Re: Winter perennials?
- To:
- Subject: Re: Winter perennials?
- From: M* T*
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 03:59:39 -0400
Hellebores, hellebores, hellebores :-) These are great plants for winter
foliage. I also find most of my Euphorbia look good in winter unless it
gets really cold. Esp. Euphorbia amygdaloides purpurea (used to be rubra)
whose foliage turns such a deep purple it's almost black in winter....makes
a nice contrast with Hellebore foetidus 'Wester Flisk' and Euphorbia
characias.
Ajuga stays fairly nice in mild winters as does Lamiastrum galeobdolon.
Tellima , Heuchera and Tiarella also remain evergreen for me unless it gets
really awful...as do various of the evergreen Asarums (gingers).
At its best in winter is Arum italicum who starts new growth in late August
for me and goes dormant end of June or so. Foliage is lovely and tho' it
can be flattened by heavy snow or ice, it will spring right back once it
thaws.
Geranium macrorrhizum is evergreen for me, with the foliage assuming red
tints in winter where sun gets to it....very nice groundcover for shady
spots as well as sun. Also find that G. sanguineum is evergreen where I
have it.
Digitalis foliage rosettes also stay pretty nice over winter. Some of the
older leaves can get ratty, but the clumps stay green.
Liriope (if not eaten by the deer) will stay nice until late winter when
the older leaves get ratty and start to brown at the tips. Ophiopogon is
also good for me all winter.
Many Carex are evergreen and look just as good in winter as summer - as
does Luzula, the woodrush. Really harsh winters will give them a ragged
edge by spring, but most winters they sail right through. Of course, even
the ornamental grasses who die during winter (Miscanthus, Pennisetum, etc.)
maintain a very strong presence until end of winter when the foliage gets
beaten to death.
Evergreen and semi-evergreen ferns also look good in winter. Christmas
fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) gets flatter, but the fronds stay green
through the worst that winter can throw at them. Autumn fern, Dryopteris
erythrosora puts up new coppery fronds in fall and the fronds stay green
unless winter is really awful.
In a milder climate than mine, I should think Acanthus mollis would be good
all winter - mine thinks it wants to be evergreen and keeps putting up
foliage during mild periods only to have it frosted when it turns cold
again.
Cyclamen coum and hederifolium put out foliage in early fall and it's nice
all winter.....superb in some of the silver/pewter and patterned forms.
Of course, that old standby, Pachysandra terminalis stays green no matter
what happens outside. There are probably a few more in my garden who stay
decent all winter, but they aren't hitting the front of my brain right
now...someone else needs to fill in..
Bottom line is that there are a number of perennials who look good all
winter, depending, of course on your climate....should think there would be
even more in S. England, where winters are much milder than they are in my
garden. Get your hands on one of Christopher Lloyd's books - think he did
one on foliage - if it stays green for him, ought to stay green for you and
look good...same with Beth Chatto's books. Think her climate may be a bit
harsher than yours, but her forte is putting plants together in marvelous
combinations and her books will tell you whether a plant remains nice all
winter for her...if for her, than I should think for you. In fact, lucky
you, you could plan trips to those author's gardens (check open times) and
see what they have that looks good. Or, for that matter to any of the
superb gardens in England that remain open. I know a lot of them close up
after October, but there must be some who remain open. Kew for one ought
to be open if you get up London way.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Louise <louise@the-english-family.freeserve.co.uk>
> Date: Saturday, October 09, 1999 2:42 AM
>
>
> Looking round my garden the other day I was thinking about
> the evergreen shrubs I've got (things like camellias, fatsia
> japonica and mahonia) that will be our main interest in
> winter. It got me wondering, I know that virtually all
> perennials disappear in the winter, but are there any that
> will not lose their leaves and will continue to provide
> structure and interest into the winter months (I'm not
> talking about flowers here). I remember reading that in
> some Dutch gardens they use things like fennel because they
> look marvellous with the frost on them. I'm sure this is
> true, but we don't have many frosts in a winter. Last
> winter, my fennel looked like blackened spinach on stalks -
> not very attractive at all. Also towards late winter bulbs
> will be coming up, but earlier on? Obviously this question
> depends on the sort of winter you have, for example if your
> garden is covered in snow for weeks on end. We don't have
> that, not much frost, not much snow, but cold enough for
> things to stop growing. Has anyone got any ideas?
>
> Louise, southern England
>
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