Winter doesn’t have to be a barren time. With some planning you can create an appearance of lushness in the garden with an abundance of winter greenery to enjoy outdoors and indoors.
Well-behaved Ivy and relatives
People get a bit nervous about planting anything in the ivy realm but there are some useful choices that are well-behaved and provide beautiful winter greenery. It’s always wise to check for potential invasiveness of a given species in your area before planting.
Himalayan Ivy
Consider Hedera nepalensis with it’s striking leaves streaked in silver and burgundy in winter.
Or you can play it safe and go with one of the Fatshederas which are a hybrid between the Japanese Aralia Fatsia japonica and common ivy, and have some of the most eye-catching evergreen foliage in the plant world.
For your holly fix, consider the adorably small-leaved and small-statured Dwarf Pagoda Japanese Holly or Ilex crenata ‘Geisha‘. Every garden can work one of these in to provide form and structure to the Winter landscape.
Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’ is another very useful plant. I love to think of it as a stand-in for an Italian Cypress in mini form. Very charming and elegant.
So many expected and unexpected choices for living Christmas trees which you can continue to enjoy in the garden years after the season has passed, from Spruce to Olive.
Long a symbol of peace–what better tree to represent the spirit of the season? Olive trees may not jump to mind when thinking of winter interest but they have lovely silvery evergreen foliage that really shines in the darker season.
When flowers are in short supply you can still bring the outside in with winter greenery. Be sure to plant some treasures with interesting foliage and leaves to enjoy indoors.We have gorgeous greenery you will have to guard from any neighborhood florists.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus perriniana has the classic florist foliage. A very quick grower that easily rebounds even if frozen to the ground, it can be cut back regularly and grown as a shrub.
The coin-shaped leaves of Eucalyptus perriniana in pale grey and lime green are wonderful in mixed bouquets but also beautiful on their own. Photo by Patricia Cunningham. Shop Eucalyptus perriniana
Hebe-jeebies are among many excellent options officially in the genus of Veronica. Often forgotten, Little Prince Nursery reminds us they are versatile plants excellent for borders, containers and mass plantings.
Consider plant choices year-round for an all-season garden
While spring is the traditional busy season for nurseries, winter is a wonderful time to take stock of the spots in the garden that could use some seasonal interest. Browsing nurseries during the off-peak months is a great way to find gems that sparkle all year round. Shop winter interest plants
Planting now for Spring feels like money in the bank.
Read on for 6 unusual Spring flower bulbs that are true treasures from Secret Garden Growers nursery:
Honey Garlic
Allium siculum sends up spires topped with pendulous flowers in dusty shades of mauve and yellow. Definitely a showstopper. Plus it’s easy to grow and looks good even after blooming. The dried flower heads are a florist’s dream.
Also knows as Sicilian Honey Lily, Allium siculum is a surprising Spring bulb that pairs well with other soft colors. Photo by Leafari. Shop Allium siculum
Species Tulips
Given good drainage and dry conditions in Summer, Tulipa turkestanica is a species tulip that will return and naturalize, spreading cheer for many Springs to come.
Galanthus ‘Hippolyta’ is one of the first signs of Spring, blooming in late Winter and earning it the nickname ‘snowdrop’ for its ability to poke its head out of the snow. This is an extra rare and beautiful variety. Plant in pots to get the precious blooms in closer proximity.
I’ve never understood why fritillaria aren’t as popular as daffodils and tulips, because as Spring flower bulbs they are just as magical and easy to grow. Fritillaria uva-vulpis is a graceful and exquisite variety with fine, blue-grey foliage that pairs well with all sorts of Spring color-schemes.
If you have a rain swale or area of your garden that stays moist in the Spring this regal and graceful PNW native Camas Camassia cusickii will naturalize, creating an enchanted meadow look.
Iris japonica ‘Variegata’ would be worth growing for the high-contrast foliage alone but also produces striking orchid-like flowers. A stunner all around.
So many interesting and unusual bulbs, corms, and tubers for a sophisticated garden
There are so many to love, it’s hard to pick just a few. The checkerboard lily Fritillaria meleagris seen in the first photo can be found here.
Honorable mention:
Perennial collector’s favorite Jack in the Pulpits, Arisaemas
Little Prince of Oregon Nursery always has something to inspire plant lust. Here is a selection of some new and old crushes.
Oddities and rarities:
Alocasia ‘Red Secret’
First up on my list of plants making me swoon is Red Jewel Alocasia. Ooh la la. Alocasia ‘Red Secret’ lends an exotic and tropical look to gardens with metallic maroon-brown leaves. I love thinking about growing it as a houseplant to enjoy inside.
A longtime favorite plant of mine which deserves a home in all gardens is Santolina rosmarinifolia ‘Lemon Fizz’. I first got into Santolina when studying about medieval monastic gardens. It would provide evergreen structure and color to the lovingly tended monk’s herb gardens. It smells wonderful and in Spring is covered in charming little flowers.
Next up is the marvelously weird mayapple, Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty,’ which really thrives in the Portland rain. It makes me think of mint chocolate chip ice cream with its pale green leaves dotted in burgundy. Make it happy and it will reward you by multiplying considerably each year.
