Yesterday morning I rose early to get in a little gardening before other responsibilities starting calling me away.  I slipped into my pale pink velour sweats, warm scarf, hat, and Wellies and went outside.

I’m not a fan of cold weather but there is beauty to be found in the gardens of winter.  It’s in the structure of the tree limbs, patios, stone walls, and portico’s, and in garden art: the statues, birdbaths, gates, and fountains.

 

I crave greenery in the winter.  That’s why I was so grateful when we moved into the house on Hillcrest. Many of the foundation plants, the trees and evergreen shrubs were in place and to this I added boxwood and ivy topiary, bay and Texas privet standards, and lots of olive trees.

 

Above is an evergreen I rediscovered recently.  It’s called Eugenia.  Judging by the weight of the root ball, it is going to need a very large pot.  I love the pottery at Orchard’s Supply and Hardware.  The variety of styles, sizes, and colors is terrific and the prices are reasonable.

Above is one of the pots I found at Orchard’s.

I love the red berries and foliage of cotoneaster in winter.  The pot above is my herb pot stripped down to just parsley and mint.

Above is a close up of cotoneaster mixed in with fallen leaves from the neighboring liquid amber on my property.

Winter gardening around here mostly consists of mucking out dead leaves and removing broken branches and limbs caused by the storms but I did enjoy picking the lemons from my little Meyer lemon tree.  I have had it for almost twenty years and though it’s small, it gives me 4 dozen lovely lemons each December.  It’s small enough to cover at night with a blanket.

I find doing odd winter jobs now keeps me in touch with my garden.  When spring does roll around, I’m better prepared by having done all the minor tasks early on.  Above are berries on one of my winter Japanese barberry; my favorite olive tree visible from the kitchen sink; Bear’s breeches, and nandina bamboo in the background.

The jumbled up patio after a rain, above.

The curly leaf willow without it’s leaves, above.  The branches are so pretty when wet.  The morning light creates a twinkling effect and it’s beautiful when the steam rises behind it.

Below are some of my favorite winter plants, shrubs, and trees.  They add greenery, interesting branch formations, and berries to an otherwise dreary garden.

camelias