Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – Mid-Atlantic

1. Northern Bayberry

Name:Myrica pensylvanica

USDA Hardiness Zones:3 to 6

Size:9 feet improbable and 5 to 12 foundation wide

condition : Full sun to partial shade ; moist , well - drain ground

The glossy , dark green farewell of this shrub persist in all but the harshest of winters . If the foliation does devolve , waxy and dainty blue - gray Berry along the stems of distaff plant are revealed . They are relish by songster , whose picnicking will delight onlookers on wintertime daytime . station this tough flora near a paseo you need to shovel ( it ’s salt tolerant ) , and its sweet , aromatic scent will buoy up your whole step as you sweep by . In moist website , it can originate rapidly to the outer limits of its list height , but is easily kept in confirmation with pruning .

2. Christmas Fern

Name:Polystichum acrostichoides

Zones:3 to 8

Size:18 inches tall and 3 feet broad

This industrial plant will thrive in most garden , as long as the grease is well drained . One of the few aboriginal evergreens in our decidedly deciduous mid - Atlantic area , it provides winter cover and habitat for undercoat - feeding and ground - nesting birdie species , as well as supports several species of butterflies . drouth and deer tolerant , its rich green , glossy fronds can be used in winter arrangement . In full sun , it will require consistent moisture to survive .

3. Allegheny Spurge

Name:Pachysandra procumbens

Zones:5 to 9

Size:1 groundwork tall and spreading indefinitely

weather condition : Full shadowiness ; moist to average out soil

In early bound , this slowly spread priming cover sports a short , upright plume of sweet fragrant whitened flowers for early nectar seeker . The flowers are followed by a tight packet of good chartreuse foliage . As spring wears on , the leaves relax and unfurl , forming a giving disconsolate green russet scab of gently scalloped leaves . In winter , the leaves answer to the rough atmospheric condition by becoming mottle , silvery , and a piece more tattered with each storm and cold spell . All the while , that gumptious yellow green foliage is waiting to erupt onward in spring , when the wizened winter leaves quietly disintegrate and languish away . Allegheny spurge can form a small , drought - tolerant colony in time . If you are looking for a plant whose lifetime cycle per second parallel ours , you postulate look no further .

4. ‘Winter King’ Green Hawthorn

Name:Crataegus viridis‘Winter King’

Zones:4 to 7

Size : Up to 40 foot grandiloquent and 20 feet wide

Give this easy - care Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree a cheery speckle and well - drain grunge , and it will subtly dominate your landscape painting with its beauty each season . White blossoms in springtime are the first of this drought - tolerant tree ’s enrapture . Berries then form and modification from gullible in summertime to orange in declension to undimmed red in winter ( pictured ) . The fruit persists until mid- to late winter , when it ’s found by late - feeding birds whose antics will flirt with you on cheery wintertime break of the day . The thorny branches defy shabu and snow in lovely pattern through winter storms , and the exfoliating barque is striking . This is a tree with no indigence for a backdrop and makes an fantabulous specimen in a little 1000 .

Louise Schaefer is the atomic number 27 - founding father of Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery in Orefield , Pennsylvania .

Photos : ( 1 , 3 and 4 ) , Jennifer Benner ; ( 2 ) , millettephotomedia.com

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Northern Bayberry

Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest - Northeast

Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – Midwest

Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest - Southeast

Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – Southern Plains

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