Plants to Grow During Winter

Plants to Grow in Winter

Colder temperatures don’t mean an end to your gardening. Many flowers and vegetables thrive in the winter months! This means you can have color and variety in your lawn or garden year-round.

Benefits to Winter Gardening

Winter gardening has some benefits that warmer weather gardening does not. First off, most pests are dormant during the colder months. This means plants have less pest related stress.

Most plant pathogens and diseases are also dormant in the winter. Top-dress your garden beds with a good compost before planting. This helps to introduce beneficial fungi and bacteria to help further reduce or eliminate pressure from disease.

Regardless of what season it is, or whether you’re interested in foliage, flowers, or food (gardening!)- Evergreen Lawn & Landscape is ready to help you with your Landscaping needs!

Winter Vegetables

When thinking about vegetable gardens, summer is the season that comes to mind. But many vegetables can be grown and harvested in the winter.

Lots of root vegetables do well in colder temperatures. Beets thrive in cool, moist conditions.

Carrots are hardy down to 15 degrees, but prolonged cold can cause long, pale roots. Rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, and radishes are also good cold weather root vegetables.

Lettuce varieties and leafy vegetables also do well in the winter. Cabbage does well in temps down to 15-20 degrees.

Spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and kale are all cold-hardy plants. Collard greens actually come through the cold more flavorful than otherwise, and can tolerate temps down to 5 degrees.

Broccoli, celery, and Brussels sprouts all thrive in cold weather as well. Broccoli can survive temps down to 28 degrees. Brussels sprouts can withstand frosts and be harvested up until the season’s first hard freeze.

Parsley and cilantro are herbs that thrive in winter gardens. Along with green onions, they are a good way to add flavor and color to winter dishes.

Winter Flowers

There is also a wide variety of winter flowers that add spots of color during the dreary months.

Pansies are a popular option because they are easy to grow and come in a wide array of colors.

Snapdragons also come in a variety of colors and can reseed themselves even during the coldest part of the year.

Petunias do well in Texas winters and can grow in gardens or containers.

Crocuses can bloom through the snow and stand up to freezing temperatures. Grow them in October-November for late winter or early spring blooms.

There are a couple of winter-hardy rose varieties like antique tea roses and old roses. They can bloom until winter and often for generations to come with the right care.

Cyclamen looks delicate with its lavender and rose-pink blooms, but is actually quite hardy and easy to grow. It makes a good groundcover.

Holly is associated with Christmas for a reason. Its glossy green leaves and red berries stand out in the winter landscape.

Camelia is an evergreen shrub that thrives in winter. It’s a shade plant that grows well in acidic soil.

Juniper is another evergreen that can withstand harsh winter weather. Its cool-blue hue makes it a popular landscaping plant.

Want more ideas for sturdy, low-maintenance evergreens to add to your landscape? Check out our list of Best Evergreen Shrubs for Texas!

Agave is a succulent commonly used as a landscaping plant. It can withstand the cold and is a hardy variety.

Some plants bloom only in the winter, like winter honeysuckle. It looks like a normal shrub in warmer months, but produces fragrant blooms in the winter.

Conclusion

Pay attention to varieties of these flowers and vegetables, as some are more cold-hardy than others. Read labels to be sure you have the right ones.

Overall, winter gardening can be enjoyable and rewarding with a high payout in both yield and colors. Just because the cold sets in doesn’t mean your gardening days are done.