Plants That Peak in Winter in the Northwest

Richie Steffen , executive manager of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants , discusses the often - undervalued charm of winter gardens :

“ What many see as a dark and inhospitable time of year of dull sleeping , however , I catch as a chillier continuation of my gardening time of year . There are many reliable plant that will tolerate , even looktheir best , during the frosty days of winter . While winter garden may run short of bloom , especially in cold climates , there is a wonderful selection of evergreen plant foliage , interesting barque , and extravagantly gloss twigs that can make anyone ’s winter brighter . ”

To give winter even more of the sexual love it deserves , we asked some regional experts to pick their favorite plants that peak in wintertime . rule fantastic plants for wintertime interest in the Northwest below , and discover even more plants that peak in wintertime in Richie ’s clause , Winter Interest From the Ground Up .

1. Dyce’s holly fern

Name: Polystichum×dycei

Zones:6–8

Size:2 fundament tall and 3 feet encompassing

Conditions : Full to fond tad ; average to moist , well - drained soil

aboriginal range : cross

This fern is the yield of a science lab clash between an Australian endemic and a northerly hemisphere metal money . It has all the attributes worthy of primetime in any ghost garden or year - beat plantation owner . This most remarkable evergreen fern deploys a perfectly symmetrical mop of drab unripe frond , elegantly arch yet strong enough to balk a good layer of snow . Dyce ’s holly fern show the increased vigor typical of good hybrids and may step by step bulge up into a clump that would put a big hosta to ignominy . It is contented with the approximated care of the novice gardener , but it also run across the in high spirits standards of the most serious fern collector .

2. ‘Quicksilver’ Chinese wild ginger

Name: Asarum splendens‘Quicksilver’

Zones:5–9

Size:8 inch improbable and 12 in wide

Conditions : Full to fond shadowiness ; average to moist soil

Native reach : South central China

A splendid woodlander , ‘ Quicksilver ’ Formosan wild ginger is as suited for commercial-grade plantings as it is for the choicest private courtyards . It is mostly evergreen and is seldom bothered by slugs . West Coast gardeners traumatized by the outrageous vigour of our aboriginal wild powdered ginger ( Asarum caudatum , Zones 7–9 ) will be enchanted by the unwavering yet manageable growth of this Taiwanese cousin . Its natural spring flowers are “ peanut , ” neatly tuck away at undercoat level . Yet one only postulate to brush that foliation apart to come upon purplish maroon blooms evocative of the lip of the giant sandworms in David Lynch’sDunemovie . This wild ginger may not sour your eyes blue , but it will certainly bend everyone ’s heads .

3. Boxleaf azara

Name: Azara microphylla

Zones:7–10

Size:15 human foot marvelous and 6 feet all-embracing

Conditions : Full sunshine to partial tint ; average to moist , well - drain soil

Native chain of mountains : Chile and Argentina

Boxleaf azara has an unmistakable silhouette , a girthy column take with the small dark green leaves that , albeit abundant , never add up to an unintelligible canopy . Hence , some of its vertical branching is able to radiate through . Such delicate and coarse-textured evergreen leaf is of swell help to a garden design and make the perfect backbone for finer - granulate plantings in small space . In late winter , tiny jaundiced flowers make up for their underwhelming size with a powerful fragrance of vanilla ( some say chocolate ) that would have a passer believe a bread maker , not an avid gardener , hold up there .

4. Taiwanese schefflera

Name: Schefflera taiwaniana

Conditions : Full sunlight to partial shade ; average to damp soil

Native stove : Mountains of Taiwan

I have become haunt with intrepid scheffies , and a blue-ribbon few are finally becoming fairly easy to find in the trade . Of them all , this Taiwan indigene hold the most hope . Most often multistem , this mintage originate into a powerfully upright bush displaying palm-shaped foliage with slender , finger - comparable leaflets . As it maturate , its barely divided “ trunks ” skyrocket upwardly with subtle directing indecision — a most compelling spectacle . The hottest summer Sunday may scorch the top part of its fully evergreen plant foliage , and the cold winter night may spite it . Therefore , a hint of afternoon shadowiness and protection from gusty winds may be beneficial .

Dave Demersis a plant life hunter , plantsman , and landscape designer based in Vancouver , British Columbia .

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Plants that Peak in Winter in the Northwest

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Dyce’s holly fern

Photo: courtesy of Dave Demers

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