Winter Blooming Shrubs

Written by Robyn Roehm Cannon

Winter Blooming Shrubs

It’s relatively easy to have colorful flowers when temperatures rise above sixty degrees, but what about the winter garden, when cold winds blow and the dreariness of November sets in? That’s when it takes a bit more planning to produce a garden that yields delicate flowers for our enjoyment and to urge us on to spring. The good news is there are a surprisingly large number of excellent, readily available choices to add to your landscape for winter excitement. 

One of the hardiest flowering plant groups that will thrive in nearly any planting zone is shrubs. These ornamentals are generally disease resistant and will give your garden color and texture during more than one season. Many begin their show while still covered with the white of winter and exude a glorious fragrance into the cold, crisp air. Perhaps best of all, they’ll attract birds with their colorful habit, so your garden will become a wildlife sanctuary, full of activity during a time that is normally very quiet. Keep reading for details on some of my favorite winter-into-spring bloomers.

Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica)

USDA zones 5 to 8

These stately plants can grow to be large specimens over time—up to ten feet tall by eight feet wide. They love rich, moist, well-drained soil and can thrive in partial to full shade. You’ll be rewarded with white or pink six-inch pendulous clusters of fragrant, bell-shaped flowers beginning in late winter and lasting through spring. Look for the cultivar ‘Debutante’, a compact selection that grows to three feet at full maturity.

Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis or Senna bicapsularis)

USDA zones 7 to 10 (deciduous north of zone 10)

This shrub has a fountain or draping look to it and can grow into a small tree. It produces deep yellow blooms from late fall into early winter. It likes full sun and sandy soil with good drainage. Be sure to work compost into the soil before planting and water the cassia regularly until it’s established.

Daphne (Daphne odora)

USDA zones 3 to 10

A sunny to lightly shaded area of the garden is preferred for this highly fragrant bloomer. It offers delicate, creamy white, pink, or yellow flowers in clusters in late winter that persist well into spring. The cultivar ‘Leucantha’ is a nice choice when planted in slightly moist soil that is well drained. Its mature size is approximately four feet tall and wide, but beware: daphne doesn’t like to be moved, so find your plant a home where it can be happy for many years.

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)

USDA zones 5 to 9

This is one of the most dramatic winter bloomers. Clusters of white, pink, or red blooms open on bare stems in late winter and early spring. The cultivar ‘Kingishi’ is especially nice for the home landscape. It is a compact shrub four to five feet high and wide. Quince is not particular about the soil it grows in, as long as the shrub is sited in full sun and watered regularly. It makes a good deterrent against deer because the limbs are covered in very sharp spines.

Laurustinus Viburnum (Viburnum tinus)

USDA zones 7 to 10

Waxy, fragrant white flowers open from pink buds in late winter and early spring. Some cultivars bloom in summer and continue blooming through the winter. Viburnum likes part sun to shade in fertile, moist, well-drained soil.

Pussy Willow (Salix discolor)

USDA zones 2 to 7

Late winter brings powdery-silver blooms popping out from the pussy willow’s bare stems. It is a colonizing plant and may cover an area of twenty feet around the original planting, reaching twenty-five feet tall, but it can be contained through severe pruning after flowering. It grows as a native in swampy areas and is perfect for low spots in the landscape. Any soil type is acceptable. Bees, butterflies, and many bird species are drawn to this plant.

Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima)

USDA zones 4 to 9

In late winter and early spring, this weeping shrub is covered with lemon-scented white blooms. It can grow to ten feet tall and wide. Grow it in dry to moderately moist, well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade, and prune it after it flowers to control its size