Oh them bones them bones…. Winter is a great time to look at the ‘bones’ of your garden. I just posted a great poem from my friend Diana this week on Tuesday about the structure and beauty in winter. She had some great images for the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Though you may read this a lot about the ‘bones’ in Garden magazines or articles it really is true- and you can see that in this great imagery and poetry! As I sit here in my office and look out the window (while I should be working) I see the beautiful structure of the garden: the deep accents of the evergreens, the strong structures of the deciduous trees and shrubs (especially covered in snow), the textures of the leftover debris of the past season and a little green from the Helleborus, and the activity of the birds searching for those seeds through our large snowstorm. . All I see is mulch (or where mulch is through all the snow)- why is that?! Find those areas that are lacking and figure out what makes sense. look for those 'empty' spaces and appreciate the little details the make the garden so beautiful through every season that you don't always notice.
Dig out your plans in the wintertime (today's a perfect day to stay inside and do that!)- this should be a landscape architect’s busy time because we can visualize the garden for everything that it is, not just the ‘window dressing’ of leaves and flowers. Those are great, don’t get me wrong, but what makes those beautiful are the elegant skeletons underneath. Expand the beauty in your garden this winter by dreaming big. Thank you Diana for bringing us beautiful words on a cold and snowy day….
