Ed, It gets really dull here in Oklahoma in winter partly because we don't have much snow and no forests of evergreen trees like some parts of the country. I've got lots of native perennials and a few of them look very nice in winter, mainly the ones that have blue foliage such as artemisia, a few evergreen ones and some plants that keep their foliage which takes on smokey shades of purple. I've been adding lots of native American grasses which go very well among the dormant native perennials and which is what you see in nature. Matter of fact creating winter interest has been my main goal for the last 3 years and I'm a true junkie now.

I'm very happy with the results and find myself hating to cut them back in late February to midMarch except I keep telling myself they will look drab once the brighter spring color sets in, still it almost makes me weep to do it. Once the grasses get cut back it creates lots of open space for the early blooming plants. Come mid summer and on into fall and winter the grasses gradually take over the display working up to a big show in fall. They work well for adding a nice touch of shades of green to blue in the hottest part of summer as they take on their different characters and when lots of plants are going summer dormant just to hold on and not much is blooming. I've discovered they hide a lot of what was once ugly in winter-- such as leaves piling up from the neighborhood pin oaks and ratty looking carcasses of other plants. The dormant grasses create soft subtle color and lots of textural effects in winter and I almost (but not quite) like my garden in winter more than spring but then, I've added lots of grasses and they fill the voids, catch the sunlight and just plain look very nice. My garden now looks the best in fall to me even though spring and early summer are more colorful.

Oh, just jumped back in to add, weeds? There's no room for them and I don't need mulch either.

Babs, I wish like anything that last statement was true. I spend more time pulling trees than I do on all other garden chores put together in spring, it starts in Feb and goes on until summer, I'm already dreading it. Weeds are not much of a problem.

Yea, I remembered that garden after posting. We discussed it extensively on another forum and people volunteered lots of ideas. Some of us thought it needed more plants massed in and the bed widened.

Yup, that's the spot. Some time in January the spot becomes a snow drift, but it looks awful from October to December. I wasn't sure if evergreens would survive under a snow drift. I've never had much luck with evergreen groundcover in shady spots...there are a few spots I'd love to get wintergreen established.

Artemisia has been suggested to me before. Not that familiar with Veronica. Cranberry is intriguing...might require too much water. How does it handle shade?

Bergenia is a good evergreen (mostly) perennial - also shade tolerant - for winter interest. It's bold fleshy leaves typically take on a ruddy hue in winter. In fact some cultivars are named for specifically for their winter interest or their very late winter/early spring blooms - 'Snow Queen', 'Winter Glow', 'Winter Fairy Tale', etc.

Euphorbia x martinii is another evergreen choice but likes sun and requires good drainage. Several different cultivars to choose from including a variegated one ('Ascot Rainbow') that develops great winter color and several that have very reddish tints that are accentuated with cold.

I would also include epimediums in a winter garden, especially one that has some shade. Not all species are evergreen and some are only partially evergreen in northern climates but these are such great, low maintenance and enchanting plants, I'd include as many different kinds as I could, evergreen or not!!

And a fair number of groundcover type plants are evergreen as well so make good borders to any perennial garden in winter.......as long as you are careful in selecting them for their modest spreading characteristics. I use the Veronica 'Georgia Blue' for this purpose, also ajugas and Saxifraga x urbium, aka London Pride.

The idle gardener method - look the other way. A lifetime of sharing my tiny home with numerous offspring, their partners and assorted pets - mine and other people's has led to the necessary development of selective vision and hearing...but failing that, then ophiogons, red stemmed dogwood and shrubby willows, mahonias, arbutus and daphnes are all providing good winter cover in mine.

tape a paper bag to the window.. and quit looking out there .. lol ...

ken

ken_adrian Adrian: I do that with other beds, but this one is between the garage and the front door...

I thought all of us were supposed to get white stuff yesterday. You didn't?

The trees you deal with by getting them when they are little. The importance of the insulation factor of the stalks depends entirely on the plant. Most things don't care. Most of the ones that do care are marginally hardy. If you do decide to plant evergreen groundcovers there, make sure they can handle the snow - either because they don't care or because they can regrow fairly quickly.

I think this all boils down to what one's winter normally offers in the way of weather. Snow is a wonderful disguiser of unslightly things and if you expect a relatively uniform snow cover during the winter, then maybe having a neat and tidy perennial bed with plants offering winter interest is not so critical.

In my area, snow is infrequent, usually never amounts to much and is gone in a day or two. So with no snowfall to disguise things, the garden needs winter interest as well as routine seasonal maintenance if it is in an area of high visibility. I walk through my small garden on a daily basis so I want something interesting to look at in January as well as July! Part of that is accomplished by having mixed plantings to begin with - small trees and shrubs as well as perennials - as these provide structure throughout the year. And I do plant for winter interest as well - plants that either flower in winter, develop winter color or offer other winter interest through bark or berries. I also do a major late fall clean-up that cuts back dried stalks or spent flowerheads, frost damaged foliage and gets rid of weeds, etc and accepts a fresh coat of mulch.

