Winter Interest in the Garden

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Late fall and winter bring an excellent opportunity for us to examine our gardens with fresh eyes. Without the distraction of spring and summer flowers, we can clearly see if our plantings provide enough color and interest in the “naked” season. We can also evaluate where we might need more structure.

If you find your garden is lacking in structure, color, or even texture at this time of year, the solution is often found with evergreen plants. Sometimes the word “evergreen” makes people think only of Cedar, Pine and Fir trees. But this group of plants is much more vast than that! Since many of us gardening in the Pacific NW are surrounded by an ample supply of green, for this post I am going to think outside of that tone! From conifers to broadleaved evergreens to grasses, perennials and groundcovers, we can find plants for year round interest in the garden. Here are some of my favorites.

Larger plants for color & structure

Arizona Cypress: Cupressus ‘Sulphurea’ or ‘Carolina Sapphire’

Japanese Cedar: Cryptomeria ‘Sekkan Sugi’ and C. japonica ‘Elegans’

Spruce: Picea ‘Glauca Slenderina’, ‘Gold Drift’ and ‘Skylands’

“Cool Bones” – Interesting Bark or Form

Black Gum: Nyssa sylvatica ‘Zydeco Twist’

Stewartia pseudocamellia, S. monadelpha

Birch: Betula ‘Jacquemontii’ or B. nigra ‘Heritage’

Vine Maple: Acer circinatum ‘Sunny Sister’

Corokia cotoneaster

Weeping Lawson Cypress: Chamaecyparis l. ‘Imbric Weeping’

Medium shrubs for winter interest

Euonymus ‘Silver King’, ‘Silver Queen’,

Elaeagnus ‘Gilt Edge’, ‘Hosobu Fukurin’

Buckthorn: Rhamnus a. ‘Variegata’

Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’, ‘Party Lights’

Hemlock: Tsuga ‘Gentsch White’ or ‘Summer Snow’

Fatsia ‘Spider’s Web’

Low shrubs for winter color

Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’

Juniperus ‘Daub’s Frosted’ or ‘Blue Star’

Euonymus ‘Dan’s Delight’ or ‘Blondy’

Evergreen perennials and subshrubs

Lavender

Hellebore, esp. ‘Snow Fever’ or Frostkiss Series

Hebes

Evergreen grasses for winter texture

Carex: any of them!

Fescue: Festuca ‘Bolder Blue’ or ‘Elijah’

Blue Oat

Black Mondo Grass: Ophiopogon p. ‘Nigrescens’

What?! Winter FLOWERS??

Viburnum b. ‘Dawn’

Hellebore

Witch Hazel: Hamamelis ‘Jelena’, ‘Diane’, etc.

Osmanthus burkwoodii

Elaeagnus – any

Camellia sasanqua types, such as ‘Setsugekka’

Need to see some of these plants with your own eyes? Watch Tobey’s video – Plants for Winter Interest!

Growing Gorgeous Grasses

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Ornamental grasses are the perfect way to add texture and movement to a garden.  While they look great all year, fall is the time when they really shine. 

Mother Nature coaxed the evolution of a grass for every ecological niche: there are both evergreen and deciduous types, and varieties that grow in shade as well as sun.  Plant breeders have made improvements on the work of Nature.  Now there are grasses offering leaves of brilliant lemon yellow, calming powdery blues, cozy deep wine reds, tawny toffee browns and oranges, and some with stripes and some with splashes.  There are wide and skinny blades to suit a range of texture needs.  Their flowers range from soft bunny tail-like wands to velvety plumes to charming dangly oat-esque seed heads to spikes that look like a glistening explosion of fireworks when they are backlit in the low autumn sun.

Many grasses offer fall color.  Many offer drought resilience.  Whether you need a short little tuft or a tower fountain, include some grasses in your garden and enjoy the sound of grass rustling in the wind. 

Maintenance Tips

The best time to plant grasses is fall, when they are readily available in nurseries.  You can also plant in the spring.  Evergreen grasses should not be cut back!  Deciduous grasses are best tidied up in February just when new growth starts.  If your grass needs a boost, fertilize in March or April.

Here are some of our favorites.

