Add Color to Your Winter Garden With Beautiful Berry Bushes

When planning your garden, it’s fun to think through all four seasons! Winter gardens can hold nearly as much interest as the summertime season, between winter veggies, herbs, evergreens and winter berry bushes.

Here are a few winter berry bushes to consider adding to your seasonal garden planning.

They’ll add color and interest for the cold season, while you anticipate a summer explosion of color and scent.

 1. Hawthorne

Think about adding Hawthorne trees to your landscape. This perennial known for its medicinal qualities boasts bright red berries and scalloped leaves that are gorgeous through the fall and winter.

Plant by seed in the fall, and do know that Hawthorne likes soil that’s a little acidic.

The flower usually bloom in February with berries appearing in September. The stems are quite thorny, so be careful when you pick them! English Hawthorne is perfect for hedges and borders. The berries and leaves are edible and are a wonderful addition to homemade jams and jellies.

2. Rose hips

Roses are obviously gorgeous in the summertime, but fall and winter rose hips are absolutely gorgeous in the garden! The beautiful Bishop’s Palace Garden in England, features them above with artichokes in their winter garden. Rugosa Rosa varieties feature large, dramatic rose hips perfect to dry for tea! Cut the rose hips off to add to holiday greenery.

3. Snowberries

Snowberries often grow wild in the forest in northern climates in the late summer to winter. They are laden with white and pink berries, perfect for wild flower arrangements. You can plant your own as well! While they prefer clay soil, they will grow in a variety of conditions. If you like to grow plants that attract birds to your garden, snowberries are a great option for you.

Do not that snowberries are vulnerable to a lot of diseases, like mildew, so be sure to cut the diseased branches and leaves off as soon as they appear.

4. Pyracantha

Pyracantha, also known as Firethorn, greets you with bright orange berries all winter long! It’s such a cheerful plant to have around during the dismal, dark months of winter. It’s gorgeous climbing on walls or grown espalier-style across the side of a house. It also works great as a hedge. Birds love Firethorn plants, so you are sure to have a lot visiting your garden if you plant Pyracantha!

5. Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster makes a beautiful winter hedge, as they are laden with red berries all winter long. There are both evergreen varieties and deciduous varieties, so choose accordingly. Most are fairly hardy and are easy to grow with not a lot of threat of disease. They look quite festive in the winter, and in the spring they have sweet little flowers.