Category: Winter Garden

Japanese Beautyberry

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The first picture shows what the Japanese Beautyberry is known for: its distinctive purple berries that appear in autumn and persist into the winter.

The second picture shows what the plant looks like in the summer, on the lower left, beneath the Pee Gee hydrangea.

I like these two stages of the plant, but am less fond of its other stages: the early spring when it looks dead and is late to leaf out; and the autumn when the leaves droop and look lifeless for about a month before they fall off.

They are healthy and vigorous plants. I purchased very small plants and they grew quickly in the first year. Next year, I am cutting them back to six inches off the ground in early spring to avoid the first problem. Further, I keep moving them around my property in hopes of finding the perfect place to enjoy them, and they are not bothered by this.

For fall and winter arrangements, you can cut the branches with the Beautyberries. If you do so when they still have leaves, I recommend that you remove the leaves because they droop immediately after being cut.

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Click here for a follow-up post on propogation: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/02/japanese-beatyberry-unexpected.html

Blackberry Lily Seedheads

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I love splashes of orange in the garden. My blackberry lily has small orange flowers with red dots. There is another cultivar that is yellow. They do not look like lilies. Unfortunately, I don’t think I took a picture of the flowers. I have to remember to take some pictures of them next year.

The blackberry lily blooms at the end of July over several weeks. The flowers and seed heads make great cut flowers for arrangements.

These lovely seedheads develop in autumn. The first picture shows the immature pods. The outside becomes brown and papery. They break open to reveal the luscious blackberry seedheads. Resist temptation: do not eat them. The seedheads persist into winter. They will drop and produce more plants the following spring.

Although it does self seed, it is not prolific and gives a more natural look to the garden. The seedling take one to two years to reach blooming size. Note: they are deer resistant.

Container Gardening: Winter Containers

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Yesterday, before today’s snow, I replanted all my planters in the front garden for the winter. I love having something beautiful to look at when most of the garden is sleeping. For inspiration this year, I looked at some photographs I took at the Missouri Botanical Garden (http://mobot.org/) last winter.

The first pot has a yellow twig dogwood as its base. From there, I added boughs of white pine and dried hydrangea blossoms from a Pee Gee hydrangea in the garden.

On the front porch is an urn whose plantings change every season. For winter, I have cut branches of winterberry surrounded by dried statice and white pine branches. Also, added are some large pine cones from a collection my husband and I have gathered over the years.

Near the lamp post is a small pot atop a column which has Douglas fir clippings, some faux winterberries, and pine cones. Since this pot is in a more exposed position than the one on the porch, in the the past I have found that real winterberries do not hold up as well.

The last pot I did is in front of the living room. In the center of the pot are branches cut from a red twig dogwood surrounded by more Douglas fir branches. A few pine cones were added also.

The pots will add interest to the garden until spring comes and are easy to do. You can use cuttings from your own garden, buy some from local nurseries, or from White Flower Farm (http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/) who sells a wonderful 14 pound box of winter greens.

Ballerina Rose Hips

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In my prior post about Ballerina, I wrote about her all-purpose qualities that have won her many places throughout my garden. In addition to what I previously wrote, I went out into the garden today and took the attached pictures of her cute little hips that provide winter interest and food for the birds.

For my prior post and pictures of Ballerina’s flowers:

http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2007/11/ballerina.html

Crabapple Tree in Winter

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The crabapple tree in the Egg Garden is one of my favorites. Previously, there was a Japanese maple in the same location that died, so I decided I wanted something with spring flowers and winter interest. The crabapple tree is just perfect. In the spring it’s covered with white, sweetly scented flowers. For fall, the leaves turn yellow and drop to reveal gorgeous red fruits which the birds eat all winter.

Birds in the Garden

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I love attracting birds to the garden. While I have many plants during the growing season to attract birds–such as purple coneflower, black eyed susans, raspberries, serviceberry, rattlesnake master, and sunflowers– there are fewer in the winter months. After all my crabapples and rose hips are gone, the birds are mainly attracted to the bird feeders and the bird baths during the winter months. As you see in the picture, I have a multi-armed post with three feeders in the backyard. The one on the left looks like a little house with suet on the ends for the woodpeckers. If you look closely, there is a downy woodpecker on the back of the bird feeder in the picture. In the center of the house, there is a covered space that I use for shelled peanuts (a favorite of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and blue jays) and a seed blend for cardinals and other song birds. In the center (back), is a bird feeder for small backyard birds. One time instead of putting my regular mix in the feeder, I filled it with shelled sunflower seeds. The goldfinches love the sunflower hearts and are no longer attracted to the nyjer seeds which are recommended for them. On the right, is an all-purpose feeder for small birds. In the picture, there is a tufted titmouse on the birdfeeder. It is also a favorite of the house finches who are sitting on the branches of the Ceris ‘Forest Pansy’ behind and to the right.

Snow in the Garden

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The warm weather over the past eight weeks was too good to be true. It has snowed over twelve inches since yesterday, and more snow is expected throughout the day and night. I ventured out to take some pictures of the garden.

Descriptions of the pictures are enumerated from the top:

1. Butterfly Bush decorated with Christmas ornaments in the front garden next to the lamp post.

2. A grouping of spirea next to the front staircase. It is difficult to see with the snow, but behind the spirea are Rosa glauca and miscanthus ‘Adagio.’ Further back is Wiegela florida to the left and a lace bark pine in the center.

3. Lacecap hydrangea in the front garden. To the left of the hydrangea is the rose Frau Dargmar Harstrup.

4. The arbor over the entrance to the side garden is covered with the rose Dortmund. In the forefront of the picture are caryopteris. For winter interest, I hung a string of decorative apples on the fence.