The Winter Garden

Don’t let freezing temperatures and snow keep you cooped up indoors this winter. Winter is a wonderful time to explore plants outside in the landscape. Without their camouflage of summer leaves, the starkness of trees and shrubs during the winter season is most revealing.

Look for plant silhouettes. Each plant displays a branching silhouette characteristic only to that particular species. Branching habits range from strongly upright and horizontal to weeping and cascading. The bare silhouette of a big old tree looks very magnificent against the wintry sky.

Winter is also a good time to see different colors. The evergreens each come in a specific shade of green. It is very amazing how many different greens are created in nature. Greens range from gray to blue to yellow and all shades in between.

Textures and patterns come alive in winter as well. Tree bark is of particular interest. Often tree bark is more striking during winter. Bark patterns are unique to each tree species and are often used in winter identification. The greenish, gray of an elm is quite different from a black, dark linden.

Also take a closer look at plant buds, seeds, seed capsules, and fruit. Some tree species have very unusual buds. For example, a flowering dogwood flower bud is usually at the end of stems and shaped like a flattened biscuit. In addition to buds, notice berries and fruits. Bright red berries come alive when they are no longer hidden with leaves. Even brown fruits like the Alder tree’s small winged nutlets are beautiful as they persist through the winter.

In addition to the trees and shrubs, I particularly like the look of perennials and ornamental grasses in winter. If they were not cut off, these plants have a whole new look in winter to add another dimension to the winter garden. A bird swaying on top of a dried perennial plant in winter is such an amazing sight.

On the occasional icy morning, every twig and shrub will be outlined in icy transparency. Snow and ice somehow enhance the beauty of plants. Snow and frost on evergreens seem to show their every feature. Admittedly, too much of this can be hazardous for plants, but a little sure is pretty.

Take a few minutes to really look at the plants in the landscape this winter. Take your camera. You’ll be surprised what you will find.