Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Perennials, ferns and grasses that keep their leaves in winter, for a bed with something to show from November to March.
Most perennials die down in winter and leave a bed of bare soil from November to March. Evergreen perennials are the exception, and they matter more than their flowers suggest: they are what the bed has to show for five months of the year.
Spread them through the bed rather than grouping them, so that in winter the bed still has a shape. Most look tired by March; cut the old leaves off as the new ones come.
139 plants: 93 perennials, 20 ferns, 1 bulb and 25 grasses.
The dozen to start with
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Autumn fern
22 in · grown for its leaves
New fronds unfurl coppery red in spring and mature to glossy, dark green.
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Christmas fern
20 in · grown for its leaves
The most useful native fern: leathery, dark green fronds that stay green through winter, in a tidy clump that never spreads.
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Japanese holly fern
24 in · grown for its leaves
Thick, glossy, dark green fronds with large, pointed leaflets like holly leaves.
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Creeping thyme
3 in · early June to mid July
A fragrant, ground-hugging mat that is covered in tiny flowers in early summer.
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Lilyturf
16 in · early August to mid September
Evergreen clumps of dark, strap-shaped, grassy leaves, with spikes of violet flowers like grape hyacinths in late summer, followed by black berries.
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Hens and chicks
4 in · grown for its leaves
Tight, fleshy rosettes, green or flushed with burgundy, surrounded by a crowd of smaller offsets.
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Japanese pachysandra
8 in · grown for its leaves
Whorls of glossy, toothed, evergreen leaves form a uniform carpet under trees.
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Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'
10 in · grown for its leaves
A tight, spiky hemisphere of fine, powder-blue leaves that holds its colour through the summer better than other blue fescues.
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Soft rush
3 ft · grown for its leaves
A stiff, upright fan of smooth, round, dark green, leafless stems, with small tufts of brown flowers near the tips.
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Blue moor grass
10 in · mid April to mid May
A low, evergreen tuft of leaves that are blue-grey on top and dark green beneath, so it looks two-toned.
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Common polypody
12 in · grown for its leaves
Leathery, ladder-like, evergreen fronds rise from creeping rhizomes that run over rocks, logs and mossy walls.
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Leatherleaf sedge
24 in · grown for its leaves
Stiff, upright tufts of thread-like, copper-bronze leaves that curl at the tips.
A bed planned only from these plants
The planner was given only the plants on this page that suit zone 6 and part shade, and designed this 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed from them when the page was made.
The plants
- 1 Creeping phlox 'Sherwood Purple' × 8, purple
- 2 Blue star creeper × 18, blue
- 3 Western sword fern × 2, dark green leaves
- 4 Purple wood spurge × 5, green
- 5 Variegated lilyturf × 14, lavender
- 6 Lenten rose × 8, white
- 7 Wavy hair grass × 13, tan
Planned as an English border: 14 of the 14 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 51 to 49, left to right. Wavy hair grass, fine in leaf, stands next to bold-leaved Lenten rose, and each shows the other off.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is wildlife: One of the 7 kinds is recorded as feeding pollinators, with flowers for them between early May and late May. Three are native, or varieties of natives, to the United States. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
All 139 plants
Show all 139, by where they go in a bed
Front of a bed 101
- Alpine geranium 3 in · late May to early September
- Aubrieta 6 in · mid April to mid May
- Barren strawberry 5 in · late April to late May
- Barrenwort 'Amber Queen' 18 in · late April to mid June
- Barrenwort 'Frohnleiten' 12 in · mid April to mid May
- Bergenia 16 in · mid April to early May
- Bergenia 'Bressingham White' 14 in · mid April to early May
- Bergenia 'Winter Glow' 14 in · mid April to mid May
- Black mondo grass 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' 10 in · grown for its leaves
- Blue moor grass 10 in · mid April to mid May
- Blue sedge 10 in · grown for its leaves
- Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Blue star creeper 3 in · late May to early August
- Candytuft 10 in · mid April to late May
- Cheddar pinks 'Bath's Pink' 10 in · mid May to late June
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' 8 in · mid May to late June
- Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' 4 in · late May to late June
- Chinese wild ginger 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Christmas rose 12 in · late February to early April
- Christmas rose 'Jacob' 10 in · late November to late December
- Cobweb houseleek 3 in · grown for its leaves
- Common polypody 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Common thyme 10 in · late May to late June
- Coral bells 'Firefly' 10 in · late May to late July
- Corkscrew rush 16 in · grown for its leaves
- Cottage pinks 12 in · late May to late June
- Cottage pinks 'Mrs Sinkins' 12 in · early June to early July
- Creeping lilyturf 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Creeping phlox 'Candy Stripe' 5 in · mid April to mid May
- Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' 5 in · mid April to mid May
- Creeping phlox 'Sherwood Purple' 8 in · early May to late May
