{"id":4026,"date":"2023-10-05T08:14:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T08:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/?p=4026"},"modified":"2023-10-09T14:00:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T14:00:26","slug":"the-garden-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/the-garden-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Garden in Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"827219ce0a87fa193c09e84c4c9a0f12\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:20px 0 20px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- MOINSBD Link Top -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4387862990858706\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"6762903103\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"link\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4028 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Helleborus-through-snow-fea.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"659\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Helleborus-through-snow-fea.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Helleborus-through-snow-fea-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/>By mid-November many of us put away the lawnmower and grudgingly bring the snow shovels out of storage. \u00a0But hard core gardeners know some of the best stuff happens in winter. \u00a0Here are just three ideas to keep your garden interesting even through the coldest months.<\/p>\n<p>1. \u00a0<strong>Use Evergreen Foliage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We all know about Spruce, Cedars and Yews. \u00a0These plants provide shelter and food for birds and other creatures. \u00a0However, these large evergreens are too bulky to use en masse in most urban landscapes. \u00a0Consider using the following evergreen perennials to add shades of green as well as other colours to the otherwise dull brown winter landscape. \u00a0Some great choices are listed here but be sure to check these for hardiness in your region.<\/p>\n<p>Sedum Angelina \u2013 Beautiful trailing plant with vivid yellow foliage in summer turning coppery orange in winter.<\/p>\n<p>Euphorbia myrsinites \u2013 Donkey Tail Spurge has blue-silver foliage and great texture.<\/p>\n<p>Sempervivum \u2013 Hens and Chicks come in a range of colours and are very easy to grow.<\/p>\n<p>Vinca \u2013 Tough evergreen groundcover that even flowers in winter in the milder parts ofCanada.<\/p>\n<p>Geranium cantabrigiense \u2013 Hardy evergreen groundcover, foliage turns red in colder months.<\/p>\n<p>Heuchera \u2013 Plants come in a range of shades from caramel to pewter and burgundy. \u00a0It does best in well drained soil.<\/p>\n<p>Polystichum acrostichoides \u2013 Christmas Fern is one of the better evergreen ferns for cold climate gardening. \u00a0Or try Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern).<\/p>\n<p>Carex \u2013 An evergreen grasslike plant with nice variegated foliage well into winter.<\/p>\n<p>Others worth considering are Ajuga, Dianthus, Iberis, Pachysandra, creeping Phlox, Sagina, Thyme, Epimedium, Hedera, Helleborus, Bergenia and many types of Campanula.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. \u00a0Use Plants With Winter Texture<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even plants that are not evergreen can be useful in the winter landscape. \u00a0Ornamental grasses are justly famous for this, but there are many other great perennials for winter texture.<\/p>\n<p>Miscanthus \u2013 This group of grasses is beautiful summer, fall and winter. \u00a0Just remember to cut back the old shoots in spring to make room for new growth. \u00a0Seed heads remain attractive through winter.<\/p>\n<p>Sedum Autumn Joy \u2013 The stems and seed heads add great interest to the winter landscape, especially when they serve as scaffolding for a layer of fresh snow.<\/p>\n<p>Rudbeckia and Echinacea &#8211; Their seed cones remain decorative well into winter, plus they serve as food for birds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. \u00a0Attract Birds to your Garden<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winter is a lot less dull with active flocks of birds busying themselves in the garden. \u00a0Cardinals and Finches add vivid colour to the white winter landscape. \u00a0Many of the plants already discussed are attractive to birds in winter. \u00a0Others include Asters and Echinops (Globe Thistle).<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By mid-November many of us put away the lawnmower and grudgingly bring the snow shovels out of storage. \u00a0But hard core gardeners know some of the best stuff happens in winter. \u00a0Here are just three ideas to keep your garden interesting even through the coldest months. 1. \u00a0Use Evergreen Foliage We all know about Spruce, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perennials-101","category-seasonal-activities-through-the-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4026"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4134,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4026\/revisions\/4134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}