Maybe not nearly so critical in a colder, more snowbound climate but absolutely essential in my mild but often gray and damp one. The garden doesn't stop for me with the first hard frost but continues on throughout the winter, just in a much more restrained fashion.

In this northern but coastal area the ocean moderates temperatures in the early winter...snow usually doesn't last in late Fall or early winter, but the area gets uniform snow cover late in the winter. Things with winter interest are appreciated, but have to be able to survive a month or two buried in snow in a bad winter. This particular spot happens to be where snow gets plowed in the winter so I figured it was a good spot to put bulbs and perennials. I figured things that die to the ground anyway could survive having snow plowed onto then more easily. I forgot about late Fall and early winter. (For some reason a lot of people do...)

It occurs to me a factor that should be taken into account in garden design is the question of what parts of the yard get viewed in the winter. Not a concern in warm climates or small yards, but if you have a big yard in a cold climate, there may be parts you seldom visit in the winter. I don't think my elderly parents ever visit the back yard in January or February. But you still look out the windows, walk into the house from the garage, etc. Should plants with "winter interest" be focused around windows, the front yard, the front walkway...while the farthest parts of the back yard can be focused on plants that give a good show in the Spring and summer.

Just some musings...

Everything I suggested will do fine covered by snow for 3-4 months and will look good until then, though I don't guarantee that it will look good when it emerges in spring. We average about 2 months between hard frost and when snow arrives, though some winters there are only a couple of weeks and rarely we don't get significant snow (3 winters in more that 35 I've lived here). The evergreen groundcovers provide interest until snow falls.

As long as the shade is bright and there's good drainage, the wooly thyme will be fine, but the variegated won't based on my experience. V. Georgia blue grows fine in full sun to mostly shade. Hellebores are fine in shade to mostly sun. Cranberry is fine in well-drained ordinary garden soil, and is denser in more sun but fine in bright shade; worth growing for the glowing deep red berries that hang on all winter and are huge compared to the tiny leaves. Carex 'Ice Dance' is fine in shade, and there are mostly likely a number of others that will be fine as well. There's also old-fashioned periwinkle/Vinca, but it can be tough to control. If you choose that and want some, I'll donate as much as I have!

I also like the red-twigged dogwood suggestion from Camps - there are a few that stay quite small though I am not sure how they would effect the yew behind them as far as shading the lower branches. How wide is the bed? Anything that might be damaged by snow being shoveled/blown/plowed onto it like the Daphnes should be avoided.

The bed varies in width but is maybe a foot at it's narrowest and four feet at it's widest point...really more of a border. Cranberry intrigues me, but might not be shade tolerant enough.

There is a narrow strip of grass between the bed and the driveway everyone tells me to get rid of. Maybe if I got rid of it I could replace it with cranberries? More light but also gets run over more often.

Veronica 'Georgia Blue" and artemisia are things I'll have to think about. Sort of afraid of non-native vinca.

I've been considering hellbores for another spot, beneath the trees at the end of the driveway.

As well as all the foregoing suggestions for mixed plantings, small trees and evergreens, etc, perennial borders look a lot more structured in winter if there is some kind of hardscaping present such as an edging, wall or something like a piece of statuary, birdbath or whatever suits your taste. But you need to be aware of cluttering it up with an assortment of junk.

Here is some of my cranberry in pretty much all day shade under rhodies with large pine trees south, building a foot or two west, deciduous shrubs east)

V. Georgia Blue just a few feet from the cranberry, and though perhaps a trifle brighter, still in shade. I also have it in sun where it is more compact and deeper green.

From nearest to farthest across the right side of the photo (taken in late fall) are 3 plants mentioned in this thread: cranberry, Carex 'Ice Dance', and in the distance, Iberis sempervirens, though I like the shorter ones better than this one.

And the dwarf redtwig dogwood that would be small enough for a 4' wide space with some extra space is Cornus sericea 'Kelseyi' which is supposed to not get to beyond about 2'-2 1/2' in all directions. I think the red would stand out well against the green of the yews.

If it were my space I would remove the grass strip, but I don't think I would add an edging if it would get in the way of the snow removal.

In this spot edging might damage the wheels of cars, but might work. I'd worry statuary or birdbaths would interfere with/get damaged by snowplows or damage plows when it is hidden in snow. It's more a border then a bed.

Is the cranberry the yellow plant or the stuff beneath it?
I like the look of the Veronica more but I like the idea of the native status and fall fruit of the cranberry.

Most fully realized arrangement is a stage like setting with herbaceous plants backed by shrubs plus a solid fence, wall or hedge behind. The more year around structural elements are included the less the herbaceous planting looks like it is part of a fallow field.

There is a long pruned yew hedge at my local bowling green...fronted with a row of Midwinter Beauty (or Midwinter Fire) dogwood, also stooled annually...which is totally stunning. The deep green of the yew makes the dogwoods look like flames - a really fabulous effect. Bung in some snowdrops, cranberry or lithospermum and voila - perfect little vista.

Ed, the yellow plant is a deciduous rhododendron. The cranberry is the low plant below it that's in focus.