Category Archives: Winter interest
Not so long ago, I vowed to have my garden/property looking fantabulous by June 29th, 2013.
Why put that pressure on myself?
Because NOW is the time to dedicate the time and effort to something I love. Let’s go for broke. Dream big and try to pull this off while I am still physically able to do so. I’m daring myself to accept the challenge and see it to fruition. It will be the opposite of “stop and smell the roses”. More like “bypass the roses, pick up your shovel because we’ve got ten yards of topsoil to spread.”
Why that date?
I need to give myself ample time to do this right and plan it appropriately. I need two springs and one fall to plant my ass off and my absolute favorite time of the year in the garden is late June/early July.
Speaking of planning, I spent this past weekend photographing my garden beds in their current state as a means to capture them at their weakest. My ultimate goal is to have four full seasons of interest throughout my yard and now is the time to assess where that stands. I feel very vulnerable sharing some of these photos with you, but is for the greater good.
Today, I’ll show you what is going on (or not going on) in the bed that surrounds my driveway. I see it more than any other garden bed so I NEED to get it right. Hopefully these photos will inspire me to think “winter interest” throughout the planning process because it can be easy to forget once everything is green and thriving in the spring/summer.
Here is photo #1 as of today:
And here it is as of mid-summer:
The dilemma – I love how it looks from early summer through mid Fall. Do I accept that and move on? Maybe the Siberian irises, which bloom in mid-spring, don’t work here because they bloom when the surrounding Miscanthus grasses are still sheared to the ground and the Eupatorium (Joe-Pye weed) have yet to put on any height? Maybe I need to mix in some evergreen shrubs to get the “green” in winter/early spring and some bulbs for some early spring blooms? Problem is this area stays wet for long periods of time.
This shit keeps me up at night.
Photo #2 as of today:
And in mid-summer:
And in late summer/early fall:
Again, a whole lot of brown and not much else. I don’t think drastic changes are necessary, but I’m hoping I can strategically add some winter color and maybe an inanimate object or two. Oh yeah, I can’t forget the impact the deer have here.
Finally, a quick pat on my own back for inspiration. I planted this section of the bed in summer of ’10:
And have been thrilled with how it has filled in and the mixture of foliage textures and colors:
I’ll continue the theme of “winter interest” over the next few posts and hopefully something will click with all of your wonderful feedback (hint hint).
It has to look better than this in late winter, right?:
John
The thermometer said 15 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill made it feel like it was 0 degrees but that didn’t stop me from taking a walk around the yard. My nose hairs may have been frozen together and I had a difficult time keeping the camera straight but it was all worth it. I felt invigorated. And here’s what I witnessed:
No matter how much damage they cause, I can’t help but love having the deer visit twice a day:
OK, maybe it bothers me a little:
The thought of them jumping into the raised bed is comical:
The birds that have remained are constant entertainment and I love the challenge of trying to snap them before they are off to their next destination:
OK, fine, I doctored this shot a bit but it is pretty cool IMHO:
I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen the sedums have this much growth so early in the winter. Hang in there guys:
That’s all … but it was enough.
John
I’d like to wish everyone of you (except Alex) a happy and healthy holiday and thank you for reading my nonsense throughout the year. This blog is an incredible creative escape for me and I thank you all for your fantastic comments along the way. I am ready, with your help, to take on yet another winter and will continue with my promise to not complain about a thing.
John
I was home early from work today and made it a point to walk around the yard despite the sub freezing temperatures. There is a lot of “brown” all around, but upon closer inspection, there is still a nice variety of subtle colors and textures keeping things interesting.
I’m assuming the red tipped boxwood leaves indicate stress from the cold, but I still find it to be an interesting part of their life cycle in the fall/winter. Call me crazy:
Speaking of boxwoods, the Japanese boxwoods have turned their usual yellow/orange as the temps drop and now is their time to shine as everything else dies around them:
The basal foliage (foliage that hangs low to the ground under the stems) on many of the perennials have maintained their color and only now, truly stand out amongst the carnage. I’ll take it:
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| Achillea ‘Moonwalker’ |
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| Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ |
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| Physostegia ‘Summer Snow’ |
The seed heads on the Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) look fantastic and maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally harvest the seeds:
This is a mystery Heuchera that has held it’s color better than any other I currently own. Any idea of the cultivar? Need more, stat:
I went on an Arborvitae shopping spree two years ago and while they have been a bit slow to establish, the varying colors displayed throughout the seasons have been impressive:
My apologies if I’ve bored you to death but when you’ve got the “plant obsession” you can find interest any time of the year.
John
