A great fall and winter landscape depends upon creating a long lasting riot of color and interest. The best way to achieve this amazing effect is by choosing a diversity of plants that color at different times and maintain some sort of interest throughout the winter season.
Here’s a quick list of great options for a rich fall and winter landscape.
Yellow, Gold, and Orange Fall Color
Birch show a bright yellow fall color that is hard to miss. When the leaves drop, paper birch keeps on giving with its beautiful bright white bark. Likewise, river birch really showcases its exfoliating cinnamon colored bark in the winter landscape.
Sugar Maples are known for their gorgeous shades of yellow and gold, and some even color up to a brilliant orange. A fall Minnesota landscape can hardly be complete without a sugar maple. Native sugar maples show a spectacular yellow, and Fall Fiesta and Apollo (great for small spaces) both turn a beautiful combination of yellow, orange, and red.
Ginkgos show beautiful bright yellow fall color. Their fan shaped leaves are unique all on their own, unlike any other tree we offer. The rough, furrowed bark adds texture all season long.
Aspens take on a beautiful yellow to orange fall color, complemented even more by their silvery grey bark and slender form.
Crimson, Red, and Rust Fall Color
Maples show such a diversity of reds in fall that it can be hard to choose just one. From burgundy to scarlet to bright red, maples deliver. Beautiful layered with yellow and gold. Consider Firefall, Matador, Sienna Glen , and Autumn Blaze.
Red oaks and pin oaks show amazing red and rust colors in fall. Their leaves can hang around for a while, too, adding texture to an otherwise dormant landscape.
Chokeberries, many viburnums, dogwoods, and Quick Fire hydrangea display beautiful fall foliage color. Bonus: many shrubs have dried flower heads and persistent fruit that keep the color going after the leaves have fallen.
Winter Interest
Shrubs like red twig and yellow twig dogwood provide color long after the leaves have fallen. The red and yellow stems add some cheer in the dead of winter and are great for decorating and winter containers.
Crabapples with persistent fruit perform double duty- they provide interest in the landscape as well as winter food for birds. When winter is over, crab trees burst onto the scene with beautiful early flowers.
Winterberry’s bright berries are impossible to beat for fall and winter color. The fruit hangs on well into winter, lining the stems of this shrub. Eventually, birds will snack on the berries.
Trees with persistent leaves can soften the barren feeling of Minnesota winters. Some oaks, ironwood, and musclewood are known to retain their leaves.
Many of our plants are starting to show their peak late-season color, so it’s the perfect time to shop for your fall and winter landscape! Never planted in fall? Read our blog on fall planting for some tips.
