Gardening on Mars? Apparently Minnesota shared record low temps the same as average highs for the red planet this week. All those zone 5 trees pushing the limits in my new garden? Well, it will certainly be an interesting spring waiting and watching to see if any survive this Arctic weather.
There's always a lot of talk every year about planting for winter interest. That's the concept of making sure your garden has strong shapes, bold silhouettes and intriguing textures so that a variety of winter preciptation can dust, dollop and delineate those same features.
If you live in milder to somewhat chilly areas, that's all well and good. If you live in England, well, as they say, "Bob's your uncle". No one does winter interest like jolly ole England; dramatic hoarfrosts, powder-sugar (they would call it icing sugar though) snows and frozen dewdrops. But up in the snowy north in North America, mention winter interest and you'll be met with a "hrrrumph!"
Winter interest is mostly a myth in Minnesota.
What winter interest we have is more late fall interest. After that, the snow piles on and our gardens disappear for four or five months. Tall trees and evergreens do what they can. Houses, walls and garden structures can be counted on more than plantings for sporting snow in a stylish way.
This year we did get one of those pretty whipped cream snows early on and then the extreme cold preserved the effect, netting us more winter interest than usual. But it's still short-lived in the long run.
My interest in winter usually expires around January 1. As I've done for the past few years, I'm heading south to Savannah, GA for awhile. So be prepared for the usual pictures of palm trees, camellias, cemeteries and whatnot. Probably heavy on the whatnot.
Meanwhile I'll share a few attempts at "winter interest" in photos from my newly planted, new house gardens. They aren't much but it's a start. Stay warm out there!
