Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC
I’m totally jazzed about how incredible gardens can look right now in early January. I'm so jazzed that I wanted to do a series about the topic and get into some of the details. Over the next few days, I'm going to post three other blogs on the topic. I love creating these ecological jewels with clients.
As the cold weather gets colder and colder, winter gardens shine brighter and brighter. There’s a quality to plants that are still standing as the nights are long and the air is drier. They have a voice neither spring nor summer can speak. The warm months are a time of abundance. It’s easy to beautiful with purples, pinks, reds, and yellows draped over shades of green. Instead, the lower temperatures and harsher conditions have leached all of the remaining of summer hue from dormant grasses and perennials. What’s left - the essence of things.
Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC
I don’t want to be too dramatic, but winter gardens are freaking awesome when they work. They offer a glimpse at death and life, melancholy and celebration, wanting and arrival all at once. They are the direct byproduct of a four-season design for the space that cares about nature. This means selecting plants that explode as an entire chorus of life. It means using bulbs that bloom early in spring like crocus as well as sowing grasses that exploded into seed heads just before winds of December bring scents of fireplaces.
The goal is to create both an extremely sustainable landscape that breaks from traditional, less aesthetically-aware designs. You want to use native plants when you can, and only use adaptive plants when necessary. Adaptive plants are flora that won’t become invasive to ecological systems.
Some Bloom Longer
Not all flowers slumber in winter. As plants fade into shades of sienna, lion, amber and umber, some flora will still have pellets hanging on even when temperatures fall down into the mid to low 20s. These late-late bloomers offer a unique and pleasant surprise.
The goal is to create both an extremely sustainable landscape that breaks from traditional, less aesthetically-aware designs. You want to use native plants when you can, and only use adaptive plants when necessary. Adaptive plants are flora that won’t become invasive to ecological systems.
Some Bloom Longer
Not all flowers slumber in winter. As plants fade into shades of sienna, lion, amber and umber, some flora will still have pellets hanging on even when temperatures fall down into the mid to low 20s. These late-late bloomers offer a unique and pleasant surprise.
 Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC |  Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC |
The images above shows aster flowers still popping out from a dense planting even though it’s early January.
Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC
The Image above show how the red berries of a winterberry bush jump off the page with a less colorful surrounding.
Image by Chambers Design of Highline in NYC
And this image shows a closeup of the berries and just how vibrant the berries are in the midst of winter weather.
If you want to create a more ecologically, beautiful landscape with native plants and winter interest, feel free to contact us about your project.
Want More about Ecological, Four-Season Design:
Tulips for Your Yard
Grow Veggies til November
Ten Shades of Kale
Capture Autumn with Solidago in Your Eco-Yard
Tis the Season for Bulbs
If you want to create a more ecologically, beautiful landscape with native plants and winter interest, feel free to contact us about your project.
Want More about Ecological, Four-Season Design:
Tulips for Your Yard
Grow Veggies til November
Ten Shades of Kale
Capture Autumn with Solidago in Your Eco-Yard
Tis the Season for Bulbs
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