Wolcott Garden Treasures
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Winter Interest Gardening
Even when frost has covered the ground and gray skies have pushed away the sun, your landscape doesn't have to be barren and void of color and texture! So take heart, and try some of these fantastic cold-weather favorites to keep up the visual interest in your space, despite our harsh New England winters.
ADDING COLOR:
Barberry, Crimson and Royal Burgundy varieties - both shrubs grow to 2-4' tall and 3-5' wide, and do extremely well in poor soil. Royal Burgundy will keep a more saturated red color, but the Crimson variety also stands out in the winter garden.
Dogwood- Red Twig, Yellow Twig and Ivory Halo varieties provide the ultimate in winter color. With bright red or bright yellow woody stalks that keep their saturated color all year, these Dogwood varieties will stand out like a beacon in your winter landscape! They're also extremely cold hardy and can stand up to even the poorest soil - just a winning plant, all-around.
Holly - a wintertime favorite, most holly bushes require a mate; that is, a male holly requires a famale counterpart, and vice-versa. However, we have a fantastic hybrid holly variety called Berryrific, which is both male and female, so you need not plant a mate. Whichever variety you select, with its dark, lustrous green foliage and bright red berries, holly is a traditional staple for your garden that will look great all year round and give you that punch of color you so desperately need in the winter.
ADDING TEXTURE & FORM
Diablo Common Ninebark is a great 5-8' tall by 6-9' wide tree with exfoliating (excessively peeling) bark that adds lots of texture and visual interest in the winter. Super hardy for the eastern landscape, it also boasts white to pink flowers in May and June over reddish purple deciduous foliage that turns bronze in autumn.
Harry Lauder's Walking Stick is an incredibly unique tree with twisting branches that adds interest to your landscape any time of year. While its yellow-brown catkin blooms demand your attention in the spring, it's not until the foliage has passed that its amazing contorted branches become fully evident. Mature, this tree will grow 8-10' tall and wide, and while it won't add much color, it's a true conversation piece simply by virtue of its form.
Moor Grass - ornamental grasses are always a good choice for adding lots of texture and height any time of year, but they're particularly nice in the winter, when most other plants lose their volume and thickness. The Skyracer variety of Moor Grass, in particular, will grow its head up to 8' above a 2' base of green summer foliage and will remain a real presence in the garden, even in winter.
Barberry, Crimson and Royal Burgundy varieties - both shrubs grow to 2-4' tall and 3-5' wide, and do extremely well in poor soil. Royal Burgundy will keep a more saturated red color, but the Crimson variety also stands out in the winter garden.
Dogwood- Red Twig, Yellow Twig and Ivory Halo varieties provide the ultimate in winter color. With bright red or bright yellow woody stalks that keep their saturated color all year, these Dogwood varieties will stand out like a beacon in your winter landscape! They're also extremely cold hardy and can stand up to even the poorest soil - just a winning plant, all-around.
Holly - a wintertime favorite, most holly bushes require a mate; that is, a male holly requires a famale counterpart, and vice-versa. However, we have a fantastic hybrid holly variety called Berryrific, which is both male and female, so you need not plant a mate. Whichever variety you select, with its dark, lustrous green foliage and bright red berries, holly is a traditional staple for your garden that will look great all year round and give you that punch of color you so desperately need in the winter.ADDING TEXTURE & FORM
Diablo Common Ninebark is a great 5-8' tall by 6-9' wide tree with exfoliating (excessively peeling) bark that adds lots of texture and visual interest in the winter. Super hardy for the eastern landscape, it also boasts white to pink flowers in May and June over reddish purple deciduous foliage that turns bronze in autumn.
Harry Lauder's Walking Stick is an incredibly unique tree with twisting branches that adds interest to your landscape any time of year. While its yellow-brown catkin blooms demand your attention in the spring, it's not until the foliage has passed that its amazing contorted branches become fully evident. Mature, this tree will grow 8-10' tall and wide, and while it won't add much color, it's a true conversation piece simply by virtue of its form.Moor Grass - ornamental grasses are always a good choice for adding lots of texture and height any time of year, but they're particularly nice in the winter, when most other plants lose their volume and thickness. The Skyracer variety of Moor Grass, in particular, will grow its head up to 8' above a 2' base of green summer foliage and will remain a real presence in the garden, even in winter.
Holly by Anna Maria Damasiewicz, Ninebark c/o University of Connecticut, Walking Stick c/o Missouri Botanical Gardens.
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