The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Garden Sketches: WINTER FAVORITES
Winning choices do wonders for quiet season A LANDSCAPING GUIDE
Erica Glasener - For the Journal-Constitution
Thursday, December 21, 2000

I don't think of myself as a gambler, but gardening the last few years has been a crapshoot.

This summer, the severe drought was taxing, to say the least, but now here it is December, and we still have fall color. Even nongardeners took notice of the fiery Japanese maples and some of the oaks that turned dark shades of burgundy.

A showstopper in my garden, with its late hot-orange-red leaves, is a hypericum I purchased from Land Arts Nursery in Monroe that owner Jane Bath calls Sunny. Its fiery foliage reminds me of an autumn sunset. Dasylirion 'Blue Twister', a plant that I have grown only for a few years, is one that surprised me with the way it stands out in winter. Its narrow glaucous blue leaves armed with prickles form a mound that, like its name, creates the sense of motion.

In thinking about the garden in winter, I decided to ask some fellow plantsmen and garden designers in the area about their favorites.

Keep in mind that although today is the first day of winter, plants don't go by the calendar. Some touted for winter interest begin blooming in late fall and continue through winter, while others wait until February before they put on a show. And some have foliage that not only holds up but shines all winter. It's the combination of flower, foliage and bark that creates the most interesting gardens, no matter what the season.

Garden designer Brooks Garcia of Fine Gardens shared these winter favorites:

Arum italicum, Italian arums. Many forms have narrow leaves and creamy variegation. The leaves emerge in autumn and persist all winter. Garcia gives them a shot of bulb booster as soon as they appear in his garden, and they thrive.

Corylopsis pauciflora, buttercup winterhazel. Fragrant primrose flowers as early as February.

Daphne odora, winter daphne. One whiff and you'll be hooked. Fragrant flowers and evergreen foliage.

Galanthus nivalis, snowdrops. Garcia's mother used to grow scads of these charming tiny bulbs with their nodding, three-lobed, bell-shaped flowers.

Hedera colchica 'Sulphur Heart' Persian ivy. A selection with large variegated leaves yellow in the center and surrounded by green.

Hedera helix 'Goldheart', Goldheart ivy. A colorful form of English ivy with leaves bright yellow on green.

Prunus mume, Japanese flowering apricot. Garcia has a selection with white flowers he's keen on.

Here's what Marietta plantsman Ozzie Johnson suggested:

Carex flacca, blue sedge. Steely-blue foliage.

Cyclamen hederifolium, hardy cyclamen. This woodland wonder has beautiful foliage and flowers.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake', oakleaf hydrangea. Johnson likes the way the persistent foliage and flowers look in winter.

Ilex x attenuata 'Sunny Foster'. This holly has yellow foliage on the youngest growth.

Ilex cornuta 'D'Or', yellow-fruited Burford holly.

Ilex vomitoria, yaupon holly. Johnson recommends looking for orange-fruited forms.

Kerria japonica 'Kin Kan'. An unusual form with variegated stems.

Nandina domestica 'Yellow Fruited', yellow-fruited nandina.

Stachyurus praecox 'Issai'. Drooping spikes of greenish-yellow flowers before the leaves apppear.

Paula Refi, president of the Georgia Perennial Plant Association, reminds us that "perennials are not asleep in winter, and they're not invisible." Think about dark with light and coarse with fine when pairing them.

Some of her favorite perennial combinations for winter shade are:

Acorus gramineus 'Ogon', a yellow-striped form of Japanese sweet flag, with old-fashioned Aspidistra elatior, cast-iron plant.

Carex morrowii and Rohdea japonica, Japanese sedge and sacred lily. Mounds of grassy foliage contrast with leathery evergreen leaves.

Dryopteris erythrosora, autumn fern, and Asarum shuttleworthii 'Callaway', Callaway ginger. Refi says this is one of the best ferns for winter and looks great surrounded by a pool of ginger with its silvery patterns.

Erica Glasener is an Atlanta gardener and host of HGTV's "A Gardener's Diary." Her column appears every other week. Write to her in care of the Journal-Constitution, Home & Garden, P.O. Box 4689, Atlanta, GA 30302.