In the flower department we have Dianthus, or Sweet William, which is such a long-lasting cut flower but largely ignored by the current trend-setting florists. I think the very stylish ‘Sooty’ could help turn things around.
Ledebouria cooperi is a Spring showstopper from South Africa which has striped grassy foliage and is adorned by racemes of star-shaped pink flowers. It’s makes a nice groundcover or use it in containers where you can really appreciate all this little plant has to offer.
Among my favorite groundcovers is Muehlenbeckia axillaris, also know as Mattress Vine, for its ground-hugging growth habit. It’s a vigorous grower which can easily engulf large areas so is best used with some caution and intent. I love the way it’s used here–confined to an area and then allowed to really do its thing.
Finally, Sagina subulata, also known as Irish Moss, is a charming evergreen or semi evergreen groundcover. Like Muehlenbeckia axillaris it can tolerate some foot traffic and provides a pretty, low-growing tufted texture. As an added bonus it’s covered in cute little flowers come Spring!
As always there was much to inspire at a recent and wet visit to Cistus. Entering this world-famous Oregon nursery that I am so lucky to have regular access to really does give me the overwhelming feeling of being a kid in a candy store. It’s hard to know where to look. Each plant feels like a treasure. Read on for some of the things that caught my eye. (more…)
From bats to spiders to ghosts, read on as we shine a light on our top 13 strange and dark plant selections for goth gardens.
And to be honest, most of these plants are less Miss Havisham’s macabre garden and more sophisticated plant collector, in case that’s not your style. (more…)
I’ve long had mixed feelings about mums that suddenly pop up at grocery stores in the Fall, looking like outsize flower mushrooms. I’ve tried not to be a stick-in-the-mud, but they’re just so loud and unnatural looking.
However, a few years ago I happened upon some chartreuse-flowered chrysanthemums. I’m weak for any chartreuse plant, so I succumbed to the purchase and I potted them up with some classier-to-my-eyes companion plants and felt very pleased with them. And then I went back for some pale yellow ones. And after they lived through the Winter and Spring and Summer to bloom again, I was hooked. It never occurred to me that they were perennial. Duh. Now I’m wholly enthusiastic about mums and am even happier to see that there are some very chic and more subtly-colored versions out there. (more…)
Fall is time to dream big and a great time for planting. We have so many good plant choices for landscape projects you can purchase in abundance. Have them delivered right to your doorstep ready for planting day. Read on for highlights of our favorite plants currently available in large quantities for landscapers or those tackling big areas of their own gardens.
Groundcovers
Grassy effects
In the groundcover department we love the tough-as-nails yet strikingly beautiful Japanese Sedge, Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, which is great for massing under trees or prized specimens and offers year-round interest. Carex is such a handy plant for a grass texture in the shade where true grasses would not thrive.
About as black as you can get in the plant world, the sophisticated Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Kokuryu’ Black Mondo Grass is a very low maintenance plant and resistant to slugs and snails. It makes such a high-impact combo with grey or chartreuse foliage.
Another special groundcover choice which is also wonderful in pots or tucked into any bare nooks and crannies is Sempervivum ‘Royal Ruby’ which is hardy to zone 4 (!!!) and looks stunning looks incredible en masse. In rainy Portland it will transport you to the warmer climes of pink terracotta walls.
Bold, glossy, rich, and architectural! And all that before the pineapple flower spikes even emerge. Eucomis comosa ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ is so chic and makes an exciting pairing with so many things.
There have been so many gorgeous new Echinaceas developed recently. Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’ is an easy-to-grow, low-water coneflower which is a real stand-out in the garden and in the vase. Be sure to leave the pretty flower heads to enjoy for Winter interest.
To be honest I’d plant Kleim’s Hardy Gardenia in abundance without ever seeing the flowers. I love the shiny, dark, evergreen foliage which adds some solid structure and an heir of formality to the garden. But the flowers really make me swoon and remind me of my childhood on Maui where I used to pluck one to wear behind my ear on the way to school so I could keep the scent with me all day.
Kleim’s Hardy Gardenia is a beautiful, evergreen shrub with some of the most intensely fragranced flowers on earth. Photo by Plant Lust.
Let’s all make some jazz hands for…GROUNDCOVERS! I know, I know, they may seem boring or like a filler, an afterthought, a placeholder for something more exciting.
Hakonechloa
But they can be a main attraction when they look as dazzling as the glowing and cascading variegated Japanese Forest Grass, Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’. Even the smallest garden can use some cascading out of pots, it adds a sense of movement and softness and is a great backdrop for dark foliage or flowers.
And another one for you charteuse lovers, the groundcover Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’ creates shape and drama in its own way by acting as a soft, tufted mound. Cute and sculptural and a great underplanting for specimens you really want to highlight.
Use Sempervivum ‘Hopewell’ as a groundcover for serious impact. With all its hot and cool tonal variations you can really have fun combining it with vivid reds or yellows.
A star of the Winter garden, Phlomis russeliana is an attention-getter year-round but really shines in the skeletal cold. Combine with grasses for that dreamy Piet Oudolf meadow look.
