March 3, 1997
Each season has its own personality and its own special beauty. Winter is a time of resting and waiting; a time for remembering the glory of the autumn past and anticipating the excitement of spring. It is an "in-between" time for gardeners; a time for taking stock of last year's landscape and planning improvements for next year.
Beauty of the Winter Landscape Is in the Small Things
It's also a special time for seeing small things that often go unnoticed and gaining a sense of perspective on larger ones. Without the rush to stay ahead on garden chores, you can concentrate on little spots of beauty and gain much pleasure and tranquillity from them.
From your favorite window, search the winter landscape for something you have never noticed before. Look at the trees and shrubs without their leaves. The patterns they make are individual to each species. You can learn to identify a tree by its silhouette whether it's the almost-Oriental style of horizontal branches on the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) or the broad, sturdy structure of an oak. The convoluted branches of the hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') may inspire you to a unique flower arrangement. On winter evenings, I love to watch the patterns of the branches move across my house as passing car headlights cast shadows.
Tree Bark Stands Out Once the Leaves Are Gone
The bark, while still the same as summer, now attracts attention. It may be in the muted greys and browns that give the winter landscape its feeling of being asleep, or it may be a warm shade of red or yellow that catches your eye like a leftover leaf from autumn. The brightest reds and corals of the winter twigs are found among the species of the shrub dogwoods (Cornus alba, C. alba 'Sibirica', C. sericea). Yellow colors the twigs of C. sericea 'Flaviramea' and Kerria japonica 'Aureo - vittata.' Green twigs stand out in the winter on Kerria japonica, Poncirus trifoliata and Cytisus species.
To me, the most striking are the white of the trunks and branches of the white birch (Betula papyrifera) and the sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). A winter sunset sends a soft pink glow over my sycamore, making me forget what a difficult tree it can be at other times of the year.
More gardening information is available in the Virginia Gardener Newsletter.
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