Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, doesn't drop its leaves — winter green, cover for birds, and structure, for loam ground and foamy white flowers.
- Part shade
- Average
- 6–12 in
- Blooms Apr–May
Native shrubs, groundcovers, and ferns that hold their leaves through winter for year-round green, screening, and cover. For Vermont, the right natives are shaped by Green Mountains & Champlain Valley and a cold, humid continental climate. Every species below, from Foamflower and Bearberry to the rest of the list, is genuinely native to Vermont and the wider flora of the Northeast and hardy through zones 3–5. Evergreen natives carry the garden through the bare months, giving structure, privacy, and winter shelter for birds when the deciduous plants have dropped their leaves. Site broadleaf evergreens out of harsh winter wind and afternoon sun to prevent leaf scorch, and water them deeply going into a dry fall so they enter winter fully charged.
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 3–5 · see this collection in other states.
Tiarella cordifolia
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, doesn't drop its leaves — winter green, cover for birds, and structure, for loam ground and foamy white flowers.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, evergreen structure and privacy through the bare months, pink-white bells flowers and 3–6 ft wide.
Phlox subulata
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, year-round foliage for privacy and shelter when the rest of the garden sleeps, happy in sand, rocky, and loam soil and reaching 4–8 in.
Ilex glabra
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, year-round foliage for privacy and shelter when the rest of the garden sleeps, for sand, clay, and loam ground and inconspicuous flowers.
Polystichum acrostichoides
In Vermont's Green Mountains & Champlain Valley, evergreen structure and privacy through the bare months, cold-hardy to zone 3 and 1.5–2.5 ft wide.
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
Browse on AmazonSome links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.