Plants With Winter Interest - Marion County
Some Plants Provide Winter Interest
By Steve Mayer
Extension Educator-Horticulture
Purdue Extension-Marion County
January can be a dreary month in the landscape. However, if you plan your landscape carefully, you can enjoy color and textural interest all winter. Consider the following ideas to brighten the winter season next year.
Add evergreen trees and shrubs to your landscape. A combination of evergreen and deciduous plants is best for most situations. Many people think of needle-type evergreens such as pine, spruce, fir and hemlock although evergreens with scale-type foliage can also be planted like juniper and arborvitae.
A tough, medium-fast growing evergreen for Indiana is Norway spruce (Picea abies). It grows at least 40 to 60 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide. Dwarf shrubby forms and weeping varieties are also available. Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) is narrower and has needles that are dark green on the upper side and whitish underneath.
If the soil is well-drained, consider planting Japanese yew (Taxus) or one of its hybrids. This shrub provides dark green needles and grows in sun or shade. It is the best needle evergreen for the shade. Depending on the variety, it may grow less than four feet tall or more than 40 feet. There are both upright and spreading types.
For greater diversity of interest, you can choose broadleaf evergreens like holly, boxwood, leatherleaf viburnum, oregongrape holly (Mahonia) and shrubby evergreen euonymus (Euonymus fortunei). Their broad leaves make them more susceptible to winter injury so avoid locations with lots of wind and winter sun.
Most broadleaf evergreens except boxwood prefer a slightly acid soil. Inkberry holly often develops chlorosis in alkaline soil. Broadleaf evergreens grow best in moist, well-drained soil. Euonymus has a severe insect pest problem called euonymus scale. Hollies require male and female plants to produce berries.
Some woody ground cover plants have evergreen leaves for winter color. They include Japanese spurge, purpleleaf wintercreeper euonymus, common periwinkle and English ivy. The last three plants can be invasive so do not plant in naturalistic areas.
If you choose trees with attractive bark, you will have landscape interest 365 days a year. Some trees with spectacular bark include paperbark maple, Heritage river birch, Japanese tree lilac, kousa dogwood and lacebark elm.
Paperbark maple (Acer griseum) is a small (20 to 30 feet tall) slow growing tree with trifoliate leaves that turn bronze to red in the fall. The young stems have a rich brown to reddish brown color. Older wood at least a half-inch in diameter develops a beautiful exfoliating cinnamon or red-brown bark.
Some shrubs have attractive twigs for winter interest. The shrubby dogwoods (Cornus alba and C. sericea) have either red or yellow twigs. Japanese Kerria is a great shade plant with green twigs. Other shrubs offer textural interest like the corky wings on some winged euonymus or burning bush (Euonymus alatus).
Another plant characteristic that can offer winter interest is fruit. Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) is a shrub with brilliant red fruits that persist on the plant all winter. Other shrubs that have colorful fruit include holly (red, black or white), jetbead (black) and bayberry (grayish-white).
Trees with colorful persistent fruit include crabapple, Washington hawthorn and Winter King hawthorn. Be sure to choose disease resistant crabapple varieties with persistent fruit. Many improved varieties have fruit that persists through early winter. The fruits on Red Jewel and White Angel crabapples usually persist through the winter.
Some plants bloom during late winter. They include early flowering hardy bulbs like snowdrop (Galanthus) and many varieties of witchhazel (except Hamamelis virginiana that blooms in late fall).
Trees and shrubs with a distinctive form lend winter interest. The plant might have a weeping habit like some crabapple or beech trees. A plant could have twisted stems like contorted filbert (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') or have layered horizontal branches like pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia).
Many species of ornamental grass offer interest in winter. They provide attractive plant form and many of them hold their seed heads through at least part of the winter. They include feather reed grass (Calamagrostis) and maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis).
Some flowers are nice-looking during at least part of the winter in some years. Plants like lenten rose (Helleborus), bergenia, lilyturf (Liriope), Italian arum, candytuft (Iberis) and some ferns offer winter foliage interest. Others like Autumn Joy sedum and yarrow have interesting persistent seed heads.
Questions
Q. Where can I find information on trees, shrubs, flowers and ornamental grasses?
A. Go to:
Purdue Garden Publications
Ohio State Tree & Shrub Publications
Steve Mayer is Extension Educator-Horticulture with Purdue Extension-Marion County. He coordinates the Master Gardener program in Marion County. To contact a Master Gardener, call (317) 275-9292, or e-mail: marionmg@purdue.edu
Photo Credit: Steve Mayer
Purdue University, Indiana Counties and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution.
January 2004