HOME & GARDEN	THURSDAY • January 11, 2001

GARDEN: THE GARDEN IN WINTER
Creating a fine January landscape requires color, texture and structure
Nancy BracheyCharlotte Observer
Thursday, January 11, 2001

Now that winter's here, how does your garden look?

Bright with dots of color, loaded with ripples of texture, surprising and inviting on the gloomiest days?

Well, maybe you don't have all that, but some would be good. Though winter is here, that doesn't mean you're going to hang a ''closed'' sign on the garden gate.

For the South, winter poses a bit of a dilemma to gardeners, says Larry Mellichamp, director of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Botanical Gardens.

''Is it the first season of the year --- or the last? Is it the end or the beginning of the garden year?" he says. "Whichever, it's certainly a more interesting time in the garden than is August.''

Mellichamp is co-author with Peter Loewer of ''The Winter Garden,'' a guide to wintertime gardening in the Southeastern United States.

Discovering the beauty and variety of the winter garden is a matter of keeping your eyes open; creating it requires factoring the season into your planting plans.

A complete garden offers interest year-round. ''People do have to think about this,'' says Mellichamp.

Charlotte landscape architect Bruce Clodfelter, who spent time at a symposium on winter gardens recently, believes that garden structure, color and texture are all keys to success in this overlooked season.

''Start by having a good (landscape) structure, good 'bones,' because that really shows off in the winter,'' he says.

These bones include garden paths, significant trees, vistas, focal points and hedges --- all the things that create lines, define views and support the individual plants.

''We have so many things that look good in the winter, it's pretty easy,'' says Clodfelter. And the winter landscape does not have to be filled with broadleaf evergreens. Many deciduous plants and conifers will work well.

Horticulturist Richard Etheridge of Garden Secrets in Charlotte notes that many of summer's favorite things add to the winter landscape in subtle yet interesting ways.

He mentions euphorbia, Stoke's daisy, autumn and tassel ferns, ornamental grasses and sedges among the plants that often surprise people in winter. ''I think they look particularly wonderful with the frost on them, or morning or afternoon winter sunlight shining through,'' says Etheridge.

While plant selection is important, placement is key to making the winter landscape interesting.

As you stand and look at the garden, ''you should have something remarkable for every season at the end of your vista.'' In winter, that might be the bare outline of an interesting tree such as a corkscrew willow or coral-bark maple, a crape myrtle with outstanding bark, perhaps a well-shaped holly loaded with red berries.

And, he mentions, don't overlook the role of landscape lighting in winter, when it can be a valuable asset.

''I love to see bare limbs uplit,'' he notes, ''limbs outlined against the sky, particularly if you can look at them from a distance.''

Plants for winter interest Plants that offer a variety of landscape assets, including interesting or colorful bark and texture, blooms, scent and berries, include: TREES Prunus mume Coral-bark maple Weeping Japanese maples Okame cherry Corkscrew willow Crape myrtles, such as Natchez Chinese white birch Arizona cypress Yellow-twig dogwood SHRUBS Aucuba japonica Camellia japonica Chimonanthus praecox Daphne odora Corylopsis sinensis Witch hazel Winter jasmine Mahonia Sweet box Winterberry Harry Lauder's walking stick Edgeworthia papyrifera Wintergreen barberry PERENNIALS AND BULBS Crocus Winter aconite Snowdrops Iris stylosa Early daffodils, including Tete-a-Tete, Peeping Tom and February Gold Violas and pansies Euphorbia ORNAMENTAL GRASSES Evergreen hardy ferns, such as autumn and tassel Design tips Plan your landscape so something distinctive is blooming in December, January, February and March. Keep the winter landscape very tidy. Cut back spent stems of perennials. Add thin layers of fresh mulch. Consider landscape lighting that will illuminate the garden in evening, perhaps focusing on plants with good silhouettes. Mix evergreens and deciduous plants to create interesting changes and different looks through the year. Don't cut back your ornamental grasses until late winter, unless they start looking weatherbeaten.