10 Winter Garden Spruce-ups
Discover how to keep your garden vibrant during the cool season.
Supplement existing plants
Supplement existing plants, such as the azaleas and ferns pictured, with an edging of white cyclamen. Tuck lamium or a similar variegated plant between the cyclamen to add a lacy skirt of frosty-looking greenery.
Add lighting
For a soft glow at night, wrap tree trunks and branches with strands of white lights.
Define borders by placing small candles in glass holders along mow strips, walls, and walkways.
Plant a border in pots
Enhance narrow in-ground beds with a row of potted plants.
In the small, shaded side yard shown, cylindrical chocolate brown pots filled with white cyclamen line up against the raised border's low brick wall, making the fern-filled planting appear deeper than it is.
More on winter container gardens
Accent the front entry
Flank the entry with potted plants.
Fountainlike burgundy cordyline plays off white cyclamen and plum 'Palace Purple' heuchera in bowls atop brick pillars. The pot at the base contains white cyclamen, lamium, and red nandina.
Wreath for a garden gate
To welcome family and friends, hang an evergreen wreath from a ribbon that coordinates with the flowers and foliage. Tie the ribbon to a gate, or hang several wreaths at different heights from tree branches.
Make your own wreath
Group pots
Dress a doorstep with containers.
The pots pictured, of different sizes but the same color, contain plants in shades that echo the garden's overall scheme. In the smallest pot, fiber optics plant mixes with heuchera, lamium, and cyclamen. In the one at left, nandina pops against lamium, cyclamen, and hellebore. The tallest pot holds fine-leafed rosemary, cordyline, cyclamen, and heuchera.
Use mulch
Discover how to protect your plants from cold temperatures with our easy video tutorial.
Keep your plants safe
Drape fabric around tender plants when the forecast calls for frost.
Add touches of winter white
Brighten your garden with white flowers and frosty foliage.
More on winter gardens
Plant bulbs
In milder climates, you can continue paving the way for flowers.
Before you plant, make sure each flower will grow well in your climate zone with our Plant Finder. And if you don't know your climate zone, look it up here.