If you are like many gardeners and homeowners in the greater Chicagoland region, you desire plants that provide decoration or interest in the winter. This can mean different things for other people, and often is impacted by weather patterns. Whether a homeowner is looking for evergreen, green retention, or generic winter interest, native plants are eco-friendly and offer a wide variety of these options all while supporting local, native wildlife.
The first category of plants gardeners look for are evergreen, meaning they never lose their green color, or only lose it for a very short period of time. Often gardeners think of trees or shrubs which fit this category, there are also many shorter perennials which fit this category as well. In the Chicagoland region here are a few (but not all) which fit these criteria: White Pine and Jack Pine, Pinus alba and Pinus banksiana, Canadian Yew, Taxus canadensis, Creeping Juniper, Juniperus horizontalis, and Northern White Cedar, Thuja occidentalis.
Many think of plants that retain their green color deeper into Fall or early Winter. There are a few native plants that fit this category which is exciting! There is disbelief that all native prairie plants go dormant in October and wake back up in May. Here are a few I have growing in my yard which retain their green coloration deep into the winter: Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Coreopsis lanceolata, Hairy Beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus, Orange Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida, and Prairie Smoke, Geum triflorum.
The final category is one most may not think about, and that is winter interest. This interest comes from the plants that dominate northern grasslands, grasses and flowers. To the traditional gardener's eye, these plants may look like boring brown weeds. With a closer look we find there are a brilliant variety of colors and textures. The simplest to think of are trees or shrubs that keep their leaves or fruit into late Fall or early Winter, or have colorful bark. For example, here are a few popular shrubs: Red Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea, Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, Winterberry, Ilex verticillata, and Coralberry, Symporicarpos orbiculatus.
This "winter interest" is further exacerbated especially when stems and seed heads are retained to allow birds to forage in winter. We have a few resident rabbits in our yard. During the winter, one might think they spend most of their time eating the grass. No! My wife and I discovered one rabbit likes to hide in our pollinator garden under the overlapping stems of asters, mint, butterflyweed, and prairie dropseed and forage the young seedlings, or possibly leftover leaves and stems.
One of my favorite experiences in the native prairie garden is fresh snowfall on seedheads. My wife and I like to refer to them as snow puffs or floofs! I can't imagine strolling through a wild area without seeing them. Being from Southern California, for me they exemplify "walking in a winter wonderland."
Living in the freezing north doesn't have to mean gardening for only a few months. Introduce native plants to your garden and rediscover the beauty of winter. It isn't dead, or boring, it's just different.
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