After the final hard frost of the season, sometime in mid-November here in USDA zone 7 Maryland, I am starved for winter color. Much of my winter interest is present with pealing bark, stem colors, and berries, but I am especially interested in flowers that bloom in the coldest of weather. Flowers in December, January, and February? Yes, even in depths of winter, 365 days a year, you can have blooming flowers in your garden.
I live in the mid-Atlantic region and we can get some heavy snow falls, and days where the temperature dips below freezing for a good part of the winter, but still it is possible to see something blooming. And that is my goal – to have something blooming in my garden every day. The hardest time of year is early January but as the winter progresses, I notice more and more plants are blooming. Floral sources help my honey bees on a mild winter day navigate to find some nectar and pollen and keep them alive over the winter, plus gives me a lift when I see blooms unfurl throughout the winter.
Seek out these plants in the spring to have more winter interest to look forward to next year.
1 Winter Hazel (Corylopsis spicata)
Winter Hazel or Corylopsis is one of the unsung heroes of the winter garden and rarely planted. Bare branches zig zag creating a unique pattern, with yellow buds at branch tips. In January and February highly scented butter-yellow flowers open and hang in clusters like candelabras. Extremely fragrant, these branches are just waiting to be cut and brought into the house so you can enjoy them for weeks inside.
Best grown in acidic organically rich soil in full sun to part-shade, it prefers some afternoon shade. Growing 4 to 8 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide, this can become a substantial sized shrub.
During the rest of the year, Corylopsis is a trouble-free member of the garden. Heart-shaped leaves start to emerge as the flowers drop. Fall color is golden so you get another season of interest for this amazing shrub. Growing in shade or sun, Corylopsis should be planted in more gardens. Give this plant some protection from deer as unfortunately they will nibble on this slow growing beautiful shrub.
2 Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Winter Jasmine prefers full sun to partial shade. Growing well in poor soils, the cane-like, rapid growth creates colonies that can look messy if left unpruned. Needing a severe pruning after flowering, Winter Jasmine can grow up to 4 feet tall, or grown as a vine, reaching 10-15 feet tall with long arching branches and willowy stems. In January or February, bright yellow Forsythia-like blooms appear before the leaves emerge. The shrub makes a dense green mound during the summer. This plant roots easily where arching branches touch the soil. Great for planting on embankments for soil erosion.
3 Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia, virginana)
Witch Hazel or Hamamelis is a small tree or large deciduous shrub that has coarse foliage during the growing season and is really unremarkable looking when out of flower. Hamamelis x intermedia, the hybrid witch hazel was born from the cross between two species’ parents: Hamamelis mollis (Chinese witch hazel) and Hamamelis japonica (Japanese witch hazel). These hybrids are always being developed with more flower color rangespollinators (orange, red, pink, and purple, plus a whole spectrum of yellows), more compact/home-appropriate sizes, and an array of fall foliage colors.
In late February, the hybrid Witch Hazels start to bloom. The most common color is yellow, but oranges and copper reds are available. High shade in the woodland is their most favored position, but I have seen them do well in all kinds of conditions. It is an easy plant to espalier or grow flat against a wall or house.
The native Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, blooms much earlier in November and December, covered in fragrant yellow flowers. The strong fragrance of the flowers attract winter flying moths, owlet moths, gnats and bees.
4 Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
One of my honeybee’s favorites, these diminutive flowers start opening in mid to late January and when a warm day hits, they are fully open and jumping with bees. Grown from a tuber planted in the fall, they will steadily increase from year to year by throwing off seeds. Only about 6 inches high, the flower has a Kelly-green ruff of foliage framing the petals. Aconites, Eranthis hyemalis, are an ephemeral, so will disappear when the weather warms up. Transplant them when green and actively growing to spread them around.
5 Oregon Grape (Mahonia bealei)
Mahonia bealei is an unusual plant that you either love or hate. It is a mid-sized shrub with large leathery prickly leaves that looks like a holly on steroids! The flowers open gradually in January and February, sometimes earlier, and set a blue-black berry that birds love to eat. A tough deer resistant plant, it is under-utilized in the landscape. Mahonia does well in shady, difficult conditions, so is a valuable plant to know. I have never known deer to eat this one!
There are several new cultivars of Mahonia that aren’t as coarse looking and fit into smaller landscapes.
6 Camellia (Camellia japonica)
Camellias are considered a southern plant, but are very successfully grown in Maryland. It is an evergreen glossy-leaved shrub that blooms in the dead of winter. The flowers look like a flattened rose and come in an array of beautiful colors and swirls. Camellias prefer shade and can live under large trees. In the south, they can get quite large, over 20 feet tall, but here in Maryland, they tend to be a lot smaller. But I have seen some large ones here when they are growing in a good protected spot.
7 Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis)
No garden is complete without Hellebores or Lenten Roses. A great ground cover perennial for the shade, hybridizers have gotten hold of this plant and have developed some amazing colors, such as dark burgundy, black or yellow. I love the lime green Hellebore foetidus, or Stinking Hellebore. The leaves smell unpleasant when crushed, thus the name! I am a sucker for green flowers and try to grow as many as I can. Hellebores like woodland conditions- humusy rich soil, in dappled shade. They are valuable because they are evergreen, long-lasting, and deer avoid them as they are highly poisonous. I have noticed that Hellebores have become a popular holiday house plant like a poinsettia.
8 Snow Drops (Galanthus)
What Winter garden wouldn’t be complete without Snowdrops? Easy to grow in loose, well drained soil, you can plant them in the fall by bulbs or in the ‘green’, in the winter by digging up a plug of blooming snowdrops, split them up, and replant for more blooms.
Tough as nails, once you have Snowdrops, they continue to spread for many years. Blooming in January, there are dozens of species and hundreds of cultivars and some of the rarer ones can sell for hundreds of dollars! Galanthophiles, avid collectors of Snowdrops, even attend a ‘Galanthus Gala’ to add unique new varieties to their collection.
The flowers resemble white teardrops supported by strap-like foliage, and I have seen Snowdrops naturalizing in the woodlands around my house.
9 Heather (Erica x darleyensis)
A low growing evergreen shrub with bell-shaped pink or white flowers that start blooming in November and continue for at least 3 months, I really don’t know why more people don’t grow this. Totally deer-proof, mine blooms right through the ice and snow and is beautiful! The needle-shaped foliage remains green all winter and is very low maintenance. A great addition to hilly areas, it looks good in a mass planting.
10 Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium, coum)
Another under-utilized plant for the winter garden are Hardy Cyclamens, known for their striking, heart-shaped leaves and delicate flowers. These aren’t the same plants that you can buy at Christmas time as a house plant but the hardy perennial. Adding a touch of elegance to your winter garden, they thrive in partially shaded areas with well-aerated soil. A group of tuberous perennials, their small stature make them perfect specimens for rock or alpine gardens. The wonderful variegated silver-patterned leaves emerge first in the fall followed later by the charming pink, purple, or white nodding flowers that remind me of fairy wings.
