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Kathy’s Garden Writing |
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WINTER REDS For some, the winter landscape looks bleak, draped in shades of brown, gray, and white. Of course, there’s the relief of evergreen accents, but this too can become part of the darkening gloom of the winter palette. However, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, for those able to appreciate the punctuation marks of rosy sumac in the hedgerows; bright red barberry, winterberry, and shrub dogwood in the garden; and crabapple trees draped with ruby fruit dotting the lawn. So let’s explore some of the cheerier hues of the polar landscape, and you too may look anew at our winter wonderland. Take sumac. The wild variety, Rhus glabra, seen throughout the countryside, has strikingly handsome rose-red seed heads, a fuzzy candelabra shooting skyward. Although you may not want to introduce this onto your property, as it quickly becomes a rampant invader, please do enjoy this beacon of winter color on walks and drives along our rural byways. Next, think barberry, often overlooked in garden design because it comes with serious thorns and leaf-trapping dense growth. But come late winter, the brilliant red berries, sparkling against a sea of snow, nourish color-starved humans. Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, is one of the sturdiest, particularly well-suited to northeast Pennsylvania’s frigid winters. Use for hedging or as an accent in the shrub border, but mostly plant this stalwart for its magnificent long-lasting berry garlands. Then there’s winterberry or deciduous holly (Ilex verticillata). A medium-sized shrub, growing to ten feet or more, the female of the species is loaded with shiny red berries through winter, given a male somewhere in the neighborhood (even a common American holly will do). This densely-growing native can be used for massed plantings or as a single specimen, and does best in moist acid soils with full or part sun. For a different approach to winter color, the red-twigged dogwoods (Cornus alba ‘Siberica’ and Cornus sericea) are just the ticket. Rather than a fruiting display, you get a colorful sculpture of deciduous branches spreading out from the base. For brightest red, prune back heavily every other spring, and you’ll be rewarded with a dramatic foil to the dull grasses or white snow of winter. Finally, check out some of the disease-resistant crabapples (Malus spp.) now being offered at nurseries. ‘Prairie Fire’ is especially desirable, with its four-season appeal -- magenta spring flowers, burgundy leaves, and ruby-red fruit lasting through winter. Our own Stoney Acres offers this hybrid and was kind enough to donate a large specimen to the Community Center auction last spring, for some lucky gardener. Still not sure what to choose to get a little color into your drab winter life? Well, there’s always red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia); bittersweet (Celastrus scandens); hawthorns (Crataegus spp.); some of the roses with red branches and fruit (Rosa rugosa, Rosa blanda, Rosa virginiana); and the American or European cranberrybush (Viburnum trilobum or Viburnum opulus). If none of this works for you, pour a large glass of vino rosso and curl up in front of the fire. And have a Happy New Year! Kathleen Arcuri The Benton News – January 4, 2009 |