Nice post. You have me gazing at my garden and finding it lacking, though. Your Diane witchhazel is blooming?? Mine isn't...sigh. My potted snapdragons are still blooming despite a dusting of snow. Strong winds finally blew the last of the colorful leaves off the trees, but a shrubby, silvery artemesia looks great with a bit of snow on it, as do all of the silvery things and the couple of small grasses I have. The epimedium still has a nice burnished look to it, and lots of basal rosette type things look fairly lush.It is nice to go around and check out all of the buds formed for our spring pleasure.

It is a funny Witch Hazel. Perhaps the location has influenced it somehow. It blooms rather heavily now, and then will have some more flowers in early spring, depending on outside temps, usually March. Not many, but definatly a second bloom. They are tiny, you have to go up to the bush to view them. Still, any kind of flowers are welcome at that time of year! Great fall leaf color. I am thinking of getting a yellow Witch Hazel for more flowers in winter or early spring. I have seen some that are more visible at a distance than this Diane.

A couple articles I read have made me notice winter color more than when I first started planting. We get and lose the snow cover a lot, so I try to notice something besides the mud! Still have a lot to work on. I saw some green with white stripes, maples in a winter garden, very striking. Then I was told that only the young trees have the stripes! You have to keep planting them and cut the older ones which turn grey. Too much work for my yard! Amazing what you notice when you start really looking better. "See what you are looking" at is what my mom always told me. We kids would overlook so much until it was pointed out for us.

Boy, there's something really decadent-sounding about cutting down a maple because it's lost its youthful appeal--sort of like dumping a kitten because it's become a cat. I think I'd rather go for one of those nice shaggy pinkish birches or some such thing.

My Diane witchhazel didn't bloom at all last year, but I think the year before, it bloomed in February. It's still little more than a twig, so maybe in a few more years I can look forward to some December action. I'm also glad to hear about someone with similar conditions to mine growing hardy cyclamen--I've been tempted by it in the catalogs many a time, so maybe I'll finally put it on my shopping list.

I love my winter garden! Due to the fact that I get winter blahs it was hugely important for me to see things "alive" during the winter with my blue, green & bronzy conifers. My pinks (dianthus?) steel blue foliage planted in front of a deep green norway spruce. My evergreen ivy growing up a white trellis. My birch trees with the stunning cinnamon white bark. I even love my deciduous trees branch structure...weeping mulberry looks like someone took a basket weaving class on it all the way to my weeping japanese maples & the red twig dogwood planted in front of dark green arborvitae's (neighbors). The striped bark on the burning bush even looks stunning. Odd occurences would be my iceberg patio tree is still in bloom & several fresh new leaves like it's spring or something on my lilac?!