Winter Garden Inspiration

Snow is a hassle when you have to shovel it, but it’s a gift to our gardens, providing an insulating blanket that protects roots and crowns from extreme cold and rapid freeze-and-thaw cycles.

Snow cover is a bonus that provides a blank canvas for your imagination as well as insulation for your plants.

We hope these posts will inspire you to enjoy your winter garden even more, and to look closely at and enjoy the beauty to be had during this dark, cold time of year.

Hardy cyclamen can bloom even when there’s still snow on the ground.

Japanese beautyberry ‘Heavy Berry’ (Callicarpa japonica ‘Heavy Berry’, Zones 5–8) is well named. The berries are indeed beautiful, and the production of them is HEAVY. I saw this specimen at Norfolk Botanic Gardens and was just blown away.

A well-pruned clematis is cut back to 2 to 3 feet above ground level.

Make stacks on your coffee and bedside tables of the magazines and gardening books that you obtained during the year, and read them cover to cover.

Even a few small cuttings of coral bark willow will add tremendous color to winter containers.

These are some of the most common birds, both native and nonnative, that you might see visiting your bird feeder during the winter months in the Southeast. Can you spot all 15 on the list this winter?

January is prime time for dog-earing the pages of your new seed catalogs.

Howard Nemeroff sent in these stunning photos of his window box throughout the year. The plantings are over-the-top beautiful, and it is a great example of how even the smallest space can be transformed into a lush garden.

Yes, this time of year can be a sad one for gardeners, but there is still a lot of beauty and gardening joy to be experienced even in the depths of winter.

To look at winter gardening in a whole new light, we have compiled a collection of captivating winter combinations. We hope you�ll be inspired to never think of winter as dull again.

Dwarf Japanese cedar shines in direct light with chartreuse foliage that’s tipped with shades of orange.

Evaluating your garden when it is bare or covered in snow gives you a greater perspective on its form and structure.

You can water areas exposed to salt throughout the winter to dilute the effects of the minerals.