6 Outdoor Plants That Can Survive a Sudden Freeze

Where you live will almost always play a factor in picking out what to plant in your garden—especially if you reside in an area with harsher winters. Even milder locales can still be susceptible to temperature dips that fall below freezing. In some cases, it can be easier to bring some of your plantings indoors for the winter to ensure they survive until spring. However, there are plenty of options that can brave the elements and won’t succumb to extreme cold conditions. Here are the best outdoor plants that can survive a sudden freeze.

RELATED: 4 Trees and Shrubs You Should Not Prune Until Spring. 

1. Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

If you’re a home gardener, there’s a good chance you’re well acquainted with dogwoods. The hardy plants have an impressively broad natural habitat across North America that helps them thrive in a wide range of weather conditions—and even provide a pop of color during the dreary winter months with their bright red branches, according to Gardening Know-How.

Besides looking their best, red-twig dogwoods are also incredibly frost-resistant and will even do just fine under a blanket of snow. Just make sure not to prune until spring if you want to get the most out of those brilliant blossoms the following season.

2. Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata)

While most plants are hunkering down and going dormant during the colder months, winterberry holly (also cheekily known by the nickname “Berry Poppins”) is thriving and putting on its big show for the year. As its name suggests, the plant is exceptionally cold-tolerant and adapted to most climates—especially through zones 3 through 9, per Midwest Living.

Besides providing those striking scarlet clusters (which are also great at attracting winter birds to your yard) while the rest of your garden lies bare, this hardy shrub’s branches also make for great DIY winter decorations in pots, floral arrangements, or wreaths.

3. Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis)

Also known as the “Lenten Rose,” this impressively hardy flowering perennial is one of the plants that hold onto its thick, glossy, green leaves all winter long. Similar to winterberry holly, this plant also enjoys a broad habitat and will particularly thrive in zones 4 through 9, according to Nature Hills nursery. True to its name, it will also produce its flowers very early (either in late winter or early spring), including when there might still be snow covering the ground.

RELATED: 4 Common Yard Mistakes That Can Kill Your Lawn Over Winter.

4. Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina)

With its striking silvery appearance and truly soft, silky texture, there are many reasons gardeners love planting Lamb’s Ear in their yards. Part of that includes its adaptability to cold, with its hardy leaves providing frost resistance that might kill other species, according to Nature Hills nursery. And while they’re well adapted to zones 4 through 9, those planted in warmer climates might never completely lose their green coloring over the winter.

5. Juniper (Juniperus spp.)

As an evergreen, even novice gardeners might suspect that juniper is able to withstand freezing temperatures. The berry-producing shrubs can both stick low to the ground or grow up taller as a shrub, withstanding temperatures as chilly as -30 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the gardening website Live To Plant. And not only will they survive the winter, but they will also keep their bright color throughout the colder months.

6. Peony

There’s nothing quite like having peonies in bloom in your garden. But those large, lush, colorful flowers aren’t the only upside to planting them: Once frost forces their roots to go dormant for the season, they are still able to shoot back up early the following spring, according to Plant Glossary. Just make sure you place them in full sun with well-drained soil so they can truly thrive.