Re: Gardens in Winter / new member.

At 08:05 AM 19.12.99 -0500, GeneBush wrote:
>    How many of you will take a walk to your garden today and what will
you see
>when you get there?

Hello all shadegardeners

This is my first longer letter and kind of intro to you, but I have been
reading your list for a while. I subscribed this list because I am looking
for good advises and discussions on plants growing in shade - and that is
because lot of my garden will be a shadegarden.

And this garden is in Norway - Hardanger - at 60 degree latitude north in a
fjord at the SW coast, rather mild coastal climate during winter thanks to
the Golf stream. Summer are also typical coastal - not so warm and dry as I
wish!

When I read Gene's mail today I felt now is time to say hello to you.
Because for me too gardening is not only a summer thing. And I already had
that walk Gene asked about when I read the emails :) ... it is dark here
now I am some hours before you in time... well I say you, I don't know
where the members of this list lives .. maybe there are other norwegians
here too? or other european?
        Most of my garden is rather young, some only form this summer, a lot were
destroied few years ago so we had to replant. I live on a fruitfarm, with a
fjord going north south, high mountains with a glacier on the top, steep
landscape, and very close to a little river, that gives  the garden a
special life all the time.
        Right now we have winter in Hardanger too - typical is that it change a
lot during winter between rain and snow - but right now a bit snow and with
beautiful weather that looks pretty - so today I had a walk around and took
a lot of picture from my wintergarden, the waterfall with ice, siluettes of
decidious trees, evergreen with snow on, the birds, overviews ...since a
lot of garden is replanted and new I like to take picture to follow it
through years - see how it change. I  like it now, but I must say I really
am looking forward to spring .. there will be so much new to look at!
Bulbs, hostas, Rhododendrons, all very very small plants ..since so much
had to planted I bought them on wholesale to make it possible all of  it ..
will start to make my own plants from now.
        And the soil I covered with moss - what is more natural for shade - at
least it is here in our forrests. And I suppose I have fell in love with
Japanese gardens too .. anf got some moss idea from those. Well I didn't
see the moss to day, but I do think it is a good protector also for frost?
        I can't imagine my garden without a 'winterface' too - and that means
making it 'green' with a lot of different evergreens and conifers, and
using different colours of these. I don't have so many thing in flowers -
if any - in flowers right now. Well - I have 10 different very small plants
of heathers - springflowering - and some of them chosen because will start
flowering early - means January - but with 15 cm snow I didn't see them to
day - they just arrieved this home some weeks ago! Together with some new
hostas and some groundcoverplants for very very steep hill - Trifoilum (red
leafed).

Gene - you asked: what did you see?
...that could make me start on a book! maybe I shouldn't! because any
conifers and special dwaft are interesting. And I like to combine them with
decidious shrubs/trees could be with braches with red or green/yellow
colour (Cornus), or with special formed branches like Salix matsudana
'Totuosa' or Corylus avellana 'Contorta' ...and that will soon have flowers
.. and I have and like very much the dwaft maples also in winter. Or what
about the Larix and the Alnus, both with branches full of cones, that I
tried to make silouette photos of, but didn't look so nice through the
camera.
        I have some others evergreen than Rhododendron like Skimmia japonica
'Rubra' - very beautiful - and YES - now I rememeber that one has flowers
or at least very nice bud at his time! Hedera - old one with flowers yes.
Ilex - like best variegated ones I think. Birds taken all berries! But what
fasinate me more and more of my evergreens is Hebe! Sure this will become
more of in my garden...and on my wishing list is also Heleborus!
        So this was my walk today...


Arnhild - in Hardanger/ SW coast of Norway
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