The landscape in Greater Columbus can be downright dreary during the winter months. The vibrant and varied colors of flowering plants are long gone from much of the landscape, and the green turf is largely replaced by shades of tan and brown.
Thank heavens for the green colors of evergreen trees and shrubs at this time of year, and the recent snowfall that has blanketed and brightened up the landscape.
While most flowering plants only bloom in warmer weather in Greater Columbus, there are several plants which flower in cold weather, providing much needed winter color in the landscape. Other plants provide winter color through the presence of berries or through branch color or texture.
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While it is too late to add many of these plants to your frozen landscape for this winter, now is the perfect time to plan for your first plant purchases of 2025 later this winter and spring.
Let’s take a look at some plants that will add winter color and interest to your landscape.
The berries of winterberry plants bring welcome color to the winter landscape.
Winter flowers
Several plants flower in cold weather, providing some of the only color in the winter landscape. Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a woody shrub with stunning fragrant blooms of yellow, orange and rust in winter.
Warm spells during the cold of winter typically cause the plant to begin blooming. The flowers adapt to cold temperatures by curling up.
Hellebores (Helleborus spp.) are some of the most hardy and long-lasting winter bloomers. These plants break through even the most frozen ground in late winter and provide winter blooms in shades of red, pink, white and yellow colors for weeks.
Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is a plant with small, yellow cup-shaped flowers which can bloom for weeks in winter before this low-growing plant goes dormant for the remainder of the year.
Crocuses (Crocus spp.) are typically one of the first flowers to appear in late winter in Greater Columbus, often poking their small stems out of a blanket of snow on the ground. Crocus flowers typically appear in late winter and very early spring.
Appearing around the same time as crocus are snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) with their dainty white flowers. Both crocuses and snowdrops should be planted in areas such as perennial beds or beneath trees so that they have space to spread and naturalize.
Winter pansies (Viola hiemalis) are annual flowers which are smaller than other types of pansies. Winter pansies grow best in cold weather and withstand both freezing temperatures and snow cover.
These flowers are perfect for planting in containers and in the ground near your front doorstep. These flowers are typically available at local garden centers in January and February.
Branch color
Red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) will instantly brighten up any winter landscape with blazing red branch color. This shrub dogwood grows in a variety of sunlight conditions and provides four-season interest in the landscape.
The spring flowers attract pollinators, variegated leaves provide summer interest and its foliage turns to yellow and red during fall. But this plant shines in winter with its shiny red color.
There are also yellow twig dogwoods (Cornus stolonifera) with branches in deep yellows. As a bonus, deer do not prefer most dogwood species.
Mike Hogan
Shrubs with colorful berries in winter
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a species of holly that is native to North America that sheds its leaves in winter. Although its light-green foliage and inconspicuous white flowers may not dazzle during the summer months, this plant begins to shine in autumn and winter with berries in shades of red, orange and even yellow depending upon the cultivar chosen.
All species of holly are dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Thus, in order to have fruit, you must have male and female winterberry plants for pollination.
Other shrubs which produce berries for winter color include chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), a compact shrub with deep-purple berries that remain on the plant through winter, and swamp rose (Rosa palustris) with huge ruby-red berries on large canes that contain thorns.
Both of these shrubs belong to the rose family and are self-pollinating. Swamp rose can be aggressive and may not be the ideal plant for small spaces.
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Incorporate evergreens
Consider adding more green to your winter landscape by adding more evergreen trees and shrubs to your landscape. Evergreen conifer trees include many species of pine, fir and spruce.
Evergreen shrubs such as boxwood, holly, rhododendron, yew and arborvitae provide year-round green color in the landscape. Thanks to plant-breeding technology, many different size cultivars are available for most of these species of evergreen trees and shrubs.
Trees with winter bark interest
While we think about foliage characteristics when we select trees for our landscape, several species of shade trees add color and texture to the landscape without foliage in winter.
Several species of birch trees have bright-white bark that adds visual interest to the landscape in both winter and summer.
Some species of shade trees also have exfoliating bark which peels from the tree trunk naturally, revealing variations of color underneath. Species of trees with this bark characteristic include sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), river birch (Betula nigra), dawn redwood (Metasequoia) and kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa).
Garden art can brighten up dreary winter landscapes.
Landscape art
For instant winter color, consider leaving garden bling outdoors over winter. In my travels, I have purchased glass sun catchers and Christmas tree ornaments which I used to hang in windowpanes in my home.
After moving to a different home, I decided to attach these glass ornaments to a rusting trellis in a perennial bed in my yard. While the color of these glass items is nice during the summer, they really shine in the landscape during winter.
I have also left colored bottle trees in the garden over winter. Some garden art cannot be left outside during freezing temperatures without becoming damaged, so be careful when choosing which items to leave outside during cold weather.
So, while you are looking at the snow outside your windows, make a plan for where you want to add some plants that will brighten up your home landscape at this time next year.
Mike Hogan is Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension.
hogan.1@osu.edu
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Garden: Bringing color into your winter landscape