Year-Round Color Perennials

Witch Hazel

• Witch hazels provide color for winter gardens with their distinct flowers. Witch hazels are hardy perennial shrubs that develop fragrant yellow, orange and red flowers in the heart of winter on their multiple stems. The flowers are small and contain only four, narrow petals. They have a strong, sweet aroma. Witch hazels grow from 7 to 15 feet tall and can spread just as wide, according to North Carolina State University. The plants have generic summer foliage that turns a brilliant golden color in autumn and contains small traces of purple and red.

Redosier Dogwood

• Redosier dogwood, also called red twig dogwood, is a perennial shrub easily be maintained as a small plant in home gardens. If left to grow freely in sunny locations, redosier dogwood can grow up to 20 feet tall, according to the University of Tennessee. The shrub produces a colorful inflorescence in spring and has attractive foliage through the growing season. Like other dogwoods, redosiers produce colorful berries through the growing season, attracting many types of birds. During the fall, the leaves turn deep before falling off to reveal bright red bark.

Ornamental Grasses

• Ornamental grasses are resilient perennial plants growing in poor soils. They provide color and interest to your landscape throughout the year. Ornamental grasses are hardy plants requiring little care once established. Many ornamental grasses have colorful foliage in spring and summer, and develop tall flowering stalks up to 6 feet tall that provide height and variety to winter landscapes, according to Colorado State University.

Winter Jasmine

• Winter jasmine is a hardy shrub in home landscapes that maintains an attractive appearance through summer providing food and shelter for wildlife. Winter jasmine has a fast growth rate and quickly sprawls to cover a large area when planted in rich, well-drained soils. Winter jasmine has a mounding growth habit with numerous willow-like stems that arch away from the plant's base. Winter jasmine grows up to 4 feet tall and spreads more than 7 feet, according to North Carolina State University. Bright-yellow flowers cover the plant in winter before the leaves appear, and the plants produce numerous small, red berries attracting a wide array of wildlife in early spring.