- Creeping thyme 3 in · early June to mid July
- Dalmatian bellflower 6 in · late May to early July
- Deer fern 16 in · grown for its leaves
- Dianthus 'Kahori' 8 in · mid May to early September
- Eastern prickly pear 10 in · mid June to early July
- English lavender 'Hidcote' 18 in · late June to late July
- English lavender 'Munstead' 16 in · late June to late July
- European wild ginger 6 in · grown for its leaves
- Gentian speedwell 16 in · mid May to mid June
- Goldmoss stonecrop 3 in · late May to late June
- Greater woodrush 16 in · early May to early June
- Hardy ice plant 4 in · mid June to early September
- Hart's tongue fern 16 in · grown for its leaves
- Hellebore 'Ivory Prince' 16 in · early March to late April
- Hellebore 'Pink Frost' 16 in · late February to mid April
- Hens and chicks 4 in · grown for its leaves
- Himalayan maidenhair fern 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Ice plant 'Fire Spinner' 2 in · mid May to late June
- Irish moss 1 in · mid May to late June
- Japanese pachysandra 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance' 14 in · grown for its leaves
- Korean rock fern 14 in · grown for its leaves
- Lamb's ear 'Big Ears' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Lavender cotton 18 in · late June to late July
- Lemon thyme 10 in · mid June to mid July
- Lenten rose 18 in · late March to early May
- Lilyturf 16 in · early August to mid September
- London pride 10 in · late May to late June
- Maiden pinks 8 in · early June to mid July
- Maidenhair spleenwort 6 in · grown for its leaves
- Mondo grass 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Mossy saxifrage 5 in · late April to late May
- Mountain avens 3 in · late May to late June
- Mountain sandwort 4 in · mid May to late June
- Orange New Zealand sedge 18 in · grown for its leaves
- Pineleaf penstemon 12 in · mid June to early August
- Pink English lavender 18 in · late June to late July
- Rain lily 8 in · mid August to early October
- Red creeping thyme 2 in · early June to mid July
- Rock polypody 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Rock rose 10 in · late May to early July
- Rock rose 'Henfield Brilliant' 10 in · late May to mid July
- Rock rose 'Wisley Primrose' 10 in · late May to mid July
- Roman chamomile 6 in · late June to early August
- Sea thrift 8 in · early May to mid June
- Seaside daisy 10 in · late May to late August
- Sedge 'Bunny Blue' 10 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Everest' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Evergold' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Everillo' 14 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Frosted Curls' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedum 'Angelina' 5 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedum 'Blue Spruce' 6 in · grown for its leaves
- Seersucker sedge 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Snow-in-summer 8 in · late May to late June
- Snowy woodrush 18 in · late May to late June
- Stemless gentian 4 in · early May to early June
- Strawberry begonia 8 in · mid May to late June
- Sweet flag 'Ogon' 10 in · grown for its leaves
- Tasteless stonecrop 3 in · late June to mid July
- Three-toothed cinquefoil 6 in · late May to early July
- Variegated Japanese sedge 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Variegated lilyturf 14 in · early August to mid September
- Variegated shield fern 18 in · grown for its leaves
- Wall germander 12 in · late June to early August
- Wavy hair grass 16 in · early June to late July
- White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 3 in · mid June to mid July
- Woolly thyme 2 in · grown for its leaves
- Yellow ice plant 2 in · mid May to late June
Middle of a bed 33
- African lily 3 ft · late June to early August
- Atlas fescue 2½ ft · late May to late June
- Autumn fern 22 in · grown for its leaves
- Autumn fern 'Brilliance' 22 in · grown for its leaves
- Blue rush 'Blue Arrows' 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Carthusian pink 24 in · mid June to late August
- Cast iron plant 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Champion's wood fern 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Christmas fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Corsican hellebore 2½ ft · late February to late April
- Culinary sage 24 in · early June to early July
- Evergreen wood fern 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Firecracker penstemon 2½ ft · mid May to late June
- Fortune's holly fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Japanese holly fern 24 in · grown for its leaves
- King's spear 3½ ft · late May to late June
- Lavandin 'Grosso' 2½ ft · early July to early August
- Lavandin 'Phenomenal' 2½ ft · late June to early August
- Lavandin 'Provence' 2½ ft · early July to mid August
- Leatherleaf sedge 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Leopard plant 24 in · early October to early November
- Makino's holly fern 22 in · grown for its leaves
- Marginal wood fern 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Purple wood spurge 20 in · mid April to late May
- Soft rush 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Soft shield fern 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Spanish lavender 24 in · early May to late June
- Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow' 20 in · late April to early June
- Spurge 'Blackbird' 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Stinking hellebore 24 in · late February to mid April
- Tassel fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve' 2½ ft · mid April to early October
- Wood spurge 20 in · late April to late May
Back of a bed 5
- Clumping bamboo 'Rufa' 8 ft · grown for its leaves
- Deer grass 4 ft · early August to early October
- Mediterranean spurge 4 ft · late March to late May
- Umbrella bamboo 11½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Western sword fern 3½ ft · grown for its leaves