11 Flowering Plants That Look Beautiful Even When They're Not Blooming

Begonia "Rex"

"There are hundreds of great varieties of begonias," says Dave Whitinger, the executive director of the National Gardening Association in Southlake, Texas. One standout: Rex, with its shiny foliage that blends blue-green, silver-gray, and burgundy purple. Also noteworthy: Angel Wing begonias, which rise above with their otherworldly, white-spotted leaves.

• Zones: 7 to 11 (grown as an annual and houseplant elsewhere)
• Size: 6 to 20 inches tall x 10 to 18 inches wide
• Growing conditions: shade, part sun; quick-draining soil

Blue Star "Arkansas" or "Thread-Leaf"

Sky-blue flowers attract pollinators for several weeks in spring, but the show's not over when the blooms are gone. This Amsonia has fine-textured green foliage "that's really hard to get," says horticulturalist Derek McKay with Ted Lare Design + Build and Garden Center in Des Moines, Iowa. And in the fall, the plant evolves to a bright yellow-gold.

• Zones: 4 to 9
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: part sun, sun (offer afternoon shade in hot regions); prefers fertile, well-drained soil but tolerates almost any workable soil

Coleus

Coleuses have such stunning foliage, that many gardeners cut the plants' tiny blooms, or inflorescence, as that appears to conserve energy, Whitinger says. Their gorgeous leaves are available "in every color you could imagine." Among his favorites: coppery Henna, black-purple-and-ruby Black Dragon, and red, orange, and pink Alabama Sunset. Easy to grow and propagate, coleus is a great plant to share and trade with friends. 

• Zones: 10 to 11 (grown as an annual elsewhere)
• Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: part to full shade; moist, well-drained soil

Coral Bells "Palace Purple"

Leaves on this beauty range from olive and bronze-green to deep purple, with wine-red underneath. "So when there's a breeze, you get different colors bopping around," Whitinger says. The flowers are pretty, too, blooming in tiny pinkish-white blossoms that pop against the plant's dark leaves.

• Zones: 4 to 9
• Size: 6 to 16 inches tall x 12 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: Partial to full shade; loamy, well-draining soil

Daphne "Carol Mackie"

A small shrub, the Carol Mackie species has pretty, variegated leaves edged in creamy white and maintains its pleasing mounded shape with little to no pruning, says horticulturist Dawn Fradkin with Colorado State University Extension in Arapahoe County. Small, white blossoms tinged with pink bloom in spring and can come back as a smaller flush in late summer or early fall. "When it's in bloom, it smells heavenly," Fradkin says. 

• Zones: 4 to 9
• Size: 36 to 48 inches tall x 36 to 60 inches wide
• Growing conditions: part shade to sun; moist, well-drained soil

Hosta

The Miss Congeniality of the plant world, hostas are easy to grow, thrive in shade, and come in a huge range of shapes, colors, textures and sizes. Whitinger's favorites: Blue Mouse Ears, a miniature with tightly curled blue-green leaves, and Guacamole, with big, variegated leaves in apple-green with dark green margins.

Resist the urge to clear out foliage too early as the season wanes, Fradkin says: "Your leaves are still photosynthesizing energy and putting it into the roots for next season, so if you just let those leaves die out naturally, you're going to have a better show next year."

• Zones: 3 to 9
• Size: 9 to 48 inches tall; 12 to 96 inches wide
• Growing conditions: shade to part sun; moist, loamy soil

Crepe Myrtle (dwarf and semi-dwarf cultivars)

They're known for their producing months of summer flowers, but crepe myrtle shrubs also offer stunning fall foliage in shades of red, yellow, and orange—and their pinkish-gray bark peels in cinnamon-colored layers in winter. Newer varieties have foliage that stays red all season long, and the Black Diamond and Magic series sport stunning deep purple leaves. 

• Zones: 6 to 9
• Size: 24 to 72 inches tall x 48 to 72 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun; well-draining soil

Variegated Jacob's Ladder

Exotic, dark green foliage with cream-yellow margins makes this hardy perennial one of Fradkin's favorites. Bell-shaped blue flowers bloom from late spring into summer, "but it's beautiful whether it has flowers or not." 

• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 12 to 18 inches tall x 24 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full to partial shade; moist to wet soil

Ninebark "Amber Jubilee"

The versatile ninebark shrub, which peels back in cinnamon, charcoal, and gray bark layers over the winter, already had a lot going for it. New foliage colors developed over the past decade have made it even cooler. A standout: Amber Jubilee, which sprouts flaming orange leaves that shift to bright green in summer and burgundy in autumn. Pink or white flowers from May to June add one more act to this year-round show.

• Zones: 2 to 8
• Size: 60 to 72 inches tall x 36 to 48 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full to sun (with afternoon shade in very hot regions); dry to medium-moist, well-draining soil

Persian Shield

With its metallic purple, green, and black foliage, Strobilanthes makes a gorgeous garden plant in warmer zones and a flashy annual colder ones. It's also popular as a houseplant; its purple flowers tend to bloom in winter. 

• Zones: 8 to 11 (grown as an annual elsewhere)
• Size: 36 to 48 inches tall x 24 to 36 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full to partial sun; rich, moist soil

Sweet Potato Vine "Pink Frost"

Popular as a companion to upright plants in large containers, this sprawling ornamental vine looks a bit like ivy but has distinctive, pink-rimmed leaves. "If you've got a big area you want to cover, it's also good for that," Whitinger says. 

• Zones: 9 to 11 (grown as an annual elsewhere)
• Size: 96 to 120 inches tall x 5 to 12 inches wide
• Growing conditions: full sun or partial shade; moist, well-drained soil