How To Improve Your Winter Garden's Appeal

by Amanda

winter garden scene — A garden can still be attractive and inviting in winter with the addition of Ornamental Grasses, Evergreens, Seed Pods, and more.

Creating Interest in the Winter Garden

‘Winter Interest’ is a common term in the gardening world that we feel merits some explaining. When plant sellers and garden designers use this term, they mean that some or all of the plant in question keeps making you want to admire it throughout the coldest season of the year.

Even though the plant’s flowers may be gone or dried and it may look completely unrecognizable from its former summer self, there’s still something appealing about this new version.

The parallels to the human experience here are pretty obvious. We ourselves may look utterly changed at 30, 50, and 80 years of age – but that doesn’t mean that we’re not beautiful to behold at every stage, albeit in new and different ways.

winter garden - ornamental grasses — Ornamental Grasses add height and texture to the winter garden and look lovely covered in frost or snow.

If you’ve ever seen someone walking down the street that makes you say: “When I’m that age, I hope I look like them,” then you’ve hit on the heart and soul of how garden experts develop Winter Interest plant lists. They simply take note of plants that seem exceptional during the winter months.

Here are some of our favorite ways that plants can earn their place in the world of Winter Interest:

Winter Garden: Evergreen, Semi-Evergreen & Herbaceous Plants

The term ‘Evergreen’ is most often applied to needled trees like Pines and Firs, but it can be used on any plant to describe the fact that it won’t lose its leaves in cold weather. Evergreens and Semi-Evergreens (which only drop their leaves in frigid temps) keep a garden looking green all year round.

Even just a hint of green might be all that you need to glimpse to feel connected to nature - and there's mounting evidence that these moments help to destress your busy brain. Planting evergreen and semi-evergreen varieties like ornamental grasses, creeping phlox, and lenten roses (also called Helleborus) can provide enough visual greenery to tide you over until spring.

Winter Garden: Attracting & Feeding Winter Birds

Sometimes the most interesting thing about a plant is the visitors that it attracts. Imagine looking out your window, snuggled up with your favorite hot drink, as bright red Cardinals and yellow finches visit the plants in your garden in search of seeds and places to perch and rest. If you'd like to attract birds to your winter garden, there are a few things to keep in mind:

The Black Capped Chickadee survives the winter on a diet of seeds, berries and insects.

Cover: Birds need quick cover to feel relaxed, so consider planting shrubs or providing a structure like a trellis to create an observation area. This will allow them a chance to take in the scene and plot out each move they'll make, including their exit stategy in case predators approach.

Water: Birds also like access to fresh drinking water. While this might require too much effort in cold areas, if you're able to provide them clean, unfrozen water, yours will certainly be one of the most-visited gardens in the neighborhood.

Food: While sunflower seeds and suet balls are fine treats for birds, they're most often put out at feeding stations near the house. If your garden is too out of the way to continually refill feeders, you can always opt to plant flower varieties that provide food via seedheads and/or those that attaract overwintering insects for hungry birds to snack on. One of the best garden treats you can offer are berries that can be eaten either fresh or dried, such as Elderberries.

Winter Garden: Snow-Covered Plumes & Seed Heads

One of our favorite tricks is to skip the fall garden clean-up and leave our perennial plants in place. Not only do they provide important habitat for overwintering insects, but they also charm us with their dried seed heads, flower cones, and spiky plumes swaying in the breeze, frosted in snow.

winter garden interest plumes and seed heads

Although mostly invisible to the human eye, many important, tiny insects are spending the winter in the dried seed heads of the winter garden.

Some of our favorite perennial flowers for overwintering are Bee Balm, Echinacea, Aster and many Native Wildflowers, like Goldenrod, Penstemon, and Blazing Star.

Winter Interest Plant List

We've made it easy to plant a garden that looks good throughout the winter months with our favorite varieties for winter interest, all of which fall into one of the categories mentioned above:

Plants for Winter Interest:

No matter what zone you're growing in, it's important to enjoy your landscape throughout the year and sometimes we need beauty in the winter garden the most. Simply add a handful of these plants for winter interest and you'll be admiring your garden year-round.

‘Cloud Nine’ Tall Switchgrass, the tallest switchgrass cultivar available, is an easy-to-grow, award-winning native cultivar. Upright, blue-green foliage is topped with a...
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Cloud Nine Switchgrass Cloud Nine Switchgrass Panicum virgatum Cloud Nine
As low as $15.99 Sale $12.79
Per Plant - 3" Pot

‘Cloud Nine’ Tall Switchgrass, the tallest switchgrass cultivar available, is an easy-to-grow, award-winning native cultivar. Upright, blue-green foliage is topped with a cloud of airy seed panicles in mid-to-late-summer. Foliage and seeds turn a lovely golden hue in autumn, and ‘Cloud Nine’ stands tall through the winter months, providing shelter and food for songbirds. Highly adaptable, it tolerates a wide range of soil conditions. Make a statement in your garden and grow a habitat-friendly garden! (Panicum virgatum)
Northern Sea Oats is a one-of-a-kind native grass with upright, bamboo-like foliage and flattened seed heads that dangle from arched stems. Seed heads attract songbirds, provide wint...
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Northern Sea Oats Northern Sea Oats, River Oats Chasmanthium latifolium
As low as $13.32 Sale $10.66
Per Plant - 3" Pot

Northern Sea Oats is a one-of-a-kind native grass with upright, bamboo-like foliage and flattened seed heads that dangle from arched stems. Seed heads attract songbirds, provide winter interest, and add texture to dried flower arrangements. Bright green foliage provides butterfly habitat, and turns to copper and brown as the seasons change. Northern Sea Oats are highly adaptable, easy to grow, and will naturalize and spread over time. (Chasmanthium latifolium)
Prairie Dropseed Grass adds movement and texture to the landscape with gentle mounds of arching thread-like foliage. Open seed heads float above the foliage in fragrant puffs in summ...
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Prairie Dropseed Grass Prairie Dropseed Grass Sporobolus heterolepis
As low as $13.32 Sale $10.66
Per Plant - 3" Pot

Prairie Dropseed Grass adds movement and texture to the landscape with gentle mounds of arching thread-like foliage. Open seed heads float above the foliage in fragrant puffs in summer, lasting through the fall when songbirds nibble the seeds. Foliage is glossy green in summer and golden orange in autumn. This deer-resistant native grass is a favored choice for garden design, mass planting, and stabilizing slopes. (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Purple Love Grass dazzles with an abundance of texture, from fine blue-green foliage to airy clouds of rose-purple flower panicles. Plants bloom mid to late summer followed by airy s...
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Purple Love Grass Purple Love Grass Eragrostis spectabilis
As low as $13.32
Per Plant - 3" Pot

Purple Love Grass dazzles with an abundance of texture, from fine blue-green foliage to airy clouds of rose-purple flower panicles. Plants bloom mid to late summer followed by airy seed heads and coppery autumn foliage. This compact, drought-tolerant native grass is highly adaptable and naturalizes readily, perfect for low-maintenance landscaping. Plant en masse for a stunning display. (Eragrostis spectabilis)