Winter Garden Colorful Plants
Winter Gardening Plants for the Southwest
Who says you can’t have great color during the winter? Winter garden colorful plants. Here are some plants that will thrive throughout the winter seasons.
Pansies – Viola tricolor hortensis – Will take temperatures down to the mid-teens. They will wilt when it gets that cold but will spring back to life once the southwestern sun starts shining on them. Pansies are annuals meaning they will die during the winter seasons.
Let plants dry completely before watering again. Plant them in containers or in the ground in mass. They will look spectacular when everyone else’s landscape looks bland during the winter season.
Winter garden colorful plants
Kale – (Brassica oleracea) Colorful Kale is a leafy vegetable but this variety is used for ornamental purposes. The leaves are ruffled with a bright purple color mixed with a little blue and variations of grey.
It thrives in cold weather and retains its color throughout the chilly winter seasons. Put them in containers and add some smaller plants in the foreground for a great mixture of plants in a winter-colored bowl.
Water about 2-3 times per week during the winter season. They will wilt and look dried out once the hot temperatures start to arrive. Annual.
Colorful Plants for a Winter Garden
Dianthus (Caryophyllaceae family) also called sweet William plants. There are over 300 types of Dianthus plants. All are colorful and will take light frosts. They are great in containers or plant them in the ground.
Pyracantha – An amazing upright plant but it is slow-growing. The Firethorn red berry Pyracantha shown to the left has clusters of berries late in the season and holds them through winter. Learn more about Pyracantha Varieties.
These plants make an excellent hedge, screen, windbreak, or barrier planting. Small white flowers in springtime, they do have thorny limbs and branches.
It is not really a vine…more of a stand-alone plant. Evergreen throughout the chilly winter season in the southwest. Once the plant is established, it needs only occasional watering. Grows to about 10 ft. tall and 8 ft. wide. A great plant for winter gardening.
Nandina or heavenly bamboo plants – (Domestica) A great looking evergreen shrub with brilliant red foliage and berries in fall and winter. A very hardy plant that can be used for winter color.
Use it as a border or as a hedge. Plant them in mass for a spectacular effect on a winter landscape. Green foliage during the summer season turns a brilliant red in late fall.
Plant them in a decorative container and use them as an entrance border landscape. Many species to choose from Gulf Stream, Firepower, and Harbour Nandinas.
Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) – A wonderful vine that blooms in winter.
A Nice trumpet-shaped yellow flower that is almost evergreen even in the higher elevations of the southwest. Use it on a fence or trellis for a long-lasting fence border.
Colorful Plants for a Winter Garden
Vegetable plants that grow in cool weather.
You can still start these with seeds and or seedling plants. It’s best to start them in late fall or early spring.
Leaf Lettuce
Turnip
Cabbage
Carrots
Spinach
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Leeks
Mustard
Onions
Swiss Chard
Make sure to add your comment at the bottom of this post.
