Garden Photo of the Day

Beauty in the Winter Garden

Even in the snow, there is a lot to enjoy

By Fine Gardening editors

Today we’re looking at snow and ice in a new way with Carol Verhake of Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

March has come in like a lion here in the Philadelphia area, with multiple snow and ice storms (and we are only a few days into the month). As a gardener I am anxious for spring, but at the same time I try to find beauty in the winter garden. Here are some photos taken this winter of my Zone 6/7 garden. Enjoy!

This view includes the spent blooms of Astilbe chinensis var. pumila (Zones 4–8), Trochodendron arailiodes (wheel tree, Zones 6–7), Lindera angustifolia (oriental spicebush, Zones 6–8) bowing over with the weight of ice, and Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Barmstedt Gold’ (witch hazel, Zones 5–8) in the background.

Calamintha nepeta ‘White Cloud’ (catmint, Zones 5–7) looks like lace when encased in ice from a winter storm.

Rohdea japonica (sacred lily, Zones 6–10), Dryopteris erthrosora ‘Brilliance’ (autumn fern, Zone 5–8), and Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis (sweet box, Zones 6–8) along with a giant boulder steal the show in this winter scene.

A closer look at Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Barmstedt Gold’ adorned with snow.

There is nothing more beautiful than a conifer blanketed in snow.

Frozen berries on Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Early Amethyst’ (beautyberry, Zones 5–8).

The cinnamon-colored bark of Acer griseum (paperbark maple, Zones 4–8) perfectly matches the brick color on the house.

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    treasuresmom 03/13/2019

    Great photos.

  2. garden1953 03/13/2019

    Thank you for sharing the photos of your landscape, they are beautiful. I also always appreciate knowing the gardening zone.

  3. User avater
    meander_michaele 03/13/2019

    You certainly have some unusual plants, Carol. I really appreciated your inclusion of their names so I could go off and do some googling when I didn't recognize them...as with the 'Trochodendron arailiodes '...completely unfamiliar to me. The photo of the ice enclosed beautyberries is beautiful...looks like part of Mother Nature's jewelry collection. Your paperbark maple is truly a stunning specimen...such a mature and symmetrical beauty.

  4. katherine_8 03/13/2019

    Beautiful photos, Carol. There is beauty all around us, in each season, but most people are so conditioned to seeing only beauty in summer that they miss the beauty of the winter landscape. There is stark unique beauty amongst the bare trees, bushes and depleted flower gardens. There is also softness and tranquility in the fluffy grays of the ever-changing winter sky. Thanks for sharing your winter garden :)

  5. nwphillygardener 03/13/2019

    Now regretting I didn't take much time to find that icy magic that has since melted away.
    Yesterday I got a fortune cookie that read "There is beauty everywhere but not everyone can see it."

    1. nwphillygardener 03/13/2019

      Your photos go a long way to show that if someone who does see it captures it, others can learn to see it! Thank you.

  6. cheryl_c 03/13/2019

    Yes, thank you for seeing the beauty and sharing it! Winter seems to last so long, but much of it's beauty is so temporary - helps recall our own mortality.
    BUT, Spring is on the way: "our" Great Blue Heron is back this morning for the first time since October, fishing at the edge of the stream that is about to go over its banks with recent rainwater!

  7. User avater
    simplesue 03/13/2019

    Beautiful observations of the garden in winter! You know you are a real gardener when you take photos in all four seasons!

  8. btucker9675 03/13/2019

    This beauty is why I still dream of Northeastern winters while living here in NC... Thank you for these lovely photos.

  9. ianrhodes 04/03/2019

    What a beautiful way to provide a screen from the noise of the "real world", happy wheels - this is really lovely and I know it delights your gardening soul!

  10. User avater
    longcamel 05/01/2019

    Winter flowers have a different beauty, but not a variety.
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  11. nobita88 02/03/2020

    thank you for sharing

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    This is beautiful and nice work i like this world is very awesome, العاب بنات - this is fantastic and good.

  13. hawtrajpoot 05/08/2020

    Beautiful Photographs, winter is one of my favorite season. offshorededi.com

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