Winter around the greater Portland area can feel like the opening scenes of The Wizard of Oz. The world is a dull gradient of grays. The days feel as repetitive as farm chores. Everyone is on a bicycle. Your family surrounds you all the time. You feel trapped in a storm cellar and want to escape. Your neighbor is a witch, and she’s mad at your little dog for drinking her freshly charged moon water. You secretly hope a wild whirlwind descends from the heavens and kidnaps your house — just for something interesting to happen.
Then, sometime near April, the rains pause, the storms settle, and you step out of your front door. The world’s gone psychedelic. Your city is emerald. No longer barren fractals, the trees bloom in technicolor: pink as the gown of a good witch, ruby as your most magical slippers, and yellow as a brick road leading home. You feel your spirit lift like an inept wizard’s hot air balloon.
What if you didn’t have to wait six months (or even 1 hour 41 minutes) to get to this metaphorical Land of Oz? What if you could summon color, texture, and life to the dreariest days of February? It doesn’t take befriending a lion, singing with your friends, or manslaughtering a stripe-footed witch. It just takes welcoming some winter-blooming plants to your garden. Here are a few ideas.
Camellias
Call these shrubs Judy Garland because they’re the star of the show. Nothing brightens dolorous December or frumpy February like the crisp cheer of a camellia in bloom. Since moving to Oregon, this evergreen has become one of my most beloved plants for its power to dispel winter blues. They’re everywhere in the Willamette Valley, reminding us spring is coming. As much as I focus on native and near-native plants for their ecological value and wild beauty, I was thrilled that our house already had a well-established camellia when we moved in. It may not be the most broadly beneficial plant in my yard, but it sure makes me happy.
These tropical wonders originally hail from southern and eastern Asia. With more than 200 species and 20,000 cultivars, there’s a camellia that’s right for any spot. The flowers have six forms, from the tightly symmetrical “double formal” to the looser “tubular.” Most are red, pink, or white, but a few veer into yellow or purple.
Generally, Camellia sasanqua blooms late fall into early winter and Camellia japonica late winter to mid-spring, though the lines can blur depending on your local climate and yearly weather. I assume mine is a japonica, as its buds usually unfurl in late January (though thanks to our current unwanted guest, El Nino, this time, it started on Boxing Day). Some variety names get right to the point. Needing some Barbie flair at Thanksgiving? Get ‘Pink Snow.’ Want fresh flowers for the Christmas dinner table? Choose ‘Yuletide.’ Need a pristine bouquet to get you through our next icepocalypse? Plant ‘Winter’s Snowman.’
Smaller camellias stay at a modest 4-5 feet, while larger varieties tower up to 12 feet. They like part sun to sun (preferably more in the morning than afternoon) and acidic soil.
Hazels
Hazelnuts aren’t just good for Nutella; they also add flavor to your winter landscape. Hazel trees can bloom locally from January (or even earlier) through March. The male flowers emerge in a long, slinky, cream-colored cluster called a catkin before the tree leafs out for spring. Though not as showy as traditional ornamentals like magnolia or rhododendron, hazels have a simple beauty that breaks up the monotony of stick season. The female flowers are tiny and a gaudy pinkish red: cool close-up, though invisible at a glance.
European hazels are commonly used in orchards, but there are a couple of North American species to choose from for your home: the American hazel (native to the eastern U.S.) and the beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta, also known as the western hazel or beaked filbert, native to the West Coast). I’d recommend choosing the native one to support local insects and wildlife! (Well over 100 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars may nosh on beaked hazels, according to Douglas Tallamy.)
Beaked hazelnuts are smaller than commercial varieties but just as useful in the kitchen for snacking and cooking or processing into butter and oil. Unlike European types, beaked and American hazels can be self-fertile, meaning they don’t necessarily need a second tree to cross-pollinate. However, the fruit quality and quantity aren’t very high on a lone, self-pollinated tree. (My neighbors have a single hazel and only get a few nuts, which go to the very happy squirrels in late summer.) If you just want winter interest, one tree is fine. If you also expect a prolific nut harvest, plant more than one compatible hazel to boost your results.
Beaked hazels are shrubby, multi-stem trees that grow in sun to part shade. Once established, they are disease- and drought-resistant, requiring little to no summer watering. They can grow up to about 15 feet tall.
Witch hazel
Related to neither the aforementioned nut, hazels nor Glinda the Good Witch/Princess, the witch hazel is another famous source of vibrancy for the long cold months. This deciduous shrub/small tree blooms here as early as December and into March, disrupting the brown and gray landscapes with wispy bursts of gold, orange, or red.
The exact bloom time depends on the variety and cultivar you choose. ‘Little Suzie’ and ‘Jelena’ can bloom ahead of the pack, while Chinese witch hazel and ‘Amethyst’ will bloom into March.
Witch hazels thrive in partial shade and somewhat acidic soils. The shrub size varies widely from one cultivar to the next, anywhere from 4 feet tall up to 15.
Oregon grape
Seen everywhere from lush forest floors to gas station hellstrips, the Oregon grape has earned its spot as a local favorite. The unfussy Pacific Northwest native brightens post-holiday gloom with its shiny evergreen leaves and bright yellow flowers. The clusters of small blooms emerge in late winter, followed by blue-colored berries in spring.
A trio of species flourish hereabouts: Tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) reaches 4 to 5 feet in height. Cascade Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa) tops out about 2 feet. Low or Creeping Oregon Grape (Mahonia repent) rarely crests a foot in height.
Oregon grape enjoys drier shade or sun but can also handle the rainy season. These plants are extremely drought tolerant once established. Give them room, and they’ll spread slowly by rhizomes. The berries are edible but quite tart and rarely liked by humans.
Coast silktassel
A West Coast native, this silktassel (Garrya elliptica) blooms by January or February. Like hazels, its flowers take the form of catkins, but fancier, grayish and nearly a foot long.
This lovely, rounded evergreen grows up to about 15 feet tall. It is cold-hardy and enjoys partial shade or sun. It’s also reasonably drought-tolerant.
For even more options, consider plants that add visual interest without flowers. Snowberry shrubs hold onto their stark white berries throughout the cold season (unless your chickens strip them all by November, as mine did). Pines, spruces, and firs have long been kept for their year-round foliage, but consider evergreens on a smaller scale, too. The waxy leaves of lower-growing salal and kinnickinick shine all winter long. Many native and ornamental sedges (Carex spp.), fescues, grasses, and ferns also stay vibrant. Tufted hairgrass turns to gold in the fall and stays upright into winter, adding texture to its setting. The stark ruby stems of red-twig dogwood blaze amid the black and white of our metaphorical Kansas farmhouse.
Whichever plant you choose, adding winter color to your yard is a no-brainer. Even a scarecrow could do it.
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