Jazzing Up Your Winter Garden

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Jennifer Polanz

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Photo Credit: Yoder Brothers, Inc.

You can use your hellebore to decorate your home for the holidays, then ease it outside to decorate your garden until spring.

If you’re anything like me, you spend a great deal of time decorating the inside of your home in winter, only to look out during this coldest time of year into a barren back yard dotted with gray branches and no color. But recently – during a trip to my local garden center – I realized that all hope is not lost! There really are some great outdoor flowers and shrubs you can plant to spruce up your winter garden in no time.

While there aren’t too many blooms tough enough to survive winters in the colder regions of the US, there are a few. One of the best is hellebore (Helleborus), the 2005 Perennial Plant of the Year. This beauty pops out beautiful flowers in the depths of winter. You can start a potted version as a great indoor decoration and ease it into the great outdoors to add color to your garden all winter. (Just be sure to make the move slowly because it needs to get acclimated to the blustery weather before being planted in the ground!)

Most hellebores are hardy to Zone 4, which means they can survive in temperatures down to -35 degrees F. Plant your hellebores in a partially shaded area any time in winter when the ground isn’t frozen. You shouldn’t have to worry too much about watering because these beauties are generally pretty drought-tolerant. They should provide your garden with a colorful transition into spring, typically blooming into March – but sometimes as late as April or May.

Facts

Other names for hellebore include Christmas rose or Lenten rose, because the plant blooms from winter to spring.
If you want those pretty berries on your holly, be sure to plant the female form – and make sure there’s a male form at least within a couple of miles so the female can be pollinated.

Tips

To keep shrubs healthy year-round, water them at the base and protect their roots with a 1- to 2-inch-thick layer of mulch (but keep mulch away from the trunk). For optimal performance, fertilize before new growth appears in spring.

Faqs

Q: When should I plant shrubs?
A: If you purchase balled-and-burlapped (often called B&B, which means the root system and soil are wrapped and shipped in burlap) or containerized shrubs, you can plant them any time the ground isn’t frozen – but they still need to be watered well and mulched to help protect them.

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Winter’s the perfect time to plan your garden for the season ahead. Spend those chilly months with the right tools, time and a little research, then come spring you’ll be ready to jump right in with your design – and make this your best growing season yet!

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