For those of us living in cooler climates the fall and winter months are just around the corner. While winter may mean the end of fresh summer fruit and seemingly endless hours of sunshine, it need not mean the end of your bright and beautiful garden. While your rose bushes may not make it through the winter months, there are plenty of hardy, yet lovely, plants and flowers that will. With a little planning and some TLC, you can enjoy a bountiful garden all year round.

Preparing your Plot

For the best winter garden, choose a south-facing plot of land to take advantage of the most sunshine possible during the shorter winter days or a bed beneath a group of deciduous trees, which will shelter plants from the harsher elements of winter. Winter gardens also need the best drainage possible, so prepare the soil with sand or organic compost to lighten its density and aid with water runoff.

 Picking the Proper Plants

 While there are few plants that will survive very harsh winters, there are an abundance of plants perfect for those living in slightly more temperate areas. Some plants, like bright and cheery pansies or delicate camellia, actually thrive in cooler temperatures and less sunshine, making them perfect candidates for a winter garden. Other excellent choices include hellebores, (also called winter roses,) for their pretty foliage and climate-proof flowers, snowdrops for their small but bright white flowers, and some varieties of rhododendrons, which bloom all year round in bright shades of yellow, cream and orange. Hibiscus, with their lacy blossoms and weather-toughness, also make an excellent addition, as well as white forsythia, which blooms beautifully along walls.

 Don’t forget about the wealth of flowering shrubs and plants with colored stems or berries. A stalk of rich, red berries against a bank of snow makes for a breathtaking sight. Sibirica is one plant that offers pretty foliage in the summer and bright red stalks in the winter. For golden stems, try Salix alba vitellina. Dogwood is another nice addition, with stems ranging in color from yellow to bright corral. Remember, the key to enjoying colored stems in the winter is to arrange the plants where they will catch or reflect light at different times of day. A word to the wise: you may either want to choose or avoid berry bearing plants if you live in an area with an abundance of birds. While birds add color, cheer and song to a gloomy winter day, they may strip the stems of berried plants before winter even arrives.

 Another nice addition to any winter garden is a scented plant. Any of the family of witch hazel plants will not only add a dash of color to your garden, but a delicate scent reminiscent of spring. Daphnes possess a more potent perfume, especially the upright evergreen Daphne, which will fill your garden with a heady aroma all winter long. Winter honeysuckle (also called “sweet-breath-of-spring”) has unassuming cream-colored blossoms, but a wonderful fragrance. Wintersweet emits a delicious fragrance on a cold morning, and sweet olive rounds out the bouquet with its spicy aroma and blossoms.

 Another way to choose the plants for your garden is to take a cue from nature. Look around. What flowers, plants, and shrubs seem to survive winter in your area the best? They’ll most likely thrive in your garden too. Still unsure of which winter plants to pick? Head to your local greenhouse or garden shop for additional expert advice on which buds to buy, and always investigate the specific sun and water needs of each plant before you purchase.

Planting

Winter plants and flowers need to be spaced farther apart than their summer counterparts to allow for maximum circulation of water and air and to prevent problems with fungus and mildew. Cool, damp spaces are the enemy of a winter garden as they also attract slugs and snails.

When is the perfect time to plant a winter garden? Late summer to early fall is the ideal time to start planting. While others are harvesting, you’ll be sowing, but what a treat your garden will be on those cool winter days.

Be careful to plant taller flowers or shrubs on the north side of an arrangement and smaller plants on the south side where they won’t be overshadowed. Also, choose plants that are just coming into flower. For maximum impact, group flowers of similar color together or scatter different colors throughout for a cottage effect. Whatever your personal preference, don’t miss out on the opportunity to enjoy nature’s beauty through the winter months.

Surprisingly, while frost is an enemy of many winter plants, snow can be a wonderful insulator to protect them from the cold. Watch the weather forecasts in your area and cover plants when frost is expected. Another option to help plants drain better and warm faster in the winter is to plant them in a raised bed. Raised beds are relatively easy to construct by filling a rectangle of building material (such as pressure treated lumber) with soil and planting your flowers anywhere from six to eighteen inches above ground level.

Other Accents

A few well-placed ornaments can add a lovely look to your garden all year long. Wrought iron arches and arbors made of treated wood both provide a beautiful backdrop for plants and flowers. A wooden arbor (widely available both in kits and pre-assembled) with a grouping of small evergreens at its base provides a look that’s both fetching and functional in winter as the arrangement blocks the wind from more delicate plants. Small white lights strung in trees and shrubs or draped over arches and trellises will transform your garden into a winter wonderland all throughout the season. Also consider adding bird or squirrel feeders strategically throughout the yard to create a winter wildlife sanctuary.

Gardening in winter has many advantages: no unbearable heat, blazing sun, weeds to pull, and biting insects, to name a few. A winter garden can also fill the long, cool months of frost and chill with vibrant colors, textures, and warm, welcome scents.  A beautiful addition to any home, a winter garden will satisfy your green thumb and have friends and neighbors exclaiming all season long.