Camellias are cool season wonders with magnificent blooms that are sure to color up your landscape. Not all of them bloom during the winter, but most do. Many Sasanqua camellia varieties start blooming in fall and continue well into winter. 'Yuletide', pictured above, is perhaps my favorite.
Scientific name: Distylium. Gardeners in warm climates seeking an evergreen shrub with red flowers might want to try a distylium. Several varieties produce deep red to maroon flowers from January through March, providing some color when you need it most.
In addition to Rhododendrons, some Azaleas, Holly, and Boxwood, there are many shrubs that keep their leaves year-round, blooms. These look fantastic, especially when paired with Viburnum and Winterberry Holly which may lose their leaves, but have persistent colorful berries for you to enjoy all winter!
Weeping forsythia is a late winter to early spring sensation with its gracefully arching branches covered in little yellow flowers. It's easy to grow in full sun and well-draining soil in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 8. Read on for pro tips to guide you in cultivating healthy, show-stopping shrubs in your landscape.
Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Its bright yellow flowers are found on trailing, vine-like green stems. This makes it useful as a ground cover or for trellises. Winter jasmine gets its scientific name from the fact that it grows on bare or nude green stems, which are pretty themselves next to the yellow flowers.
Forsythia. When forsythia blooms, it's a signal that warm spring days can't be far behind. This cheery yellow flowering shrub looks like spring sunshine, with blooms covering graceful bending branches. Bees and early spring butterflies flock to this nectar source.
Flowers that come back up from their roots every year in the springtime are called “perennial” flowers. Some of the best perennial flowers to grow in a garden are peonies, daylilies, coneflowers, and hollyhocks.
CAMELLIA (Camellia japonica)
Sometimes called the Rose of Winter, this gorgeous evergreen shrub is a staple of gardens in the South, where its plush rose-like blooms in shades of red, pink, or white will appear as early as December and continue for months.
Snow plant is an herbaceous perennial wildflower with a limited geographic distribution in California, Nevada, and Oregon. Snow plant with its scarlet red coloration and early spring flowering is a beautiful wildflower.
Camellia. Camellia is a small tree with simple pink flowers, blooming from autumn to late winter.
Ornamental kale and cabbage are some of the most popular winter annual plants. They lend a completely different texture to a winter landscape bed. Once the plants are hardened by cooler night temperatures they can survive most cold winters.
There are a few bulbs that are winter blooming flowers. Dainty and delicate, snowdrops (Galanthus) are true spring harbingers. No bigger than a dandelion, they bravely push through snow and even ice to grace the garden with their dangling white bell blooms.
Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) is a good choice for an outdoor winter plant because it's an evergreen that keeps its leaves on its branches all winter long. It's drought-tolerant and thrives in both full and partial sun. Hardy to Zone 4, Japanese yews can survive harsh winters.
The fastest growing shrub on this list, north privet matures rapidly to a height of up to 8- to 12-feet tall and 4- to 6-feet wide. Its appearance is characterized by a pyramid-like shape and glossy, dark green leaves. Beware of confusing north privet with its invasive cousin, Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).
Bring in the New year with winter aconite, which grows in golden carpets underneath the bare January trees and shrubs. A member of the buttercup family that loves woodland and dappled shade, these perennials will grow to 10cm in height, with bright yellow flowers surrounded by divided leafy bracts.
The Golden Euonymus is an evergreen shrub with brightly variegated oval-shaped foliage with green leaves that are edged with golden-yellow. This attention grabbing plant can be uses as an accent or hedge, and can readily be shaped to a desired height and shape.