The Greening of Winter's Garden

The landscaper from the local nursery, who put in a bed and plants for me this past November, very kindly came out Monday to go over the plantings with me so I could be sure of which plant was which (let's face it, in winter a lot of them look the same and/or dead) and how to care for them. I was really delighted to find out that many of the plants were things I'd asked specifically if we could work in, and that the Hellebore is starting to bud ready to bloom any day. So here are a run-down of the plants currently in the garden (photos are what they will look like when in bloom, not as they do):-

Camellia- This is residing in a slightly damp corner of the retaining wall, where you can just see it from the street. I'm actually not entirely sure what variety it is, which means I don't know what color to expect, but I'm hoping for white. It'll be a nice surprise to find out. Meanwhile it has glossy dark green leaves all through the winter, which is pleasant with so many bare stems.

Calycanthus- This is another one where I'm not 100% clear on which variety I have, so I am trying my best to remember what color I was told it would be. In this case I'm hoping for some deep burgundy or maroon blooms. Maroon is one of my favorite colors and the combination of red and white flowers along the retaining wall would be a good scheme as I start to add in some roses in a slow, staggered fashion. I'm informed that this also goes by Sweetshrub due to a scent that is reminiscent of apple blossom. No complaints here.

Lilac (Bloomerang)- Okay in this instance I do know exactly what type it is and I am stoked for the dark purple clusters and truly enticing scent. Lilacs are one of my grandmother's favorite flowers and purple is her color, so these will always make me think of her. Lilacs are, of course, so often a purplish hue of some kind that we use the name Lilac to mean a shade of purple, but they do come in white and pinkish tones as well. I'm not opposed to adding a white one in someday, but of the two I'm glad I have the Bloomerang variety. This will make for gorgeous cut flowers!

Kings Gold Cypress- With the exception of taking on a slightly more pyramidal shape as it grows, this one looks now, even in the middle of winter, pretty much how it will look forever. The evergreen foliage is a sort of yellowish green which I can only suppose is how it gets its name. Now, I'm not much of one for evergreens, but I did ask my landscaper, Chris, for some things that would retain winter interest so it's reasonable to include a few such things in the bed to answer that request. I think I have a slight dislike for evergreens in part because they are the only type of plant my father liked to invest in, whereas I was always interested in flowers. The anticipation is part of the fun.

Peony- Chris could not himself recall exactly what kind of peony they had planted, and was a bit chagrined to be unable to locate it in his records. That's okay, it will be another fun surprise later this spring. We are laying bets on it being a Sorbet peony because I mentioned to him early on that I had a fondness for that one. The fact of the matter is that I have a real fondness for most peonies, but have never successfully grown one myself (not that I've had much opportunity to try). They used to grow right at the end of the semester in great profusion in one of the campus gardens just overlooking the river, and one of the last days of my senior year I gathered a basket full of them and went to model for an Art professor who had been painting me for about a year for an exhibition. The painting was nice enough, but that particular day I wore my white graduation dress (which I had made myself) and he sketched me in it with my hands full of peonies and I still have that drawing to this day. A lovely homage to the end of one era of my life.

Bee balm- I really didn't know about this plant before I asked Chris to include some things that would be great for the bees. They adore my holly bushes when they are in flower and the inspector who came to look at the house prior to me purchasing it noted with some enthusiasm that they were full of honeybees, so I like to keep them happy and healthy. I also have carpenter bees in the back in the deck, and I like to watch them in the summer. I actually have three bee balm plants in the back bed and your guess is as good as mine right now as to what color they will each be, because the options are pretty wide-ranging.

Fothergilla- This is another one with which I was not familiar prior to it being suggested to me, but it is a native here so I anticipate that it will get on well and it's nice to use native plants that thrive and jive easily with their neighbors. The flowers are sort of white bottle-brush types also enjoyed by the bees, but in this particular instance it's the foliage that's the showstopper because come autumn the color is intense! It just makes my little heart so happy.

Winter Jasmine- Speaking of colorful winter plants, not only does this one bloom in, oh, right around February, so coming right up; but I'm told the fragrance is a true springtime promise of good things to come. It looks quite a bit like its relative, the Forsythia, but they are not, as is sometimes assumed, the same plant. This will eventually grow to spill over the retaining wall in a cascade. How charming will that be?!

Dogwood (Artic Fire)- I've been enjoying this plant since it arrived in the late autumn. The dwarf Dogwood variety has stunning bright red stems that are at peak glory in the dead of winter. The deep green foliage and white flowers it will have are okay too I guess, but in the fairly bare bed, which I can see from my back door, and which I walk past every morning when I take the dog out, it's such a joy to see that daring crescendo of color like a fiery fountain leaping out of the frost.

Beautyberry (Pearl Glam)-  Okay A) I want to know if the person who named this was a fan of the band Pearl Jam or if that's just an accident, and B) I was watching my favorite gardening show last week (Gardener's World) and the main presenter was putting in a Beautyberry into his garden and it was the same one! So when Chris told me I had a Beautyberry I was ecstatic (and of course I told him about the show and he hadn't seen it and I felt really happy to be able to recommend it, blah blah blah). This delightful friend of many a bird is apparently pretty on-trend right now. It has sort of pearlescent purple berries that appear after white flowers which are popular with pollinators. Bonus:- it's self-pollinating so it doesn't need another plant to be able to fruit. Something to keep in mind for that Crab Apple tree I want to put in the front yard, which is not so self-sufficient.

Hellebore- One more surprise to come, since we don't know which variety this is, but given that Hellebores spread and hybridize pretty freely (those hussies), and given that I have two more kinds of these plants coming in March, I'm betting my garden will be hella full of Hellebores before long (see what I did there?). There is just such a massive amount of variety in terms of color and patterning that you could have one for any theme. Like I said, this plant is budding even now and ready to burst into bloom any day so it looks highly likely that I've got some sort of dark pink or red version. Neither of the ones I've ordered is like that, so the more the merrier. It's also pretty short compared to some of the other plants, so that provides some interest as well.

Hydrangea (Limelight)- Next to the reddish Hellebore this will be phenomenal! When Chris told me what variety it was I practically jumped up and down (but I didn't, because I'm an adult). Limelight is the most gorgeous, mounding, soft green and white garden jewel. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but you get these light green caps that turn sort of creamy white in places, but stay green in others. That is just going to be wow. The funny thing about hydrangeas is that the PH of your soil can determine their color, but it also depends on the variety. I was given a lovely variety called Blue Danube by Mom and Dad as a housewarming present (they know me so well!) and if I plant it somewhere more alkaline it will turn purple or even pink. If I want it to stay blue I need make sure it's in appropriately acidic soil. I think that's fascinating.

I believe daffodils are poking up in the front mailbox bed, and I've just today marked out the shape of a new shade bed on the east side of the house where I think Blue Danube is going to live. Also just arrived today is a very large box with the makings of a rather exciting greenhouse, but that is a project for another day.