Winter looks empty, but it’s actually one of the most important seasons for native plants.
This is the time when everything goes underground:
roots deepen, buds set, energy resets, and the entire system prepares for spring.
This issue is about what you can do during winter
and how to care for evergreen natives, hidden natives, and even mistletoe.
Let’s get into it.
🍂 1. What You Can Do for Your Native Plants in Winter
💠 Clean up lightly — not completely
Leave leaf litter and dried stems until spring.
They protect native bees, overwintering butterflies, and beneficial insects.
A too-clean winter garden is basically a parking lot for wildlife.
Keep it messy with intention.
💠 Water during dry spells
Winter droughts stress plants far more than most people realize.
If you go 3 weeks without solid rain, give your natives a deep soak; especially:
newly planted trees and shrubs
fall-installed perennials
anything you added this year
Roots are still growing even when leaves are gone.
💠 Mulch — but don’t bury root collars
2–3 inches of mulch is perfect.
Keep it pulled back from trunks and stems to prevent rot.
💠 Winter is the time to plant spring ephemerals
Bloodroot, mayapple, trilliums, hepaticas
all do best planted during cold months while dormant.
They settle in quietly and explode in spring.
💠 Start cold-stratifying your seeds
Winter is native seed season.
Stick your stratification containers in:
the fridge
an unheated shed
outside under hardware cloth
This is when the magic happens.
🌲 2. Native Evergreens: Winter Workhorses
Winter is where true natives show off.
Standouts that carry the landscape:
American holly
Yaupon holly
Eastern red cedar
Spruce pine
Inkberry
Southern magnolia
Mountain laurel
Rhododendrons
Why these matter in winter
They feed wildlife.
They give structure.
They stay green when everything else goes gray.
They anchor a native garden through the quiet months.
If you want year-round beauty, a few evergreen natives are essential.
Winter evergreen task: Observe + Evaluate
Walk your property this month and ask yourself:
Where does the garden fall flat in winter?
Where could an evergreen add structure?
Where do you want privacy year-round?
Winter exposes the skeleton of the landscape
that’s when you can redesign with clarity.
🎄 3. Let’s Talk Mistletoe. And Yes, You Can Cultivate It
Most people don’t realize this…
Mistletoe is a native hemi-parasitic plant
And yes You can intentionally grow it.
In fact, birds do it all the time.
How mistletoe actually works
It doesn’t kill healthy trees.
It taps into water, not sugars.
It provides food for wildlife.
It flowers and fruits in winter, when resources are scarce.
It’s also a keystone for certain birds and insects
and culturally iconic.
⭐ How to cultivate mistletoe (the simple version):
Collect ripe berries in winter (white and soft).
Squish the seeds out , they’re sticky on purpose.
Press the seed onto the underside of an oak or apple branch.
Mark the spot , or you’ll forget.
Wait.
Mistletoe takes 1–2 years to appear.
It’s slow magic.
But it’s real.
🌱 4. Winter Projects for the Native Gardener
Here are your “do one of these this week” tasks:
✔ Stratify one new species of seed
Pick something you’ve never grown before.
✔ Plant one dormant-root native (tree, shrub, or perennial)
Winter planting is peak planting.
✔ Add a native evergreen somewhere that feels empty
Winter reveals where structure is missing.
✔ Try cultivating mistletoe
It’ll give you a story no one else has.
🌦 Final Thought: Winter is not a dead season. It’s a preparing season.
Your garden is doing quiet, patient work.
So are you.
Your future spring depends on how you treat this season.
Honor the slow months.
Honor the unseen work.
Honor the quiet growth.
— Stan
The Native Note