Winter Interest Gardening

  Today my garden beds got there first real taste of "snow". Once it hit the ground it was gone in all of two hours. It was so much prettier coming down. Oh well, that's the way it goes here in my neck of the woods. Middle Tennessee, a growers paradise! So they say. The perfect zone for me... I want 'em all !  Unfortunately we can't have it all. I suppose that it's really a blessing in disguise. Could you imagine if you could grow anything and everything you truely admired in the plant world right in your own gardens? Whew, my soon-to-be husband would surely be reconsidering a few things!

 Winter interest in the garden doesn't have to consist of the typical evergreens and cool looking dead foliage. There are lots of plants that are admirable the entire winter and the ones I prefer are actually what I call 360 plants.  They look good all year long and don't require much attention other than to be gazed upon.

  My top choice for such plants are succulents. These little plants are hard to beat. They have bloom times between early spring and late fall. They don't lose all their leaves. Dry or wet (as long as they aren't in a bog type area) Heat waves and blizzards won't even make them flinch. In the winter most of them will go through a leaf color change. Plant them in a pot or in the ground, they don't care either way. Some say they can be invasive, but I say not in my area (zone 7). If they creep out of bounds just nip the ends off and throw them back into the mass or where ever else you DO want them. God forbid you mow them and spray the cuttings into the grass. They will root on top of the ground. Guess that's why some say invasive! But really, do you mow blowing the grass cuttings into the flowerbed? I don't think so. ( I told my soon-to-be that I wouldn't tell on him, ssh! )

  Try 'Angelina' (Sedum rupestre)  and 'Blue Spuce' (Sedum reflexum) for a great color combo all year. They have similar growth and texture as well. 

I mulch my Rose bed with them and some 'Red Carpet' (Sedum spurium) that is semi evergreen. It's trailing stems lose most of their leaves except the  rosette shaped tip ends. New tiny rosettes begin to form on the stems as they push the old leaves off and will completely fill out again in spring. It's nice to have those little maroon red rosettes sticking up under my bare rose bushes all winter. 

  More succulents that are hardy to well below freezing:  Ice Plant Hardy Yellow ( Delosperma nubigenum), Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum), Jovibarba (like hen and chicks), and the list goes on. Should you decide on these 360 plants look for ones that are cold hardy to -20 or lower and you won't need to get much unless you want big coverage faster. When I do buy some, I will divide the pot into several pieces and plant a hand width apart. Even though they can be fast growers they are very manageable.

 Want non succulents or more height and bright color too? Try a 'Gold Thread' false cypress( Mop Top), it is bright yellow all year with the right amount of green. Not the typical variegated plant by any means.

   If you don't mind sticks but want more impact you should try Red Twig(Cornus sericea) and Yellow Twig (Cornus stolonifera)  Dogwood, talk about impact!   

WOW !

 

 Beautyberry loses its leaves but it's arching branches are covered with lots of bright little berry bundles.

Look around this winter and find plants that look appealing to you and that you think you would like to have in your landscape. Take a picture if you can so you don't forget about this new lovely. Try to identify it so it will be easier to locate this coming Spring.

Happy Hunting!