Make your yard alive with color, even in the late fall and early winter when things are dying back, by choosing some of these hardy plants.
Golden Smoke Tree:
By summer, these shrubs sport gold leaves with puffs of white blooms. Come fall, the leaves shift to corals and reds. These are maintenance-free and thrive in the sun, so plant as a screen near a hot, sunny spot.
Autumn Magic:
Truly a shrub of all seasons. By spring, it sports small, white flowers, which attract the honeybees. In the autumn, its leaves transform into a lovely dark burgundy red, and its purple-black chokecherries cling on well into winter — providing food to backyard birds. Just plant this small, slow-spreading bush wherever it’s needed, because it thrives in both sandy and clay soils, as well as partial shade and full sun.
Heavenly Bamboo:
This shrub clings to its bright red berries through the winter, and if you’re lucky, it might hang on to its red fall leaves. It thrives in containers, but you can also plant these on a slope for erosion control.
Ornamental Grasses:
Whether you enjoy the nodding golden plumes of fountain grass or the purple-red blades of Little Bluestem, plant these ornamental grasses along fences or as a flowerbed accent and keep them standing through the winter to keep a vertical element.
Winterberry Holly:
A native to the wetlands of Maryland, its leaves turn yellow in the fall as bright red berries cling on through the winter. These berries will also attract birds in search of a food source. Plant in full sun and make sure to plant both males and females.
Good landscaping goes beyond the idea of planting flowers in the spring and summer. With thoughtful planning, your yard can have beauty, texture and even color just about any time of the year. Learn more about why fall is one of the best times for planting…