Consider that although different in tone and hue from electric summer bloomers, there are plants that will bring great color accents to your winter garden.

Witch Hazel is a shrub that has a late autumn to winter bloom. Yellow, gold, orange or red flowers arrive in the winter months. These flowers look like mini firecrackers .What a way to bring in the festive season!

The Dogwood Arctic Fire is a new species. This smaller dogwood shrub is great for smaller gardens and residential landscapes. The long, bold red stems of this dwarf plant make for a wonderful show in the wintertime and the stems are stunning in seasonal arrangements and wreaths.

The Burning Bush is another one with great scarlet red color. The deep dark red leaves almost glow and the corky wings on the twigs hold winter snow, creating a beautiful outline of the branch's structure.

Japanese pieris is an evergreen shrub that produces lily -of-the-valley like flowers. Bunches of the flowers hang in clusters, like bells ringing in the festive season. The flowers bloom red, white or pink and look gorgeous against the shrub's bright green leaves.

Heathers are great sturdy shrubs. Heathers bloom in white, pink, purple and deep reds and offer myriad choices for stellar color combinations.

Winter jasmine is a rambling, trainable shrub that blooms lovely yellow jasmine blossoms in late autumn through winter.

Speaking of trainable plants, consider creating a unique winter space with hard scape design elements. Rustically designed arbors, gazebos and stone walls add an alluring design element to any winter landscape. You can then train your jasmine or other trainable shrubs to weave around them. This will add an interesting dynamic in terms of color and height variance. Tall, ornamental grasses also work well to soften up and blend your design elements.

Remember that in order to create the perfect winter garden you should start putting your dream into action in the spring and summer months. With some foresight, the right combination of winter plants and a few design elements, everyone will want to walk through your winter wonderland!