Our Top Plants For November

In November, you may feel like staying cozy indoors but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate a beautiful garden through the window! And you may even venture outside for a little late-fall gardening on milder days. These plants thrive in cooler weather, offering beautiful color and structure to the garden and containers. We even threw a holiday-worthy houseplant into the mix! Here are our favorite plants for November:

Pink Heather.jpg

Heath & Heather (Erica & Calluna)

Heath (Erica) and Heather (Calluna) adds color to the garden in all four seasons. How can you tell them apart? Heaths have needle-like leaves while Heathers have flatter leaves. Both are low maintenance and loved for their blooms and evergreen foliage, which often displays fall and winter color.

  • Full sun

  • Well-drained, acidic soil

  • 1’-3’ tall and wide, depending on variety

  • Blooms spring, summer, fall, and/or winter, depending on variety

 
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Norfolk Island Pine (Auraucaria heterophylla)

Not all our top picks are outdoor plants! As we turn towards the indoors with the cooling weather, the Norfolk Island Pine (not actually a pine tree) is a great houseplant option and makes an excellent alternative to a cut tree for those who want a living Christmas tree for the holidays and a beautiful houseplant for the rest of the year!

  • Full sun to bright light

  • Well-drained soil; water when the top of the soil has dried out.

  • likes high humidity

 
Mugo Pine.jpg

Carsten’s Wintergold Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo 'Carstens Wintergold’)

As its name suggests, the needles of this evergreen pine turn from bright green in spring and summer to a rich gold tone as the weather cools. A dwarf pine, Carsten’s Wintergold grows only to 2 feet tall over a period of 10-15 years.

  • Full sun to part shade

  • Well-drained soil

  • 1’-2’ tall and 3’-4’ wide

 
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Cyclamen

Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennial flowering plants in the same family as the primrose. Their lovely heart-shaped leaves and waxy flowers in shades of white, pink, red, and lavender make them a colorful addition to the garden. The patterned leaves of winter-blooming cyclamen appear in autumn and flowers bloom from late winter to early spring.

  • Indirect sun to part shade

  • Well-drained soil

  • 6”-12” tall and wide, depending on variety

 
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Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

A beautiful addition to the winter garden, dogwood has nice fall color and stems that change to red as the temperature gets colder. Prune hard in the spring because the newer shoots get the best winter color.

  • Full sun to part shade

  • Well-drained soil

  • Grows up to 8’-10’ tall and wide

 
Jeans Dilly Spruce.jpg

Jean’s Dilly Spruce (Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’)

A delightful slender evergreen. This spruce is known for its upright growth habit and its ability to hold shape without shearing. Perfect for the small-to-medium-sized landscape or a container, it is a slow grower that will get to 4’-5’ tall over 10-20 years.

  • Full sun

  • Well-drained soil

  • Slowly grows to 4’-5’ tall and 2’-3’ wide

 
Wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens.jpg

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

The dense, glossy green foliage of Wintergreen turns a beautiful merlot color with cool temperatures. Couple that with exceptionally large, vibrant red berries from fall through spring and you have a winner. This evergreen works well as a groundcover or in containers.

  • Part shade to shade

  • Rich, acidic soil

  • 6”-8” tall and 2’-3’ wide