Gardens on pause: 5 favorite fantasies to help brighten up dreary winter days

Garden conversations…..

I hate January - it’s too long and way too cold. The onslaught of snow, wind and freezing cold temps have driven me inside. My houseplants, a growing pile of books, seed catalogues and binging on Gardener’s World are my only gardening pleasures these days. If you haven’t tuned in, I recommend watching. There is enough mouthwatering garden cinametography and interesting ideas to last you all winter. And speaking of ideas, about the only good thing I have to say about winter is that it’s a good time to think. Our gardens are on pause and so are we - there’s plenty of time to reflect, dream and come up with new ideas for spring.

Inspired by the show, I spent an afternoon pouring through files of old and recent garden photographs. There’s nothing like it to ignite ideas! I re-discovered gardens long forgotten, plant combinations that delighted me and whimsical little touches that made me laugh. Maybe some of them will inspire you. I’ll begin with plant ideas.

Plants: I have a patio that is way too open and unromantic looking. I’ve been searching for a solution to make it more enticing and this might be it. Clematis is truly the queen of climbers, but it never occurred to me to use it like this gardener did. The overhanging sweet autumn clematis (Clematis paniculata) makes that porch look so inviting and private. Plus, this clematis is such a vigorous grower, I don’t see how it could fail to do the trick so long as it’s in enough sun for it to flower.

A flashback to a stunning combination I saw in a garden I visited years ago - Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’ and Ophiogon planiscapus (black mondo grass). The Dichondra (silvery leafed plant) is an annual that covers a lot of territory quickly (good groundcover). Too much of it could get monotonous, but in this planting the little dark purple hits of mondo grass liven it up.

Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’ and Ophiogon planiscapus (black mondo grass)

Combinations like this make me want to ramp up my shade gardens. The pinks and magentas of the Coleus makes that silvery Pulmonaria foliage pop.

Left to right: Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’ Coleus varieties, Pulmonaria ‘Majeste’

Backgrounds: This display at the New York Botanical Garden made me think about how background colors can be used to amplify plants in front of them. The fences around my garden are all painted white - hard to work with and boring to boot. This shot gave me a lot of food for thought.

So did this one! Grouped together containers cover the driveway in front of brightly stained garage doors. I love the way the gardener played off the colors of the plants against them. You’d never know this was a driveway - possibly a good solution for hard to plant spots or masking something unattractive. Only the doors are painted, maybe I could do a similar thing by painting a small portion of the fence, or a door, even a window.

How about a flowerful fence? It’s one way to perk up a flower bed. I might use this idea for a place that’s hard to plant, or to bump up a planting.

Solutions: These umbrellas made me laugh when I saw them in this garden. The loss of several trees that had shaded the hosta beds inspired the owner to take matters into her own hands. Not wanting the hostas to burn, she installed multi-colored umbrellas to shade them. Hey, when life gives you lemons….who says you can’t have a little fun?

While we’re on the subject of fun, why not liven up vegetable gardens? This gardener painted her structural supports every color of the rainbow. It’s a virtual tropical paradise - the shot of the fuchsia tomato trellises and the hot pink hydrangea in the foreground is a small part of the magic she’s created. After I saw this, mine seemed so boring.

Fun with necessary items: Hoses don’t have to be unattractive or unruly. After years of wrestling with heavy hoses that don’t behave, I bit the bullet and invested in some light flexible ones I found at Gardeners Supply . It never occurred to me to color coordinate a hose with a container like this gardener did. If I had this combination I wouldn’t ask for anything else.

Brian Darling, the owner of this garden has taken watering cans to a whole new level, I wrote about his garden in my July blog. He’s turned his collection of antique cans into a totem pole that sits in the middle of his garden. Stopped me dead in my tracks when I saw it.

You gotta love this guy!

I call this the march of the watering cans - about to engage in battle. A very generous gardener donated these to The Rochester Civic Garden Center during my tenure there as executive director. I had a good time photographing them. Who knew watering cans could have such personality?

On your mark, get set…..

Just before it snowed, I had to stake some newly planted trees. I sure wish I’d thought of doing something more entertaining like my friend Michael did with this Redbud tree. The gloves mask the unattractive tree guard apparatus underneath. Such a sweet and yet functional solution.

I’ll take care of you…

Labelling plants is such a pain, and it usually looks so boring. It never occurred to me it could be fun until I saw these labels in my friend June’s garden. They’re made from birch branches, notched out and engraved with a dremel. What more could you want? Attractive, sturdy and functional. Could be a good winter project.

Any questions?

One of this years goals is to clean out the gardening shed. I have a lot of the same things - lawnmowers, tools etc. but this gardeners shed it looks so tidy and artful. If I could turn mine into something that resembled it even slightly I’d be over the moon.

I can only aspire to this.

Ongoing fantasies: I don’t have much land to work with, but I here is one of my favorite fantasies. Other than heading south, I can’t think of a better way to get through a long dreary winter. What inspires you? Please share a pic or comment on my Facebook page.

I wonder what’s at the end of this path.