Hardy Plants for Wisconsin

Eastern Arborvitae

• The ability to withstand extremely bitter winters is a feature of the eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), a plant cold hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Eastern arborvitae serves multiple landscaping needs, with the evergreen tree and its multiple cultivars, including shrubs, working as hedges, screens, windbreaks and foundation plantings. Eastern arborvitae grows in many types of soils and is native to the northern counties of Wisconsin, as well as some of the central and southern areas of the Badger State.

Japanese Yew

• Japanese yew (Taxodium cuspidata) is a potential choice for urban settings in central and southern Wisconsin, being cold hardy and extremely tolerant of pollution. This native of Japan and China grows to 40 feet, but cultivars such as Nana are much smaller. An evergreen plant that takes the form of a tree or a shrub, Japanese yew has greenish needles. The red berries and brown-red bark are attractive features of the species, which serves as a hedge, windbreak, specimen plant and plant appropriate for mass groupings.

Virginia Creeper

• A woody vine that climbs trellises and fences or creeps along the ground as ground cover, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) grows from central Wisconsin southward. This plant is hardy to cold and it withstands exposure to salt, an asset in a state with tough winters. Virginia creeper can reach lengths in the range of 50 feet, developing in full shade and all kinds of soil types. The green leaves become attractive in autumn, turning to colors such as crimson and purple, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Virginia creepers flower from May through August, producing bluish and black berries that birds eat.

Nannyberry

• Not only is nannyberry (Viburnim lentago) very cold hardy, but the shrub grows in dry areas and wet sites. Nannyberry's range includes northern Wisconsin. The shrub has many stems and it sometimes grows to 15 feet. The leaves start out light green before turning darker shades, with the fall color potentially brilliant but unreliable, according to the University of Connecticut Plant Database. In good years, the leaves turn red-purple hues. Nannyberry produces edible blackish-blue fruits, but if you resist picking them, they remain on the shrub, giving it interest in winter landscapes.