Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Most Beautiful Snowfall


It was one of those snowfalls that you dream about. You drift to sleep on a calm winter night to wake up to the most magnificent fluffy snow that has blanketed the earth.



It stuck to everything in the garden from seed-heads to grasses and evergreens. This is the importance in my opinion in leaving plant skeletons for the winter.

There are two schools of thought on this. Some gardeners like a cleaned-up fresh look for the cold months, relying on evergreens for structure. While others like myself love the winter interest not only from evergreens but from all the bones that are left in the gardens. You can make your own decision for which side of the fence you sit on.



But then you would miss out on snow clinging to Panicum seed-heads above and perched on Echinacea below.




Although, there is no denying the winter power of evergreens. The Norway Spruce above was planted as a seedling by the former owner of the house. Now it stands as a major focal point in our winter landscape.

Below are a trio of Gold Cone Junipers I planted this fall in the main perennial bed. Though covered in snow they still stand out as winter figures.




So this coming fall when you are cutting back plants and getting ready for the next winter just remember by leaving some key plants standing in your beds you are gaining a ton of interest in a fairly bare landscape.

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