It's been years since I gardened in a cold climate. While it's wonderful to have green and blooming things year round, there's something special about being able to put the lawn mower away and hang up the garden tools for several months a year. When the ground is frozen solid, there's just not a whole lot of gardening that needs to be done. While there are no blooms in my niece's garden at this time of year, there certainly is color like this venus fly trap by Fred Conlon.
Getting tired of waiting for this flowering crabapple to produce fruit, Alison hung these several years ago. You can see that the tree now has fruit but the golden apples still look festive and fun.
While there was some snow on the ground, there was no new snowfall while I was there which allowed me to explore the garden beds. Here you see the lush ferns that grow to six feet or so. Well, um, they were lush just a couple of months ago!
Caragana arborescens or Siberian Pea Shrub.
The stream Alison created is not so much flowing right now.
Look at this Bergenia. While it is lying on the ground, it is still green and come spring, although it'll look a little worse for the wear, it'll stand back up and begin blooming. A wondrous plant!
Beautiful birches make up quite a bit of the woods here.
Brown is a color, right?
You probably guessed that koi cannot stay outside in the winter.
I wish I had space to grow these! Pyramidus bowlingballus 'Eight ball' provides great color year round even in the most frigid temperatures. However, snow does cover these for most of the winter.
I hope you enjoyed our little fall walk. BTW, if your camera batteries get too cold, the camera won't function. You learn something new everyday!
