Best Winter Garden Plants

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Do not let plants entering dormancy fool you. Many plants shine their brightest in the winter months.

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For gardeners, winter can be the most satisfying time of the year to have blooms and interest in the garden. Don’t underestimate the amount of plants that really shine in the winter garden. Here are some of our favourite plants to use in winter gardens for their flowers, foliage, stem or berry interest.

For flowers:

• Witch hazel (Hamamelis sp) - A small tree that flowers in early spring, often when snow is still on the ground, in shade of red to vibrant yellow

• Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’) - This large winter blooming shrub has fragrant pink flowers on bare stems.

• Camellia - Camellia sasanqua begins blooming in the fall, followed by Camellia japonica which flowers from winter to mid spring. Beautiful blossoms in a range of forms from formal to single flowers, in shades of white through to bright red, are held atop glossy evergreen foliage.

• Sweetbox (Sarcococca ruscifolia) - Tiny white, delightfully fragrant flowers appear from January to February. 

• Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) - This vining shrub produces bright yellow flowers on bare stems and flowers late winter.

• Silk Tassel Bush (Garrya elliptica) - In late fall to early spring ornamental, long, creamy to greenish yellow catkins appear on this evergreen shrub. Excellent shrub for north facing walls, and very drought tolerant.

• Skimmia japonica (Male varieties) - Dark red flower buds form in autumn opening to soft white flowers in spring, on this compact male skimmia. Glossy, green evergreen foliage.

For berries

• Beautyberry (Callicarpa sp.)

• Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

For foliage impact:

• Silver foliage

• Lavender

• Culinary sage (Salvia officinalis)

• Glacier Blue Spurge (Euphorbia ‘Glacier Blue’)

• Lime foliage 

• Japanese Sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, ‘Everglow’)

• Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’) 

• Gold Rider Leyland Cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii 'Gold Rider')

• Dark foliage or flowers 

• Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon nigrescens)

• Anna’s Red Hellebore (Helleborus ‘Anna’s Red’)

• Red foliage

• Coral bells (Heuchera ‘Obsidian’)

• Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica ‘Gulf Stream’)

• Yellow foliage

• Chief Joseph shore pine (Pinus contorta ‘Chief Joseph’)

• Louie White pine (Pinus strobus ‘Louie’)

• Carsten’s Wintergold mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Carsten’s Wintergold)

• Winter Sun mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Wintersonne’)

For stem interest

• Redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea syn. Cornus stolonifera)

• Willow (Salix sp.)

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