Evergreen grasses for sun

Carex testacea, buchanini – Bronze sedges

Festuca – Blue Fescue

Helictotrichon – Blue Oat Grass

Evergreen grasses for shade

Acorus – Sweet Flag

Carex Evercolor series –Everest, EverGlow, Eversheen, Everillo, Everoro, or Feather Falls

Lirope spicata & muscari – Lilyturf & Mondo Grasses

Ophiopogon ‘Nigrescens’ – Black Mondo Grass

Deciduous grasses for sun

Anemanthele

Calamagrostis – Feather Reed Grass

Imperata ‘Red Baron’ – Japanese Blood Grass

Molina caerula – Moor Grass

Panicum – Switch Grass 

Pennisetum – Fountain Grass

Deciduous grasses for shade

Carex elata Bowles Golden – Golden Sedge

Chasmanthium latifolium – Sea Oats

Deschampsia cespitosa – Tufted Hair Grass

Hakonechloa macra – Japanese Forest Grass (several cultivars)

Watch this video with Tobey Nelson to see some of these grasses and learn more about using them in your garden!

Top 10 Roses for 2022

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Top 10 Roses for disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat blooming

Even though I am nuts about Roses, I am also discerning. When choosing which cultivars we carry, I select based on disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat flowering. I exclude any variety with low scores in those categories. I also favor Roses that are good for cut flowers. We have a lot of choices for 2022, and you can’t really go wrong with any of the varieties that we stock  Since I am just bananas about Roses it is really hard for me to pick only 10 to name as my favorites. I will confess: I am making a whole new garden bed so I have room for this year’s irresistables!

Brandy

Since I grow Roses for flower arranging, I cannot resist this old favorite. I love the rich apricot color that works so well with many color schemes, and the stem length makes it easy to use these fragrant flowers. This AARS winner performs best once established and has good disease resistance.  It is a large plant (4’ – 6’ tall and 2’ – 3’ wide) with large blooms.

Colette (Climbing)

This climber gives us the best of the old-world looks – full and fluffy – with modern (excellent!) disease resistance and performance. Her blooms of pinkish-peach have an intoxicating citrus scent – just heavenly! Give this one some room; she grows 8’ – 10’ tall with a spreading habit.

Dee Lish

This Rose has won multiple awards for disease resistance, so that always puts a plant on my short list. But even more – the pink blooms are packed with petals and hold their strong color. The fragrance is outstanding, and you’ll be thrilled to know it is a great cut flower too! This is a big, very upright hybrid tea that can grow up to 6’ tall.

Earth Angel Parfuma

If you can’t get enough of Peonies then you will love this Rose! The blooms are voluptuous and a most romantic shade of blush pink with a classic Rose fragrance. It offers award-winning disease resistance and has outstanding vigor. This one will earn her keep in your garden! Though a hybrid tea, this plant is fairly bushy and can grow 5’ tall and 4’ wide.

Fiji Eleganza

This is a robust hybrid tea rose with multiple blooms of a vivid cherry pink. You’ll pick this bloom when you are looking for some va-voom in your life!! It is an easy-care plant with outstanding disease resistance, strong stems, and is a reliable repeat-bloomer. You don’t need a load of room for this 4’ x 3’ grower.

Florentina Arborose

This is a compact climber (7’ by 3’), a modern plant with a strong sense of nostalgia with clusters of classic red blooms. It has award winning disease resistance and is a repeat bloomer. The lush green foliage will be an asset in the garden!

Intrigue

This big bushy rose (5’ by 30”) will intrigue your eyes with its captivating, unique shade of mauve-plum, and your nose with its strong citrusy-rosy fragrance.  It is an AARS winner with good disease resistance which means that the foliage should stick around and be an attractive feature on this plant.

Moonlight Romantica

If you love yellow, then this big bushy rose will be an asset in your garden. It offers fragrant, fluffy butter-yellow blooms that have a sweet, honey-like fragrance. Excellent disease resistance and repeat bloom.  4’ – 6’ tall by 3’ – 4’ wide.

Tequila Supreme

Don’t think less of this Rose just because it sounds like a cocktail that would be served at Taco Bell! This excellent variety is not only an AARS winner but it won the American Rose Trials for Sustainability. This means it is a disease-resistant, easy-care plant! What’s more is the blooms are showstoppers. The ruffled, scalloped blooms are so intriguing and the color is a juicy blend of copper, apricot, pink and orange. And of course, it is a repeat bloomer.

White Eden Climber

This vigorous, disease-resistant large climber (8’ – 12’) will pump out creamy, buff white blooms throughout the summer. Sometimes, especially in cooler weather, those flowers can be tinged with pink. It offers a light fragrance. This is a classic cottage garden Rose.

We’ve have more great posts to help you grow the best roses ever: How To Plant A Bare Root Rose and How To Have Success with Roses Happy gardening!

