Most people think of winter in the Willamette Valley as wet, cold and dreary… and did I mention wet? Good news is, we here at Johnson Brothers have a variety of hardy options for winter color that will bloom and provide interest all throughout the damp winter months lasting until spring.
Of course, we have all the classic options such as winter pansies and violas, which provide cute pops of color and a bold fragrance along with ornamental cabbage and kales that promise striking interest with hues of greens, purples and whites.
Aside from the traditional, we also have many other options for winter color that most people don’t think of, that can really set your landscape apart from the rest.
We have a fresh stock of both winter and spring blooming Camellias. These hardy evergreen shrubs bring color in a big way, with dark glossy foliage and big bright blooms.
Hellebores, are often an over-looked gem. These compact evergreen perennials set off their blooms around Christmas and last into the spring. They come in a variety of colors ranging from whites and pinks to deep violets.
Sarcococca is another forgotten treasure, these also evergreen, hardy shade tolerant shrubs thrive here in the Willamette Valley. These little beauties put on tons of small, white, incredibly fragrant blooms from January into early spring.
For more interest to tuck between your winter blooming shrubs we love Heuchera, a small mounding evergreen perennial that comes in a variety of colors from lime greens to oranges and even burgundies. They provide excellent winter color and year round accent in any landscape. Wintergreen is another favorite, an excellent evergreen ground cover that puts on vibrant red berries and, true to it’s name, puts off the scent of winter-green gum.
This weekend, Sept. 26th-28th, we are having our Fall Planting Event here at the nursery. We’ll have weekend only specials along with our “Cash for Plant Clunkers” event going on. Cash for Clunkers means you can bring in cuttings of your dead plants and get a voucher good for $5 towards a replacement tree or shrub. A few of these fabulous winter bloomers fall into that category, so grab your old dead plants, your Brother Bucks, and head on out to see us this weekend for big savings at our Fall Planting Event.
