Winter Solstice

The semps look cold, like they've retreated under the blankets.

The birds haven't bothered to eat the seed that I put out a day and half ago.

I wore 3 or 4 layers on my 20-mile bike ride.

And I need the flash at three in the afternoon?

Recipe for Trough Planting

This square trough lives on our deck, outside the sliding glass door of the dining room.  We have a group of troughs on the deck that are a kind of living painting that we enjoy all year round.  I'm always drawn to this trough...I think because of the mix of evergreen textures.  There's a dwarf golden chamaecyparis, purple rockcress aubrieta x cultorum 'Joy', woodruff asperula gussonei, an abused weigela 'Wine & Roses', a self-seeded sedum cauticola, a self-seeded pasqueflower, and a couple kinds of sempervivums.  There are also some species tulips that come up right behind the cress.  We've got a lot going on, maybe too much, in the couple square feet of the trough.

The chamaecyparis seems to like the living mulch of the semps.

The asperula (left) is quite delicate-looking, but don't be fooled.  Last winter was tough on it, but it came back strong this summer.

These plants are all tough customers.  They tolerate full sun, an exposed site, no protection from snow, and still they flower reliably.  What more could I ask from a living painting?