January 22, 2024 — It’s a good day for a stroll in the garden despite the fact that the mercury hasn’t climbed above freezing in nearly a week. But the cold and snow won’t last much longer. Rain and warming temperatures are in the forecast, so I want to make the most of today’s snowy scenes. By the time you read this, the snow will no doubt be gone.
As I’ve said many times, winter is when I most appreciate conifers and evergreens. Their colors and textures help mitigate what would otherwise be barren and lifeless to something much more interesting. Along with the usual green-needled conifers and ornamental grasses, the more colorful specimens draw my eye today.
A Nordman fir cultivar called Golden Spreader adds rich gold tones to the scene. While the bright yellow needles often burn up in hot springtime sun, they literally shine in winter. It’s a well behaved slow grower that can fit in anywhere you have mostly sun but also some dappled shade.
Korean firs like this Silberlocke show their best color when young and on the uppermost branches. Its needles curl tightly upward, revealing pale blue undersides. Here its coloring mirrors the soft blue sky.
Moving along from front to back, the main perennial bed is asleep under the snow, but the Japanese maples behind cast a haze of dark red branches. Siberian spruces add dark drama and grasses add texture.
The maples are dwarf cultivars planted for their supposedly brilliant red fall leaf color; however, they haven’t turned especially red yet. Still, I love the ruddy coloration of the newest growth in winter. Japanese maples generally look good in all seasons.
Fat, fuzzy buds on the dwarf magnolia Genie seem to hold spring’s promise aloft on every twig. I really love the profile of this tree without its leaves. It’s much more graceful without its leaves than with them.
Lacy patterns of blue Lawson cypress look stunning against the snow. Japanese pieris and Chinese holly also stand out nicely.
Moving around to the rear of the house, the low holly hedge and other shrubs act as a visual divider between the yard and woods. (Of course the deer ignore any concept of boundaries and trample the yard everywhere, as their footprints demonstrate.)
The birds feed pretty much all day long when the weather is this cold. I have eight feeders and they are seldom without customers. I have to fill them at least every other day, sometimes more often.
Despite the mercury being in the twenties, my Jelena witchhazel is starting to bloom! I love its fiery orange-gold ribbons. It’s simply amazing to behold. I can’t wait for the tree to get larger so its blooms have more impact. Even so, I’m loving it. Flowers in January? Yes indeed, anytime!
Speaking of flowers in winter, some of the hellebores got confused with the initially warm temperatures earlier and have started to open. Normally they don’t bloom until March, but here they are, freezing their heads off. Luckily they’re tough and will survive the cold, even if they end up looking more straggly than graceful.
Finally, lingering hydrangea flowerheads provide lasting winter interest with structural stems and papery bracts bravely clinging on. I love their cheerful reminder that summer days will be here before we know it.
That about rounds things out for today. I hope you enjoyed this brief winter walk with me, and that you’ll do the same in your own garden.
Thank you for the delightful walk through your winter gardens….