Conifers for Whidbey Island Gardens

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Gardening on Whidbey Island can sometimes be tricky! We are not without our host of challenges: wind, deer, rabbits, and poor soil are just a few of the obstacles many gardeners face. Tough conditions require tough plants, and frequently a Conifer is the answer!

Conifers are cone-bearing plants. They are typically (but not always!) evergreen. Their foliage offers great texture, and many offer excellent color as well as year-round interest for the garden. Many of us are familiar with Firs, Hemlock, and Cedar. Since they are native to our area, they are common and well adapted to many Island gardens. But there are many other types of Conifers that offer interesting and alternative choices. From low-growing groundcovers to shrubs to towering trees, here are a few of my favorites.

Pine (Pinus)

These plants offer great choices for a beachside garden. If you garden with wind, strong sun, and droughty sandy soils, you might want to consider a Pine. They are also deer- and rabbit-resistant. (A clear bonus!) A Mugo Pine is a great choice for a shrubby shape. A striking and strong Japanese Black Pine is great if you’d like a real centerpiece – maybe P. thunbergiana ‘Thunderhead’.  If blue is a color you love in your garden, you might like a ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’ Limber Pine for a soft blue backdrop, with a Pinus parviflora glauca as a specimen. Of course, there are lots of others to choose from, but these are my favorite Pines.

Juniper (Juniperus)

As a young city gardener, I discounted Junipers. I thought of them just as scratchy things that smelled like the cat box. After over 14 years gardening on Whidbey, I have come to appreciate this genus. Deer and rabbits leave them alone. They take wind, drought, and terrible soil without missing a beat – they actually seem to thrive on neglect! I have several Juniper varieties in my garden. I use Wichita Blue and Moonglow for their strong columnar structure, and I love my ‘Grey Owl’ for its horizontal shape and excellent steely blue color. ‘Daub’s Frosted’ is the next one I will plant – the two-toned gold and blue foliage makes it a stunning low groundcover.

Cypress & False Cypress (Chamaecyparis) & Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria)

If you have a hard time loving Conifers because you think they are scratchy and needle-y, then take a look at the plants in this genus. There are many “pet-able” plant pals to meet! This is also a great group for foliage color! From Cryptomeria japonica ‘Spiralis’, a rounded shrub also known as “Granny’s Ringlets” for its lime-green, curly lock-like foliage, to Chamaecyparis ‘Blue Feathers’ or ‘Heatherbun’ with their soft bluish foliage. For a pop of yellow, look to Chamaecyparis p. ‘Filifera Mops’, the Golden Threadleaf Cypress. For a rich deep green with creamy tips, consider Cham. ‘Mariesii’. Note that while the Cryptomeria genus is still drought-tolerant, some prefer a bit more water, especially to get established, than the Pines and Junipers do. For example, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ loves moist soil. This is a gorgeous, quick-growing tree that works well as either a specimen or in the back of a border.

Hemlock (Tsuga)

Since Hemlocks are native to the Northwest, they grow well in Whidbey Island gardens. One of my favorites is ‘Gentsch White’, whose new growth offers white tips. This plant can be sheared into a shrub-like shape or left to grow into a tree form. My other favorite Hemlock is ‘Jeddeloh’, with its low-growing, mounding shape.

For those of you who are looking for a quick-growing screen, consider Thuja ‘Green Giant’. This is a great alternative to our much wider-growing Western Red Cedar. ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae grows quickly to 50’ but only gets 12’ wide. 

The most important things to keep in mind when working with Conifers are these:

  • Even if they are drought-tolerant, they will need water to get established. Do hand water deeply for the first 3 years.
  • While deer may not like to eat these plants, they may still want to rub their antlers on them to remove the velvet and leave their scent to attract mates. It is wise to protect your trees with wire mesh, plastic netting, or some sort of wire or monofilament surround to deter them from doing this until your trees are strong enough not to fall over, and they are thick enough that a few missing branches or scarred bark won’t be an issue.
  • Do consider the ultimate size of these plants when you are placing them. Remember that a giant just might be lurking in that little pot. Give them the room they need to flourish and become beautiful specimens in your garden.

Want a fun piece of plant-dork trivia? A Ginkgo is a Conifer! Now isn’t that a surprise?

Remember, if you need help choosing a conifer for your garden or siting one, our Venture Out garden coaching and design service is just a phone call (360-321-9931) or email (contact@ventureoutnursery.com) away!