It was a February visit to the Edinburgh Botanic Garden that sowed the seed of the Twombly's idea. "The beautiful winter landscape there just haunted our thoughts," says Priscilla, and they resolved to counter winter's monotony with a similar beauty.
A Leucothoe Tree
in our garden of
Winter Delights |
Choosing a three-quarter acre meadow beside their home and nursery, they ferreted out shrubs with foliage that darkens to wine after frost, such as the rhododendrons, and leucothoe.
They found sedums and coneflowers that hold their seedpods; trees like the paperbark maple and crimson frost birch that are dramatic when leafless; and they left the tufts and plumes of summer grasses to stand as reminders of the season gone by.
Only three years old, this unique garden already has a beauty that inspires winter's restless gardeners to start one of their own.
A 'Winesap' Apple Tree
in our garden of
Winter Delights |
A frozen brook wends through it, with here a boulder, there a rock bridge between "islands" of plantings, all giving the landscape structure. Visitors to this winter wonder find they are suddenly noticing the color of yellow-twigged dogwood or the graceful limbs of the ancient 'Winesap' apple tree, opposite bottom. "No need to shake off the limbs or brush away snow," Priscilla assures visitors. "Storm breakage isn't a problem if you plant slow-growing trees -- avoid willows." And yes, there are even flowers. In February, you'll find fragrant witch hazel and hellebores in bloom.
