Our back yard was planted with an eye toward having interest 12 months a year. January is the most challenging month in my part of the world.
There is only one slender possibility of a flower appearing in January and that is dependent on two things--- remembering to plant pansies in October and a thaw that lasts a few days to give the intrepid pansy a chance to feel the sun long enough to send out a pathetic flower or two.
I get my garden fix this month in other ways. The evergreens, paths, trellises and stones and the bare branches of deciduous shrubs and even the old seed heads create a soothing place for my eyes to wander, if not my feet.
When I do go outside, I hunt for signs of life like these andromeda buds which add some color and promise flowers in early March.
I am always happy to find that my lavender is still alive, huddled next to the south -facing garage wall, looking pale as a winter ghost, but still alive!
When snow arrives the winter garden becomes a magical place of long shadows,
and artful designs created by Mother Nature
My sage, trying valiantly to be an evergreen, is slowly succumbing to the numbing temperatures of the last two days.
The bare branches of the cherry tree seem to reach for the sun's warmth and when I look up at the right moment, a cloud passes, and the sky offers me a fleeting glimpse of the bluest blue against the blackened tree.
Still hungry for flowers, I spot last summer's hydrangea, with paper thin brown remnants of her petals still hanging on. They look lovely against the snow.
Even the garlic chive stalks offer a winter work of art for my garden starved eyes.
And these leftover flowers caught just enough snow to change their looks, like a woman putting on a winter white fur coat!
When I grow tired of the 'blooms' in the winter garden, I retreat to my warm sunroom where I can while away the winter, looking at my favorite garden catalogs and dreaming about what I will plant when spring arrives.
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| First light after the first snow of the year |
Take-away for today - January has its own pleasures, I just have to look a bit harder. The good news is, no weeding!!
