9+ Native Plants for Winter Interest in Ohio & Kentucky

Winter landscapes don’t have to be drab. While colorful flowers may have faded and deciduous trees’ branches are bare, there are still plenty of ways to bring your yard and gardens to life in winter. You just have to know what to plant.

From a design perspective, winter interest usually comes down to three factors: color, texture, and contrast. The following list of native plants offers a mixture of all three. And because these plants are native to Ohio and Kentucky, they offer ecological value all year round—supporting native pollinators, wildlife, and local ecosystems.  

If you need help curating your winter landscape, reach out! Our lead designer, Jennie Markel, would be happy to assist you in designing a plant palette that’s tailored to your landscape. Keep in mind that our spring landscape design/install calendar fills up quickly, so now is a good time to secure your spot on the calendar. Also keep an eye out for The Nursery at Our Land Organics’ opening in late spring; we’ll offer many of these plants for sale (organically grown, as always).

To get started, consider adding these native plants to your landscape to enjoy striking visuals all year round.

Herbaceous Perennials

Photo credit: BlueRidgeKitties

American Alumroot (Heuchera americana)
This dependable border plant is green and lightly variegated throughout the warmer months. In winter, the heart-shaped leaves change color—gradually donning shades of red, pink, violet, or maroon. Protect this perennial in winter by lightly mulching around it. When the plant flowers in summer, it will draw a variety of pollinators. In winter, the colorful leaves provide cover for wildlife.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
The blackened seedheads of coneflowers offer striking contrast and texture in the winter landscape. Clumped coneflowers look remarkable on their own; they’ll offer even more interest when grouped with other native perennials such as black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), asters, or milkweed—all of which retain their seedheads through the colder months to the joy of foraging birds.

Ornamental Grasses
Several native grasses turn from green to brown and remain upright in winter, lending soft contrast and graceful texture to a cold landscape. These include:

• Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)

• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

Grasses offer cover for wildlife in any season, including winter. Those that retain seedheads in winter also provide forage for hungry birds.

Photo credit: tombarta

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
As its name implies, Christmas fern is evergreen even through the winter holidays, offering bright hues in the winter landscape. This adaptable plant is especially charming when planted en masse or as an herbaceous border, but even smaller groupings offer a pop of green during the dreariest months. Its drooping fronds give winter coverage for wildlife, while the fern’s root systems help stabilize slopes and prevent erosion.

Sedges (Carex variety)
Many varieties of Carex, a native sedge, stay evergreen throughout the winter. The tips might turn brown, but the bulk of the plant will remain green even in colder temps. (It’s okay to clip off the brown tips if that’s preferable.) In addition to greening the winter landscape, clumped sedges provide cover for wildlife.

Woody Shrubs & Trees

Dogwood (Cornus Spp.)
Several varieties of dogwood boast red, orange-ish, or yellow stems that add contrast, color, and vertical accents to a winter yard. These include Red-osier dogwood (also known as red twig dogwood), Silky dogwood, Pagoda dogwood, and Gray dogwood. Newer stems offer the brightest hues, so many people prune older branches to the ground in the spring. In winter, cut a few branches and bring them inside for a striking bouquet.

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
After yielding white flowers in spring and summer and pink-ish fruits in fall, ninebark drops its foliage. But it still offers winter interest: Its fruits turn brown and stay clustered on the branches, and the plant’s “peeling” or “exfoliating” bark lends dynamic texture to a winter landscape. Note that individual ninebark plants can’t self-fertilize; it’s generally best to have at least three plants to promote fruit production.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Winterberry plants drop their leaves in winter, and what remains is stunning: bright, red berries pop in contrast to the muted browns and grays of winter. Not only do they add color and vibrancy to a winter landscape, but these berries also provide an important food source for wintering birds. Be aware that winterberries are dioecious, so they require separate male and female plants to produce berries.

Witch Hazel (Hamemelis virginiana L.)
Common witch hazel is a deciduous shrub or small tree that’s very unique. While other plants cease blooming by fall, witch hazel doesn’t get started until October or November. After the plant drops its foliage, thin-petaled, spidery yellow flowers emerge gradually along the tree’s branches and remain into the cold months. The blooms provide a striking sight in winter while the branches offer nesting habitat to overwintering birds.