Trees

• Camellias bloom early and profusely.camellia on stage image by feisty from Fotolia.com
  
  Witch hazel, which bloom in yellow, tan, copper or red on bare branches in midwinter, grow 12 to 15 feet tall. Their fall leaf color is beautiful, and they are hardy to USDA Zone 3. Camellia sasanqua, hardy to USDA Zone 7, is evergreen and blooms with roselike flowers; it grows 8 to 10 feet tall. Yuletide produces single, reddish blooms around the holidays. Leatherleaf grape holly (Mahonia japonica bealei), another evergreen, has tiny yellow blooms beloved by hummingbirds. It is hardy to USDA Zone 5 and grows to 10 feet.
  
  

Shrubs

• Quince blooms in white, pink, red or salmon.blossoms of japanese quince image by starush from Fotolia.com
  
  Sarcoccoca ruscifoila, an evergreen shrub that grows 5 feet by 5 feet, covers itself with tiny, fragrant white blooms in early winter. It is hardy to USDA Zone 7. Evergreen Pieris japonica produces trailing white or pink bell flowers that resemble lily of the valley blooms. It grows to 12 feet but is usually pruned into shrub form and is hardy to USDA Zone 5. Also hardy to Zone 5 are Pink Dawn viburnum, which grows to 10 feet, blooming on bare branches with clusters of fragrant pink flowers, and flowering quince, with white, pink, salmon or red blooms on thorny branches. It grows to 6 feet.
  
  

Perennials

• Hellebores bring color to winter.hellebore image by hazel proudlove from Fotolia.com
  
  Hellebores bloom in pink, white, wine and slate on 2-foot-tall plants and are evergreen. Heaths and heathers bloom in pink and white and also provide colorful winter foliage. Winter jasmine, which grows 9 feet tall, has bright yellow trumpet flowers and is hardy to Zone 6.
  
  

Bulbs

• Cyclamen even push through snow.cyclamen image by L. Shat from Fotolia.com
  
  Bulbs such as snowdrops and winter aconite cover the ground with color in late winter before crocus begin blooming. Hardy cyclamens, which spread pink, white and maroon blooms above patterned foliage, start blooming in November and even push through snow. Tiny iris reticulata adds pale blue and deep purple to the mix.