Winter is here on the North Coast, and with it come cloudy days, bare-branched deciduous trees, and a muting of nature’s hues. But we can still enjoy our gardens and yards throughout the year by making December through February more colorful and interesting with some carefully chosen native plants (and one non-plant).
While most conifers would be too large for an urban garden or yard, broadleaf evergreen shrubs can fit easily into many landscapes. One of our most dramatic winter flowering shrubs is the wind-pollinated coast silktassel (Garrya elliptica), known for its showy gray-green cascading male flowers. This native plant has large evergreen leaves and works well as a focus plant or a hedge screen for privacy and protection from the wind.
Manzanita (genus Arctostaphylos) is another broadleaf evergreen shrub, with more than 40 species native to California and many hybrids. Manzanitas have shiny leaves and urn-shaped flowers that vary from pink to white, but they are renowned for their deep red or mahogany bark, which often peels to reveal layers of contrasting colors. The bark is beautiful all year but is especially striking in winter after rain. I consider it one of the most significant wildlife plants in any garden or native landscape — it is an early blooming lifeline for hummingbirds and emerging bumble bee queens in late winter. Both these pollinators need nectar and pollen to survive this harsh time of year, and the only native plants that provide significant food for them are the manzanitas.
Sticky monkeyflower (Diplacus aurantiacus) is an herbaceous to semi-hardwood perennial with orange to yellow flowers. It blooms from spring into midsummer and, in my garden, it will often produce new foliage after heavy rains start in late fall. It is pollinated by hummingbirds and bees small enough to fit inside the narrow flower. With proper care, sticky monkeyflower is long lived and easy to propagate from cuttings.
If you want still more color, two standout small trees are Red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) with its bright red winter bark, and various willows (genus Salix) that have shiny red or green bark. When the pussy willow buds start swelling in late winter, they add charm to the garden and make great first-cut flowers of the year.
There are some useful native evergreen groundcovers to consider for winter interest. Yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii) usually hugs the ground with its stem and small leaves. Wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) is taller and has large heart-shaped leaves and three-lobed brown-purple flowers with long “tails” at their tips. Both of these groundcovers have pleasing aromas and can be used to make teas; yerba buena is an especially good minty tea on a cold winter’s night. Beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) is another native groundcover, with shiny evergreen leaves and white flowers. It is shade tolerant and can compete successfully against weeds.
Nested polypody fern (Polypodium calirhiza) is truly a winter plant. The long creeping rhizome lies hidden below ground all summer, waiting for winter rain and cold to appear, and then the leaves come up fast and in bunches, adding texture and deep green color to the landscape.
I have been growing lichen in my garden for winter color for many years. Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) is a large lichen that is an inconspicuous grayish brown in summer but, come winter, it turns bright green with lots of ridges and lobes so that it resembles green leaf lettuces. Lungwort lichen, like most other lichens, is very sensitive to air pollution and in many parts of Europe and the U.S. it has become rare. Scientists use it as a gauge of an area’s air quality and ecological health.
Hopefully I have provided you with some ideas for winter plants that will keep you happy and busy out in your garden year round.
Pete Haggard (he/him) and Jane Monroe (she/her) are the coauthors of Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast, available now from The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt and in local bookstores and nurseries.
This article appears in Health and Wellness 2026.