Ice and Fire: 8 Plants Which Blaze After Frost Hits

Let us face it : Fall can usher in a sense of loss and sadness as the landscape slumps toward decay. Locating the right plants which perform at the time of year, when temperatures dip below freezing, can assist you to overcome the blahs.

For gardeners in northern climates, extending the color show just a couple more weeks beyond the first nip of frost and into winter is not difficult to perform; it just takes planning. Consider how your landscape plants will do throughout the entire year, and search for types and cultivars that offer good shape and color, then find them in key regions where they’ll make an exceptional show.

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Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

Winterberry is a deciduous North American shrub that’s adaptable, easy to grow and among the most appropriate for cold-weather ailments.

This is ‘Berry Nice’, which needs the man plant ‘Southern Gentleman’ for pollination (the footprints are dioecious, with both female and male plants necessary for optimal fruit set).

USDA zones: 3 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Average
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 6 to 8 feet tall
Planting tips: Especially good for low, wet areas where drainage is a problem; winterberry also makes a good hedge or wildlife boundary, as its fruit is favored by birds.

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Showy Stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’)

A necessity for your autumn garden. Pair it with a contrasting plant such as fountains grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) to get a knockout combination. The cut flowers are great for structures, also — place them into a vase without water and allow them to dry for a Thanksgiving display.

USDA zones: 3 to 8
Water requirement: Average
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 18 inches tall
Planting tips: Stonecrops are clump forming and gain from routine divisions to keep within bounds. Dig and divide in spring when foliage seems.

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Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa)

Strawberry plants make a good ground cover, standing up to frost and snow. Once cold weather hits, yummy shades of crimson turn.

USDA zones: 3 to 8
Water requirement: Moderate, but might need supplemental watering in warmer zones
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: Plants are low growing; they spread by runners and form clumps to 8 inches tall.
Planting tips: Plant crowns in spring in well-drained soil amended with compost. Maintain the plants within boundaries by cutting runners out and transplanting them (or committing them to grateful neighbors).

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Coral Bell (Heuchera macrorhiza)

Semievergreen coral bells make rough ground covers. Here is the cultivar ‘Autumn Bride’, which flowers late and then turns color around bulb-planting moment. In my garden it makes a great companion with purple ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diablo’).

USDA zones: 3 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate
moderate requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature dimensions: ‘Autumn Bride’ increases to 12 inches tall.
Planting tips: Adaptable to various soil types. Coral bells as a ground cover around shrubs for interest.

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Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’)

Native chokeberry is an underused shrub which will dress up a boundary with its display of carmine fruit and glistening foliage in late autumn. Proceed by placing evergreens for comparison for maximum impact.

USDA zones: 4 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 6 to 10 feet tall
Planting tips: A member of the rose family, Aronias create a delicate white blossom in June followed by a fruit display in October. The fruit persists after the leaves fall, making this a great plant for winter interest.

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Smooth Witherod (Viburnum nudum ‘Winterthur’)

Viburnum ‘Winterthur’ is among my favourite shrubs and the earliest to turn shade in my garden when the thermometer dips below 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The glistening, elliptical leaves are just stunning with the little, dark blue fruit clusters, and they hold their burgundy color in the autumn for a very long time.

USDA zones: 5 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 6 to 8 feet tall
Planting tips: Cold-climate gardeners on the edge of USDA zone 5 can increase this tree greatest in protected microclimates.

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Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)

No other word for this but “crazy”! A tree which stands out, the cultivar ‘Laciniata’ goes from normal green throughout summer time to this shade in late October in my Vermont garden. It seems kind of spooky, turning blood red right around Halloween.

USDA zones: 4 to 8
Water requirement: Requires regular watering (weekly); water more in warm conditions
moderate requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature dimensions: 10 to 12 feet tall
Planting tips: I increase this tree on the edge of a wooded area, in which it receives partial sun. Use it in areas where it can sprawl, as its branching is irregular.

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Witch alder (Fothergilla x gardenii)

For gardeners in the Northeastern U.S., Fothergilla is a great selection that offers unparalleled color in October and November. This is ‘Mt. Airy’, which was named by the great plantsman Michael Dirr to get a sport he discovered in the Mt. Airy Arboretum in Cincinnati, and it is among the very best.

USDA zones: 4 to 8
Water requirement: Average
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 5 to 6 feet tall
Planting tips: Nothing appears to bother this plant — neither insects nor diseases — and it works well in areas where winter temperatures can dip to 20 degrees below.

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