Mid-blizzard

Sorry birds, feeder's empty until I get out there tomorrow.  I'm glad the troughs are getting a snow comforter thrown over them before the deep freeze tonight.

Winter Island

Sorry for the blurry cell phone shot, but I wanted to capture this moment yesterday.  I loved how the white of the snow looks like surf at the edges of an island.  I also wanted to point out that the square trough on the back right is holding water and slowly drowning its saxifrage occupants.  We get at least one warm winter day like this a year, where the troughs are frozen solid and snow melt or rain fill up the rims.  This condition only lasts a few hours, until the troughs thaw and drain again, but it always alarms me.  The plants seem not to be affected by it.

The white plastic pot is covering a dwarf golden yew to protect it from winter damage, a strategy that I use a lot on smaller conifers.

The front mound-like planter is actually a concrete fencepost footing, dug up from our property when I put in a new fence about 7 years ago.  Living in a suburb where it's hard to throw out something like that, I repurposed it.  Many people have complimented me on my unique 'trough'.  I guess I need to figure out how to make a hypertufa version.  

Cold, soggy, blurry and gray...that about sums us up right now.

Happy Blooming New Year

Erica x darleyensis 'Kramer's Red' is one of the pleasures of the winter garden.  Below are a couple more beauties blooming on this cold New Year's Day.

jasminum nudiflorum

viburnum farreri 'Nanum'

cotoneaster horizontalis