Blessings of this Season

The first day of winter. Dark early, light late, usually cold and gray. My most un-favorite time of the year. But this year, that turning point has come quickly, and easily. The weather has been gloriously mild, mostly sunny, and sprinkled with good rain.
It is also a busy time of year. I can usually get lost in the hustle and bustle of friends, family, shopping, gifts, visiting, cooking, and working. If I am honest, much of that busyness is in the service of avoiding the dark. This fall has been so much more mellow than others that I am trying to take some time to reflect a bit on the year, and to enjoy the gifts that surround me. I thought I might just share a few here.

Chimonanthus praecox

Chuck's Blue Sport

Heron Fountain, Huntsville Botanical garden

Huntsville Botanical Garden RR

Jasminum nudiflorum

Evergreen Acer

Mahonia x 'Winter Sun'

Pinus thunbergii 'Ogon' candle

Prunus mume 'Rosebud'

Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Golden'

LOOK AND SEE

This morning at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an elder duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was

laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive your gift is to us, if we

only look, and see.

Mary Oliver, from Why I Wake Early

"Winter's Sometime Smiles"

It's been a cold, wet, and even snowy winter. I've had to spend many more days and hours indoors than I would like, and so I turn to some of my favorite reading material to lighten the burden of such restrictions. Without doubt, one of the very best antidotes to cold outside is the warm enthusiasm of Elizabeth Lawrence, especially her Garden in Winter. This book has been an inspiration to me for many years, and it seems to be able to brighten my mood and teach me something every time I pick it up.
Here's the first few sentences:

"I never did care for fairweather gardeners. Standing behind glass doors, they look out at the cold ground and leafless branches, and exclaim' How beautiful this must be in spring!'
How beautiful it is now, I want to cry-"

I won't quote the whole book, although I am tempted. I urge you to find a copy and curl up in a cozy corner to taste some morsels of her wisdom. But I can echo her thoughts when it comes to some of her favorite plants, and maybe give you some pleasant dreams about your future garden.
There are incredibly fragrant plants performing in the winter here in the Southeast.
Chimonanthus praecox- Wintersweet- is an old fashioned garden plant that is a fragrant as any flower I know. It's habit is a little large and rangy for a manicured garden, but it's perfume from December to March makes it deserving of a spot nearby.


Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' . Likewise, there are a large number of witchhazels that are both fragrant and astounding shrubs for the winter garden. They will take some room, but give you quite a show.

While many know the sweet smell of Daphne odora, few have enjoyed the white winter bloom of Eriobotrya japonica -Loquat- and it's evergreen, tropical, umbrella shape.


Or how about the sweet clove scented Prunus mume- Japanese Flowering Apricot- ?
The Southeast enjoys many many hollies in the landscape. The beauty of their berries in winter, their architectural habits, and their ability to attract birds to the garden make them gracious guests .
Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red'Ilex vomitoria 'Virginia Dare'







Ilex cornuta 'D'Or'

And of course we must include the color added by some of our best perennials and shrubs: Helleborus foetidus



Helleborus x 'Pink Lady'

Viburnum tinus buds all winter



Jasminum nudiflorum

Bind all these lovelies into a firm and colorful foundation of conifers,

and enjoy the garden every single winter day.

Thuja plicata 'Green Giant'

Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Ericoides'

Elizabeth Lawrence can teach southeastern gardeners to love the winter by showing them how to love the winter garden. For all of you who are tired of the cold, the gray, the wet; pick up one of her books, and warm up. As she quotes Coventry Patmore, a Victorian poet and author of a poem called

Winter :
" Sweeter yet than dream or song of Summer or Spring
are Winter's sometimes smiles".

Believe it.