardens. Looks great in rock gardens and informal, naturalized settings.
Pachysandra, Japanese Spurge (Pachysandra terminalis)
A fast-spreading carpet of evergreen foliage that looks good all season. Fragrant, white flowers bloom in early summer and attract a variety of pollinating insects. The perfect choice for brightening lifeless shaded areas. A reliable groundcover for any location. Beautiful in shady borders and woodland gardens. Effective under trees where lawn has difficulty establishing.
Yucca, Adam’s Needle (Yucca filamentosa)
The filamentosa species of Yucca is native to the eastern coast of the United States, but shares the desert-plant appearance and drought tolerance of its relatives from more arid regions. Spiky clumps of upright foliage provide multi-season interest with tall stalks of mid-to-late summer bloom clusters adding to the display. Excellent for use in difficult spots where nothing else can survive.
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Plants With Colorful Winter Foliage
There are some plants that retain their foliage year-round but their leaves may turn different shades during winter.
Some of these may be considered semi-evergreen and will require some tidying up when spring finally arrives. Until then, the colorful foliage of these plants helps brighten up dreary winter days.
Hybrid Coral Bells (Heuchera hybrid)
Years of research by plant hybridizers has resulted in a dazzling array of Coral Bell hybrids. Perfect for gardeners who like to express their creativity through foliage color and texture. Heuchera are native to woodlands, prairies and mountains, so there are varieties suited to any garden. Airy clusters of little bell-shaped flowers add a blush of color in summer.
Japanese Painted Fern ‘Metalicum’ (Athyrium niponicum)
The ‘Metalicum’ variety of Japanese painted fern is a deciduous selection that spreads via creeping rhizomes. The colorful fronds are a lovely blend of soft gray, red, and green. Ferns lend a peaceful feeling to any setting. Appropriate near water and in damp woodland settings. Makes a dependable mixed border plant. Combines well with hosta in woodland gardens.
Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca)
Blue fescue produces showy tufts of silvery blue foliage that add a sparkle to the landscape from spring to autumn. In early-to-mid summer, dainty beige blooms rise above the leaves. In winter, the foliage color changes to a soft tan, adding soft texture and interest to the winter landscape. Wonderful for mixed borders and rock gardens. Provides dramatic color and form to autumn and winter landscapes.
Lambs’ Ears, Wooly Betony (Stachys byzantina)
Lambs’ ears is a splendid choice for adding soft texture to the landscape. Forms a lush carpet of silver-gray, woolly foliage that spreads quickly. The silvery foliage creates a bold contrast when surrounded by colorful flowers and green foliage plants. Makes a dependable mixed border plant. Looks great in rock gardens. Combines beautifully with small ornamental grasses. Terrific plant for butterfly gardens.
Heartleaf bergenia is a dependable perennial selection that forms a clump of thick, glossy-green foliage. Long-lasting clusters of rosy pink flowers appear in spring, held just above the leaves on thick stems. This plant is evergreen in most regions with the foliage turning attractive shades of bronze to deep red during the cold months of winter.
Ajuga, Carpet Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
Ajuga is a quick-spreading, thick leaved groundcover suited to sunny or shady gardens. A multitude of varieties allows for the choice of green, purple or multi-hued foliage. All varieties have the added bonus of petite stalks of flowers early in the season. A reliable groundcover for any location. Perfectly sized for rock gardens and border fronts. Effective under trees where lawn has difficulty establishing.
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Ornamental Grasses in Winter
Ornamental grasses are one of the most popular perennial plants with winter interest. They’re at their dramatic best during winter when they become the focal point of the landscape. In addition to adding structure to the winter landscape, they can be a pleasing source of movement and sound on windy winter days.
Winter wildlife enjoy the hiding spaces large grasses provide for shelter from harsh weather or to avoid predators. In spring, before you cut back your ornamental grasses for the season, your dried grasses may be used by birds for nesting material.
Hardy Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana)
A truly magnificent specimen plant that has landscape appeal year-round. The graceful mound of grassy foliage is topped with feathery silver-gray plumes in summer that will persist all the way through the winter. The stalks can also be cut for use in dried arrangements indoors. Superb background plant or focal point for mixed borders.
Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum)
Switch Grass is a North American native grass. It forms a dense clump with a narrow, upright habit that provides a strong vertical accent in the landscape. It grows in just about any type of soil, but prefers sandy loam. Several varieties are available offering a range of foliage and panicle colors from which to choose. Provides good winter cover for small mammals and nesting material for birds in the spring.
Miscanthus, Ornamental Grass (Miscanthus species)
The Miscanthus types of grasses offer a wide array of beautiful foliage colors, forms and textures. There is sure to be one for nearly any location or need. The dry foliage adds winter interest in the landscape and provides nesting material for birds in the spring. Extremely tolerant of difficult hot, dry locations. An excellent specimen, foundation, or border plant.
Variegated Giant Reed Grass (Arundo donax var. versicolor)
A clump-forming, evergreen grass. Its leaves display a brilliant, creamy white variegation. Produces feathery, reddish brown flower spikes that turn to white at maturity. Especially nice in waterside gardens. Superb backing plant for mixed borders. Great for privacy screening on decks or blocking unsightly views. Creates a pivotal accent point in any garden.
Hakone Grass, Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra)
Hakonechloa’s unique, fluid form brings a relaxed elegance to the landscape. This plant originates in Japan, where it grows in woodland areas or in shaded niches among the mountain cliffs. A natural choice when the feel of a Japanese garden is desired. Mix Hakonechloa with other shade-loving foliage plants such as Hosta, Hellebore, and Polygonatum to create interesting textural contrast in areas where the light levels are too low for blooming plants to thrive.
Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis species)
Reed grasses are rugged, cool season grasses. They are incredibly carefree and even grow well in challenging clay soils. Species are available in a variety of colors from green to variegated forms, but they all produce tidy clumps of foliage that make a terrific focal point in the garden. The common name, “Feather Reed Grass”, comes from the tall, feathery plumes produced in late summer. Great in mixed borders, along fences and foundations, or grouped with other grasses for a natural effect.
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Trees with Beautiful Bark
By incorporating perennial plants with winter interest into your garden design, you can ensure that your outdoor space remains lively and engaging throughout the cold season. To add even more variety, there are trees with exceptionally colorful or textured bark that add year-round interest to the landscape. These trees really stand out in winter, especially when the surroundings are covered in snow. See our article on Trees with Beautiful Bark to discover trees you can use to expand the winter beauty of your landscape.
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