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             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Winter Landscape

On a brilliantly sunny morning recently the dogs and I wandered slowly around our garden, looking carefully at the wondrous details of the winter garden. Actually, I looked, they snuffled. But here are some of the plants I enjoyed seeing, starting with the trees and shrubs: I love the magnolia that sits in the middle of the lawn outside the kitchen window. Right now it is covered with large, furry buds that are better than those on any pussywillow I've ever seen. Too many northern gardeners avoid magnolias because they think of them as southern trees. Many are. But the Loebner hybrids are wonderful, and fully hardy to Zone 4, or even in warmer Zone 3 locations. Mine is a named cultivar, Merrill, though I always refer to it as Dr. Merrill, the German who first crossed two species of magnolia to create it back before the First World War.

My Dr. Merrill magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri) blooms before it leafs out in the spring, often by Shakespeare's birthday, April 23. The white blossoms are 4 inches across and lightly fragrant. Later, it is dressed in deep green glossy leaves and jeweled with small red seeds in fall - though the seeds go unseen unless you are looking for them. I worried that the location I picked would not work, as the soil stays moist all year round - it is near our stream. But I've had the tree more than 10 years, and it seems content. It is nearly full size, perhaps 20 feet tall, and more than 10 in width.

Another great plant is the Seven-Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconioides). I like it in winter for its bark, which is variegated in color, and slightly shaggy. It is a fast-growing tree, often adding shoots that grow four feet or more in a single year. I keep mine pruned back, as I planted it only 8 feet from the house, and it keeps attempting to get in the library window. Its primary claim to fame is that it blossoms in late August to October, a time when few other woodies are in bloom. The blossoms are small, but are displayed in panicles of seven blossoms that are lightly fragrant. The literature says it is only hardy to Zone 5, but mine has shown no ill effects of 25 below, so I call it a Zone 4.

The pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is our native dogwood, and it has popped up freely on our property. It has creamy subtle flowers in spring and blue berries on red stems in late summer; its best season may be winter, as it has such outstanding form. The branches are arranged in whorls at distant intervals on the trunk. It is never a big plant - 12 feet by 12 wide, perhaps. Unfortunately, it's hard to find in garden centers.

Of the herbaceous (non-woody) perennials that I did not cut back to the ground last fall, there are several that please me in winter. I love snake root (Cimicifuga spp.). I have two species of it, one (C. racemosa) that blooms 3 weeks before the other (C. ramosa), but both are very similar in stature: big leafy plants that send up flower stalks 4-7 feet tall. The flowers are bottlebrush-like in appearance, and highly fragrant. Some people love the fragrance, others hate it; bees go crazy over it. The Cimicifuga ramosa is the most popular, and several varieties have dark purple, almost black foliage. Hillside Black Beauty is the name of one variety I grow - its foliage is a spectacular. It is hardy to Zone 3, and does best in full sun with lightly moist soil, but will grow almost anywhere. In winter the seed heads dance in the wind; rarely do the stems break.

Another sturdy plant that stands proud in my winter garden is white mugwort (Artemisia lactiflora). It grows well in my full-sun border with rich, moist soil. Mine stands about 4 feet tall, and has delicate sprays of creamy white flowers in late summer. Like most in the artemisia family (including tarragon and absinthe), its foliage is fragrant when crushed. It is hardy to Zone 4.

Anything you grow that has a stiff stem is good for winter viewing. Bee balm and black-eyed-Susans are still standing up well in my garden, along with some -but not all - tall decorative grasses. Asters have good staying power, too.

A houseguest did me a big favor this winter: Julian made a dog-walking path with his snowshoes along our stream and past some of the perennial beds and better looking trees and shrubs. I walk that path daily without snowshoes to enjoy the details of winter.

So dog or no, go outside. Your winter garden has much to offer if you take the time to look.

Henry Homeyer is the Vermont/NH associate editor of People, Places and Plants magazine. His web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com