Evergreens are the structural backbone of the garden in warmer weather, providing a backdrop for showier blossoms and foliage. But in winter evergreens take the spotlight, delivering visual interest in an otherwise barren landscape.
The following 10 trees, shrubs and plants will keep your garden looking vibrant through even the coldest of months.
Kim Gamel
Not all evergreens are green. The 'Fat Albert' variety of Colorado spruce is a beautiful blue specimen. It's slow growing, forming a perfect cone with a distinguished silver-blue needle color.
Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens 'Fat Albert')
USDAzones: 3 to 7 (find your zone) Mature size: 10 to 15 feet tall and 7 to 10 feet wide Light requirement: Full sun Water requirement: Medium
Kim Gamel
A lovely evergreen that looks great alone or in a grouping is false cypress 'Soft Serve'. This is a more compact, cone-shaped evergreen with soft, lacy branches. Bonus: It’s deer resistant.
False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisfera'Soft Serve')
USDA zones: 5 to 7 Mature size: 6 to 10 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun Water requirement: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Kim Gamel
If you’d like a smaller evergreen for container gardens or as a hedge, boxwood 'Green Gem' makes a good choice. It's a broadleaf evergreen shrub that forms a dense 2-foot sphere at maturity.
Boxwood (Buxus 'Green Gem')
USDA zones: 4 to 9 Mature size: 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall and wide Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun Water requirement: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Arlington Landscape
If a bright yellow-green would look better in your landscape, consider false cypress 'Lemon Thread'. It has delicate chartreuse thread-like foliage that offers a bright pop of color during the often bleak winter.
Japanese False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Lemon Thread')
USDAzones: 4 to 8 Mature size: 3 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Water requirement: Medium
Another consistently green option for hedging is cherry or English laurel. The one shown in this photo has been pruned judiciously to keep it at a lower height. Otherwise, it can grow to 10 feet tall.
The variety 'Otto Luyken' has shiny green leaves and creamy white fragrant flowers that appear in the spring.
Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus 'Otto Luyken')
USDA zones: 6 to 8 Mature size: 6 to 10 feet tall and 10 to 12 feet wide Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Water requirement: Medium
Another chartreuse option that would make a nice low-growing hedge is Japanese holly. For the best yellow color, plant it in full sun.
Find out where this shrub is invasive here.
Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata 'Golden Gem')
USDA zones:5 to 8 Mature size: 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall and wide Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Water requirement: Medium
Kim Gamel
With its unconventional weeping habit, blue atlas cedar would work well as a specimen plant in your garden. Use the dramatic form to draw the eye to a desired spot in the landscape.
Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica, Glauca Group, 'Glauca Pendula')
USDA zones: 6 to 7 Mature size: 3 to 12 feet tall and wide Light requirement: Full sun Water requirement: Medium
Kim Gamel
If you're looking for a ground cover that carries its color through winter, consider creeping juniper. It spreads by long branches to form a thick mat over time. The cultivar 'Emerald Spreader' holds its bright emerald-green color through the winter.
Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)
USDA zones: 3 to 9 (find your zone) Mature size:1/2 foot to 1 1/2 feet tall and 5 to 8 feet wide Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Medium moisture; well-drained soil
Kim Gamel
And if you'd like some constant color in a shady perennial garden, Christmas fern is a good bet. Clumps grow to 2 feet tall and slowly spread by rhizomes to provide excellent evergreen color perfectly suited to a dry shade area.
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) USDA zones: 3 to 9 Mature size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide Light requirement: Partial shade to full shade Water requirement: Dry to medium
Tell us: What are some of your favorite evergreens?
Kim Gamel
Not all evergreens are green. The 'Fat Albert' variety of Colorado spruce is a beautiful blue specimen. It's slow growing, forming a perfect cone with a distinguished silver-blue needle color.
Kim Gamel
A lovely evergreen that looks great alone or in a grouping is false cypress 'Soft Serve'. This is a more compact, cone-shaped evergreen with soft, lacy branches. Bonus: It’s deer resistant.
Kim Gamel
If you’d like a smaller evergreen for container gardens or as a hedge, boxwood 'Green Gem' makes a good choice. It's a broadleaf evergreen shrub that forms a dense 2-foot sphere at maturity.
Arlington Landscape
If a bright yellow-green would look better in your landscape, consider false cypress 'Lemon Thread'. It has delicate chartreuse thread-like foliage that offers a bright pop of color during the often bleak winter.
Another consistently green option for hedging is cherry or English laurel. The one shown in this photo has been pruned judiciously to keep it at a lower height. Otherwise, it can grow to 10 feet tall. 
Another chartreuse option that would make a nice low-growing hedge is Japanese holly. For the best yellow color, plant it in full sun.
Kim Gamel
With its unconventional weeping habit, blue atlas cedar would work well as a specimen plant in your garden. Use the dramatic form to draw the eye to a desired spot in the landscape.
Kim Gamel
If you're looking for a ground cover that carries its color through winter, consider creeping juniper. It spreads by long branches to form a thick mat over time. The cultivar 'Emerald Spreader' holds its bright emerald-green color through the winter. 
Kim Gamel
And if you'd like some constant color in a shady perennial garden, Christmas fern is a good bet. Clumps grow to 2 feet tall and slowly spread by rhizomes to provide excellent evergreen color perfectly suited to a dry shade area.