Outdoor Plants That Grow Well in Winter

Vegetables

• Several cool-season vegetables will thrive in the winter garden. The amount of new growth above ground will depend on where you live and how warm it is inside the cold frame where the vegetables are growing. A cold frame is a boxlike structure with a clear glass or plastic lid. Of course, not all vegetables need protection. Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts and kale will thrive in the open garden during winter and have a sweeter taste once a light frost hits them. Other vegetables that grow well in the winter garden include potatoes, lettuce, radish, spinach, peas, broccoli and cauliflower.

Bulbs

• The ideal time for planting bulbs is in the fall. This is because these plants prefer to establish their root systems once the soil has cooled down. Bulbs that are already in the ground follow this cycle as well. Some bulbs begin to emerge or even flower during the winter months. Snowdrops, hardy cyclamen, winter aconite, crocus and early flowering daffodils are some of the most reliable winter flowering bulbs. Snow does not hurt these plants and for the most part, they are unaffected by late frost.

Annuals and Perennials

• Pansies are one of the most popular winter flowering annuals, especially for gardeners in cold northern climates. An annual plant is one that grows, flowers, sets seed and dies in one growing season. Fall-planted pansies slightly defy this definition because they will flower in the fall, on and off throughout the winter, then go dormant for a few weeks to emerge again in spring. As the weather warms up, pansies will set seed and die. Another annual that continues to grow in the garden is the winter flowering sweet pea. Hellebores are a very reliable winter bloomer that, depending on variety, start to bloom as early as November and continue blooming right into spring. Hellebores are slow to establish in the garden, often taking eight years to reach their full glory. Hellebores are perennial plants, which means they come back from their own root system year after year.

Woody Ornamentals

• Camellia, leatherleaf mahonia, witch hazels, winter jasmine and sweet box are woody ornamentals that burst into bloom during the winter months. The flower buds begin to form in the fall, swelling as they get closer to opening. In recent years, new cold-hardy varieties of camellia have been introduced into the trade making it possible to grow these winter beauties farther north. When selecting woody ornamentals for the winter landscape, take into consideration the month in which they flower. It is possible, with careful selection, to have a wide range of woody ornamentals in different stages of growth throughout the entire winter season.