Some of the best gardens are those that look good all year round, rather than just during the spring and summer months. The majority of plants will be at their peak during only one season, but if you select the right plants, they can offer more than one season of greatness.
Whether these are flowers, plants, or berries, there are lots of plants that you can choose from that will stay alive all year. Trying to create a garden that remains beautiful all year round can be quite difficult, especially if the area where you live presents yet another obstacle.
However, with the right knowledge and information, you can keep your garden looking glorious throughout the entire year. To help you to choose the right plants, we are going to provide you with a selection of plants that look great and stay alive all year.
What Plant Stays Alive All Year?
There are lots of plants that will stay alive all year in the right conditions, and we are going to leave a list of them below, so you can find out what they are for yourself.
Coneflower
There are not many perennials that can win over a gardener the way that coneflowers have been known to. They are easy to grow and are even available in a wide range of colors and sizes.
They look great all year round, with summer and fall flowers in purple, orange, red, white, and green. The fall bloom and seed pods also add beauty to the fall and winter months, and they can even provide food for the birds.
Walters Gardens
This is a type of wildflower that blooms in both May and June, and they have five pale-blue flower petals that grow in clusters on 2 to 3-foot stems. The feathery foliage also works to add texture to your garden all year long. The upright stems and their narrow leaves look attractive all throughout summer, and they turn into a stunning golden yellow color in the fall.
Barrenwort
Barrenwort is a low-growing plant that contains delicate flowers that work wonders in bare areas, like under trees and shrubs. They can grow between 5 and 24 inches high, and between 8 inches and 3 feet wide.
They also have thin stalks of colorful spring blooms that come in shades of yellow, beige, white, pink, red, and purple. The evergreen heart-shaped foliage emerges and often has a pink tint that evolves into a bronze color in the fall.
Forest Pansy
Forest Pansies have pinky-violet-colored blossoms on bare stems in the springtime, followed by stunning dark purple heart-shaped leaves in the summer. In the autumn, they will turn yellow before falling. Many of these plants are multi-stemmed, which means that you can enjoy the shape of the plant during the winter months.
Crab Apples
Crab apples can be slotted into even the smallest of gardens, and they have excellent wildlife value as well as an ornamental appeal. The tree is often filled with pink or white blossoms in the spring, depending on the variety. In the summer, there are beautiful crab apples that cling to the tree, and in the autumn, the leaves turn a spectacular color before they fall.
Sedum
The blooms of many sedum will shine when the garden needs color the most, and they only become brighter as the summer fades into autumn. The color of the flowers improves further as the temperatures cool, and the succulent foliage can be either green, variegated, or purple. Some varieties will even turn yellow, orange, or red in the late fall.
Japanese Silver Grass
Ornamental grasses look great in four-season gardens, and this one will grow between 3 and 12 feet tall, or even higher in some cases. It has whisk-like heads of red to silver flower clusters that mature into fluff seeds in the fall. The golden foliage that appears in the fail and striking seed heads that hold their form in the winter make this grass a great choice.
Siberian Iris
This is a tough and approved favorite that features blue, lavender, white, or yellow flowers and that can grow between 24 and 36 inches high on grassy clumps of slender leaves.
Once the flowers bloom in the late spring to the early summer, the foliage remains attractive until the late autumn. The golden foliage is a great addition to any garden, and the large and dark seed pods will stand out in the winter and provide a great treat for birds.
Dart’s Red Robin
This is a tiered shrub that features white lace-cap flowers in the spring and summer months, as well as attractive and crinkled foliage. The flowers are followed by red berries in the summer and beautiful changing foliage in the autumn.
Blueberries
Not only do blueberries taste great, but they also look great for the entire year. In the spring, the plants are covered in white and bell-shaped flowers, which are then covered in their blue fruits. The leaves will also turn to fiery shades in the autumn.
Candytuft
Candytuft flowers are often described as like later-season snow, and they will bring drifts of fluffy white to the spring scenery. Clusters of flowers will bloom from the early spring into the summer, leaving green foliage to maintain interest all year round. It can grow between 6 and 18 inches high, and between 6 and 24 inches wide.
The plant itself is mostly white, but it can also feature purple, pink, or red blooms. There is another variety of this plant called Autumn White, which is a reblooming variety that will get a second bloom in the fall.
Creeping Phlox
This is a small and low-growing relative of the familiar fragrant summer perennial. It blooms in the spring, featuring a cascading carpet of pretty blossoms, and it can grow between 2 and 6 inches high, and 12 to 20 inches wide.
The flowers can be anywhere between pale to deep purple, white, pink, red, and even bi-colors. The flowers can also attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
