RICHMOND COUNTY — Fight the winter gloomies with bold and showy landscapes! Whether it is dormant trees and grasses, the fallen leaves of greener days, or bare spots where tender perennials once grew, many of our winter landscapes lack color and excitement. To add interest to your plantings, consider plants with unique winter characteristics such as bright colors, interesting textures and forms, evergreen foliage, persistent berries and seedheads. And definitely don’t forget to add art! Garden art adds personality and structure while enhancing surrounding plants.
Instant Color: One of my favorite ways to instantly add color to a landscape is with annuals. Pansies and violas come in a wide variety of colors and are well suited for containers and in ground plantings. They bloom reliably from fall through spring. Other annuals with great winter color are ornamental cabbages and kale, snapdragons, and sweet William.
My second favorite way to add color quickly to a winter landscape is with early blooming bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinth, and crocus. If you are looking for a perennial to provide winter color, hellebores (also called Lenton rose) are a great choice, with blooms that come in a range of colors from white, to green, to pink and deep purple. Hellebores have the added benefit of having hardy, evergreen foliage of glossy dark green that provides year round interest. For woody plants, the camelia is a classic choice for blooms. C. sasanqua, typically blooms in late fall and early winter, while C. japonica blooms in late winter to spring. The variety of flower size, shape and color is extensive with camellias, and there’s a size and form that can fit just about any space. Be sure to check the mature size of the cultivar you choose, however, as camellias are well known for overgrowing their space when the wrong cultivar is chosen for the site, as some can get quite large. Deciduous witch hazel (Hamamelis) and paper bush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) are also perfect for adding color, with the added bonus of a phenomenal fragrance.
Flowers aren’t the only way to add color, some trees and shrubs have colorful bark. Acer palmatum ‘Sango kaku’, also known as Coral Bark Japanese Maple, has striking red stems. If you are gardening in a smaller space ‘Little Sango’ has the same distinct color.
Structural Trees and Shrubs: A plant’s form is the three dimensional shape or mass of the plant. It is used to create structure and cohesion within a garden. Common plant forms include weeping, round, columnar, spreading, or contorted. An example of a weeping form is Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’. If you are looking for contorted or corkscrew form consider Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’, also known as Harry Lauder’s walking stick, or a corkscrew willow such as Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’. Columnar forms include Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’ or Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Snow White’. For low spreading forms, Juniperus horizontalis could be what you are looking for.
Evergreens: Evergreens are often the backbone of a winter landscape. They come in a variety of forms and textures. They aren’t limited to just needle-leaf trees; they include broadleaf trees and shrubs, perennials, and grasses. For coarse textures consider Fatsia japonica, southern magnolia, cast iron plant, or Aucuba japonica. Medium textured plants include Daphne, azalea, Pittosporum spp., Ilex cornuta ‘Crimson Fire’, camellia or gardenia. Fine textured evergreen plants include small leaf holly, Pinus mugo ‘Slowmound’, and rosemary. If you have a desert or mediterranean style garden or simply want to make a bold statement, agaves are a fascinating addition that maintain their color and structure year-round.
Berries and Seedheads: Some plants have persistent berries that can provide a pop of color throughout the winter months. Others have seedheads that provide structure. Both can provide food for wildlife. Plants with persistent berries are Ilex verticillata, Malus ‘Adams,’ or Crataegus pinnatifida.
Don’t be too quick deadheading your perennials. Dead, standing seedheads can provide architectural interest while serving as a nesting place for pollinators. Rudbeckia, echinacea, sedum, bee balm, and goldenrod have great winter forms. Finally, ornamental grasses provide movement and structure. Attractive winter grasses include feather reed grass, sea oats, a fine blue fescue such as festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’, little bluestem, or fountain grass.
Don’t let the winter gloomies get you down; spend the next few months designing a landscape that you want to be in every season. For expert help with soil preparation or plant selection contact North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Richmond County Center at 910-997-8255. You can also learn about our latest workshops by visiting our Facebook page or the Events tab of our website.