Bloom Day? More like Green Day - evergreen, that is

Funny thing - by reading gardenblogs from other climates I've come to better understand my own climate and how it affects my gardening choices.  I now see that it's only because my beds and borders aren't covered with snow all winter that I care about having evergreen groundcovers.  And unlike other gardeners who write about raking dead leaves into their borders for the winter, I quickly remove fallen leaves because I'd much rather see the evergreen groundcovers underneath (and potentially being smothered by) them.

Something that all temperate zone gardeners can agree on, though, are the glories of evergreen shrubs and trees, like the ones I grow listed here just below the deciduous ones.  But today it's not those big green partners in my garden that I've come to praise but rather the evergreen perennials that I wouldn't even see if I didn't continue to stroll my garden through the winter.  But stroll I do here in Zone 7, more days than not.

Euphorbia amygaloides (top) is my new favorite perennial.
The lamb's ears (above) are starting to look ragged and definitely aren't  blooming but they still look good, even after our first snow.  Same goes for the Pulmonaria (right).  Liriope looks look good all year. Carex?  Same deal. (Photos in the links.)

And how about the Persian ivy 'Sulphur Heart' (above left)?  It's well behaved and always gorgeous.

Comments

[Carol]

The evergreen ground covers are nice. Around here, we don't have snow on the ground all of the time, but often enough. By January, very few plants look good, as it is just too cold here. But zone 7? I might garden with more evergreen ground covers, too.

Thanks for posting your blooms (as in what's interesting in the garden) again,

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

[Bonnie]

Sometimes I forget the beauty of the plants that are evergreen until all the flashy color is gone. Then it is so nice to have their comfort around, even in a climate like Austin. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.