Winter Garden Colorful Plants

Winter Gardening Plants for the Southwest

Who says you can’t enjoy a burst of vibrant color during the cold winter months? While many might think of winter as a time when gardens become dull and lifeless, there are actually numerous plants that can bring joy and brightness to your outdoor spaces throughout this season. The winter garden can be a breathtaking display of colorful plants that thrive even in lower temperatures, providing a refreshing contrast to the gray skies and bare landscapes often associated with winter.

Evergreens for Color Winter Color

Furthermore, evergreen plants such as boxwoods not only maintain their color but also provide structure and texture during the colder months. Their glossy leaves and bright berries can create a striking visual display, making your garden a focal point of interest even when the rest of nature appears dormant.

Don’t overlook the importance of winter berries either. Plants like pyracantha varieties can add splashes of red and orange that stand out vividly against a backdrop of white snow or gray skies.

Vibrant Plants during Winter

By selecting the right combination of these vibrant plants, you can cultivate a winter garden that is not just functional but also aesthetic, transforming the cold season into a time of beauty and color that can be enjoyed by all. Embrace the idea of a winter garden filled with colorful plants that flourish despite the chill, proving that winter can indeed be a season of splendor.

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 not come back after 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

Colorful Plants for winter — Pansy Color Bowl

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 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.

Winter Colorful Plants — Carolina Jessamine at Guzman’s Garden Center

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