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Vermont · Zones 3–5

Native Evergreen Plants in Vermont

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.

The plants

5 native species for Vermont

Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 3–5 · see this collection in other states.

Perennial wildflower

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
Evergreen groundcover

Bearberry

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.

  • Full–part sun
  • Dry
  • 4–8 in
  • Blooms Apr–May
Groundcover

Creeping Phlox

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.

  • Full–part sun
  • Dry–average
  • 4–8 in
  • Blooms Apr–May
Evergreen shrub

Inkberry Holly

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.

  • Full–part sun
  • Average–wet
  • 4–8 ft
  • Blooms May–Jun
Fern

Christmas Fern

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.

  • Part shade
  • Dry–average
  • 1–2 ft
  • Evergreen
Sourcing

Where to find these in Vermont

Seeds & live plants on Amazon

Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.

Browse on Amazon

Some 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.