On Tuesday, I finally got a chance to get the last of my own gardens cleaned up and ready for the winter. The lawn received its last mowing, the gardens were “drive-by” mulched, and the grasses and other things that I usually leave for winter interest looked great. That is, until Wednesday when it rained about 5 inches, turned cold, and the snow “cement” arrived. Overnight, the grasses went from beautiful to smushed.
And the ‘Autumn joy’ sedums which usually dry and hold up all winter turned into mush.
But winter weather brings its own beauty. The rose hips glow against the icy blue snow.
The frozen crabapples will provide some delicious food for the birds very soon.
And the butterfly bush still seems to want to beckon those butterflies that have long gone.
The growing season might have ended up here in upstate New York for now, but if you look around you can see signs of what will come in the spring. The big fat buds of the rhododendron,
the teeny buds of the azaleas,
the fattening lilac buds,
and the quince buds are readying themselves to burst forth with color when spring returns.
Remember that new Polemonium ‘Stairway to Heaven’ I told you about in the spring? What beautiful gold yellow fall-into-winter foliage it has! I’m looking forward to seeing its next transformation in the spring.
Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven' in Fall
Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven' in Spring
One might think that nothing goes on in the garden in the winter, but already there are signs of things to come!
