Wintergreen
Gaultheria procumbens · Ericaceae
A tiny, creeping evergreen with glossy leaves that smell of wintergreen when crushed, small white bells in summer and bright red berries that last all winter.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Late June to late July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around wintergreen
The planner designed this bed around wintergreen when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why wintergreen stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Wintergreen × 29, white
- 2 Jacob's ladder 'Stairway to Heaven' × 6, blue
- 3 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 4 Korean feather reed grass × 1, pink
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Mayapple × 8, green leaves
- 7 Fumewort × 6, purple
Why this plant
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do Korean feather reed grass and Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 29 plants in 7 groups (5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late June to late July.
- In company. With Gray's sedge in late June: 2 kinds at once.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. In winter there are still three kinds to look at, wintergreen and Korean feather reed grass among them. Wintergreen is planted in 7 places along the bed, which gives it rhythm.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where wintergreen goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A choice carpet for the acid, leafy soil under pines and rhododendrons. The leaves turn burgundy in winter, with red berries among them. It is slow.
- Evergreen groundcover for acid shade
- Under rhododendrons and pines
- Winter berries
What to plant with wintergreen
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it.
- Oak fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Foamflower: flowers first, late April to late May, so the spot is never empty; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about wintergreen
Does wintergreen need sun or shade?
Wintergreen grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does wintergreen grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does wintergreen flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to early August |
| Zone 5 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 6 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should wintergreen be planted?
8 in (20 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many wintergreen plants do I need?
At 8 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 27 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 16 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 86 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 29 in seven groups.
Is wintergreen poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat wintergreen?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after wintergreen?
Wintergreen is over by late July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Hosta 'Guacamole': from early August to late August, 24 in tall.
What does wintergreen look like in winter?
Wintergreen keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for winter berries as well.
Is wintergreen good for bees and butterflies?
Wintergreen is visited by songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Gaultheria
- Salal Gaultheria shallon
In these guides
- Plants for deep shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub (groundcover)
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 in (20 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late June to late July; hanging bells; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Comes from
- Canada, North Central and Eastern U.S.A
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deep shade
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.