During the warm season, bright colors decorate our gardens. Good and beautiful. But what about winter? Nobody likes the dreary, gray and brown look during the cold months. Evergreen and wintergreen plants are used here. How about you choose evergreen perennials that are hardy and create a beautiful perennial bed all year round?
Perennials, which, as you know, die above ground every year, may well be evergreen. This may sound contradictory at first, but with the right care and a suitable location it is not a problem at all.
Evergreen perennials that remain beautiful in winter
Evergreen perennials usually come from regions with milder winters, where they find it easier to survive them. Nevertheless, they are robust enough to last for a long time under the right conditions, even in our latitudes. And these conditions are really easy to adhere to.
- Cold winds should be avoided. Choose locations protected from the wind.
- Strong sunlight causes moisture to evaporate more quickly in winter, which the roots cannot compensate for due to the frozen ground. So sun protection is important.
- Waterlogging causes the roots to rot even in winter. Make sure the soil is well-drained so that increased moisture during cold months does not cause damage.
Plant grasses in green, gold, or blue
Not all, but some grasses stay green and beautiful all winter long, so you can use themeasy-care perennialsthat are hardy are preserved. Hobby gardeners usually cut all their grasses in the fall and then let them sprout again in the spring. However, you can leave the wintergreen species as they are so that they add freshness to your garden in winter. However, since snow would flatten the stalks or cause them to fall apart, you should tie them together. Which grasses are wintergreen?
- Blue-rayed oats (Helictotrichon sempervirens)
- Garden millet (Turned into a panic)
- Schwingel (Fescue), z. B. Blauschwingel (Fescue Cinerea-Hybrid) or bearskin fescue (Festuca gautieri)
- ass (Carex), different varieties, for example Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii), New Zealand-Seggen (Carex comans) or giant sedge (Carex pendula)
- Wald-Marbeln (It wanders)
- White grove ledges (Luzula nivea)
- Zwerg-Haar-Marbel (Luzula hairy)
Filigree ferns for color and texture in the garden
If you are looking for evergreen perennials for shade to partial shade, you can't go wrong with ferns. Here, too, not all species can tolerate the low temperatures. Which specimens can decorate the garden with their beautiful leaves even in winter? It's best to stick to the local variants here.
- Brown-stemmed striped fern (Asplenium trichomanes)
- Native Shiny Shield Fern (Polysticum acuminata)
- Nepal Blackscale Fern (Dryopteris wallichiana)
- Rippenfarn (Blechnum spikes)
- Soft shield fern (Polystichum silkiferum)
The right varieties of Bergenia
Some varieties offer the sight of beautiful leaves in winter, so you tooplant the beds with themif you want a green (or other colored) winter season. You can choose these varieties:
- Bergenia 'Purpurea' with red foliage in winter
- Bergenia cordifolia
- 'Eye-catcher', red leaves in winter and pink flowers in summer
- 'Eroica', in red-green in winter and with purple flowers in summer
- 'Goldfish' with orange leaves in winter
- 'Red Sister' with red leaves in winter
- 'Snow Queen' with green leaves in winter and white flowers in summer
- 'Snow Peak' with green leaves in winter
The Christmas rose – a classic in winter planting
As if it wasn't enough that the flower retains its leaves in winter, it also produces a magnificent bloom, which can be white or bright red depending on the variety. When all other plants have gone into hibernation, this beauty shines in December. Choose one of these varieties as you like or even combine both in the bed:
- ‘Candy Love’, weißrosa
- 'Double Fashion', white, double flowers
- Real snow Christmas rose, white
- ‘Red Lady’, rot
- 'Rubra', rot
- ‘Wintertraum’, weißrosa
More about Christmas rosesfind out here.
Autumnal foliage colors at Günsel
It doesn't necessarily have to be green, does it? This pretty plant (Ajuga reptans) doesn't just score points with its beautiful featurespurple flowers, but also with an interesting foliage color, which depending on the variety is sometimes more reddish or sometimes brown. For example, select:
- ‘Atropurpurea’
- ‘Burgundy Glow’
- ‘Evening Glow’
Lavender is an evergreen perennial that tolerates sunny locations
Lavender is one of the most popular plants for the garden due to its many great properties. Not only are the flowers extremely attractive and fragrant, the leaves also look very pretty. Best of all, these will stay put even through the winter if you don't cut them back. Find out how to properly care for the plantin this article.
Silvery green wool zest for beautiful color combinations
With its interesting, velvety soft foliage, the Wollziest looks extremely attractive even during the warm season. But it seems to suit winter even better because of its icy look. And you can enjoy this beautiful view all winter long. The plant can also be combined with other evergreen species, allowing you to create a colorful winter perennial bed.
