Winona Nursery

Snow blankets a freeze-dried rose.

Love it or hate it, it appears winter is here.  Why not love it?  Or at least appreciate it from a warm window seat.  You have to admit, winter’s effects on the landscape are quite beautiful. Red and orange berries stand out like shining candy. Snow sits atop sedum heads, dried hydrangea blooms, and cedar boughs.  Grasses fairly sparkle with the touch of snow.   Pretty festive!

We wish you a truly beautiful, warm holiday season.

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”  ~Andrew Wyeth

PS–Have you checked out our Gallery lately?  Click on “Incredible Bulk” to view a project that should put the crew on the “Nice List”…it was quite the undertaking.

White Swan Coneflower seed heads.

As the last flowers freeze-dry on the stem and the final leaves blow from the trees, the landscape does takes on a more stark appearance, and we wonder where the summer went.  But we look forward to this time of the year too.   You get to see the bones of the landscape, as it were, and appreciate the details that were overshadowed much of the season by the more flamboyant flowers and foliage.  Seed heads, berries, grass plumes, and oak leaves now lend golden tones to catch the low light.  Interesting growth habits (think White Oak and Sargent’s Flowering Crab) and corky or exfoliating bark (such as Burning Bush, Ninebark, Birch) all take center stage.  Evergreens, many times overlooked, now add structure and color.  Throw on a stocking cap and gloves; now is the time to enjoy the  “other six months” of the landscape.  There’s no pruning or weeding to do–you can just walk and look around.  If you don’t think your landscape has enough going on, enjoy this quieter time of year to observe and plan for next year.