| A beautiful cluster of snowdrops
in our woodland garden. Plant the in masses like this for much great
effect. There are many different varieties of galanthus. Look to a
specialty bulb company to see the range.
19th March 01 |
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Our Witch hazel in flower. Some
years are better than others. It is still worth trying them in warmer
areas. Choose an area where they can be seen from indoors. Varieties like
pallida are quite fragrant too.
19th March 01 |
| The snow is melting and we have
lots to do at Greystone. Tommorrow we start to cut back our grasses. We
will burn the foliage down below. The Ash can sweeten the soil.
19th March 01 |
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A strange and unusual flower.
It's the flower of the Butterburr. A very aggressive spreader. What
brilliant foliage it has.
19th March 01 |
| A typical late winter view. The
ornamental grasses have been damaged by the snow. The evergreens and
birches still look very attractive. Time to cut the grasses back to
6" |
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The cork screw willow has a
wonderful silhouette in the winter sunshine. It's not a big willow but can
still thrive in wetter areas.
Feb28th 01 |
| Not quite out yet. The flowers of
Arnold's Promise Witchhazel. All it needs is 40F in temperature and they
will cascade downwards.
If it doesn't get too, warm we can get
many weeks of flowers from this wonderful shrub. |
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The vernal witchchazel is in full
flower. Although not as spectacular as the Chinese varieties its still
great to see flowers in February!
28th February 01 |
| A Classic winter scene in North
East PA. White birches look beautiful with a dark green backdrop.
Unfortunately a lot of them are vulnerable to borer damage and don't last
very long. Choose varieties that are
disease free.
20th February 2001
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Enjoy a great winter in your
garden. There are so many plants that add to the winter landscape. I have
started a collection down below |
| A close up of winterberries..
These are deciduous hollies that have a great berry hold after the leaves
have dropped in the spring |
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The seed heads of the clematis
vines can be very interesting. |
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There is nothing more cheery than
the the bright red fruit of a good crabapple. They are an excellent source
of food for birds too. |
| Still need to see some green? We
have found that a really good grow lamp system works wonders. We have our
lamp on a 6' track to cover a large area. It's amazing what you can grow
in the midst of winter, |
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The fruit of the aronia is
particularly bitter and is a last resort for birds |
| Here is a collection of red and
yellow stemmed dogwoods. Its amazing just how much better looking they get
as winter progresses. |
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The weeping white pine looks like
a great Yetti monster. This has been in my home garden for 7 years now.
Each year I grow a little fonder of the beast. White pines are easy to
grow and can handle a variety of soil conditions. They are very easy
to grow.
11th Dec 00 |
The infamous PJM Rhododendrons. A
stable of older landscapes. Like all rhododendrons thy look pretty
miserable when the freezing strike. The leaves fold up!
11th Dec 00 |
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A larger leafed Rhodo suffering
the same freezing contractions.
If you live in colder climates there are other evergreens that look more
attractive in the winter months
11th Dec 00 |
| Here is a collection of
evergreens in my front garden. I like to use a variety of shapes and
colors. There are a few ornamental grasses too. I have also used some yak
rhodos.
11th Dec 00 |
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One of the wonderful properties
of ornamental grasses is that they glow beautifully when you shine a light
on them, Here is a smaller Miscanthus called Morning Light and one of the
fountain grasses Hamyln
11th Dec 00 |
| There is always room for a nice
statue. When the winter season falls, statues and other hardscape
items can really add something special to what would otherwise be a bleak
landscape
11th Dec 00 |
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The texture of yuccas can really
make a statement. The colorful foliage lasts all winter29th November 00 |
| Here is one of our winter
gardens. It's full of plants that have a special attractions in
winter e.g.. winterberries, grasses, red and yellow stemmed dogwoods
29th November 00
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Some grasses are quite amazing
This is the miscanthus Silver Feather. It dominates our bank in winter. It
stems are flexible and it can take storms well.
29th November 00
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| Winter is our most important
season. It can last for 6 months. Here at Greystone Gardens we create this
special display to highlight those plants that are great in winter. The
display can be found at our main entrance
29th November 00
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Rusted sheep! Whatever next!.
Using sculpture carefully can really add some interest to the winter
landscape. When it snows, it looks like we have black sheep grazing in a
white meadow
29th November 00
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| Don't forget to put a bird bathe
out. We put a special heater into this one so no matter how cold it
is the birds always have somewhere to drink.
29th November 00
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This is a fieldstone fire place
we featured on one of our wnep programs. Great for blending into PA
gardens and adding a touch of warmth.
29th November 00
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Aronia 'Brilliantissima' may be a
little leggy in form, but now it makes up for this with a brilliant
foliage and berry display.
16th November 2000 |
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Some of the lesser known grasses
like Miscanthus 'Kascade' or 'Sarabande' really have the most attractive
blooms. This plant has only been in my home garden for 2 years
16th November 2000 |
| Once again there is a bumper
harvest of winterberries. Once the foliage drops the berries are revealed
in their true glory.
16th November 2000 |
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Its always a good idea to have a
few surprises dotted around the garden, Here is an aging plaque that is
visible from our kitchen window
16th November 2000 |
Wisteria can be a little
difficult to coax into flower. Pruning is very important. Reduce the
lateral shoots to 6".. If you haven't done it yet, do so!
16th November 2000 |
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Our sunny bank at Greystone has
moved in to its winter attire. We use a lot of ornamental grasses
and evergreens to give all season character3rd November |
| The classic Lombardy poplars. I
love these upright gems. However they are quite disease prone. There are
some better cultivars. Theves poplars or the Tower poplar are long lasting
alternatives. More quality trees would include the upright European
hornbeam, the fastigate red maples and the upright ginkgo's
3rd November |
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Plants that produce winter color
are important choices down here at Greystone Gardens. This is the fruit of
the Green Lane Euonymus just bursting
3rd November |
| Ornamental cabbages can be
combined to produce some interesting results. Here with the addition of
red stemmed dogwoods and the trailing vinca, we create quite a showy
display
3rd November |
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This tree is the paper bark Maple
or Acer griseum.. the wonderful peeling cinnamon bark is very visible in
the winter landscape. We have placed this specimen outside our cafe
window.
3rd November |
| The Purple leaf Euphorbias show a
resurgence of color this time of year.
3rd November |
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| This the Heptocodium. It's not
truly in flower. The red comes from the elongated sepals not the petals.
Still it looks better this year than any other year
3rd November |
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