In your large garden Melissa, I can see you are able to grow a huge range of plants, most of which I'm familiar with, but in my smaller plot I have to strictly pick and choose. So for example, one you mention Sarcococca confusa, I found I needed several of these to get the scent that wafts, and I don't have that space, so I got rid of mine. I needed it for something more exuberant and longer lasting...

For my winter scene I have a few Camellias, some deciduous shrubs that I love to stare at to see the new growth waiting to emergy, I also enjoy seeing them covered in snow occasionally... I also grow Hebe's for their evergreen rounded outline - the smaller types like 'Cobb Valley' and 'Blue Star' I think it is.. also ornamental grasses, I have some of those which remain throughout the period... plus lots of dwarf shrublets like Halimium and Cistus, and as you know I have Daphne as well. All these take me through the winter...

I'm not sure I'm in the temperate climate you wanted replies from, so I hope you hear back from some others too about their winter gardens, as I would also like to know more. There might be something out there I'm missing that I really need too...

I'm surprised you don't grow Arbutus unedo. I always liked the variety 'Rubra' and I intend to get that one back again this coming season. Right now it should be covered in those 'strawberry' like fruits...which the birds are so fond of eating..

Citrus that ripens in winter. Clementine mandarins, naval oranges, blood oranges.

Winter veggies.

Winter seedlings.

There's only a few roses blooming in the winter, but citrus, veggies and seedlings give my garden more interest in those winter months.

I should mention manzanita too... although I don't have any right now in my garden.

Some ceanothus flower through most of winter here too.

Others I have really liked in the past for winter interest include sweet peas and stock. Good for helping to condition the soil too.

Having grown up in a part of the United States with four distinct seasons, I have an ingrained belief that winter is the right and proper time for a garden to rest, and the gardener along with it. This is not so in California. Indeed there are a lot of of native plants in bloom in winter, as others have said. I have planted a lot of them, but somehow the winter light makes them less obvious so me. We have been living here for 27 years and I have not yet really made the shift in mind set. Who knows if I ever really will?

January and February are the time of the most intense work in my garden. I start at one end and work my way over the garden like a wave, weeding, pruning, training, transplanting in my wake, turning what was overgrown and tangled into tidy, orderly, clean sculpture. I enjoy the process mightily, though I do sometimes complain about how much work it all is.

To make up for having to work through the gardener's natural resting time, I tend to do very little in the fall. That was especially true this fall. I planted a young oak tree into a de-commissioned rose bed (the former Olive Tree Garden). I also planted about 600 bulbs. But other than that, all I have done from October through December is pull the odd weed or so, and maybe deadhead a rose I just happen to be standing next to, almost as a reflex.

We are having a small stone stairway and patio put into the back garden in a week or two, in large part to make that hilly area more accessible both to visitors and to Tom and me. There are lovely roses and trees growing there that few people ever see close up, and I think this will change that. But I admit that I keep telling myself with enormous satisfaction "that much space I never have to weed again!"

Rosefolly

I'm not in a temperate climate, and the seasons here change in a more subtle way, but I like the fact that some of my trees, including crape myrtles and a few others that I can't name, lose their leaves. They make a nice contrast to the stately cypress trees in their evergreen clothing. I do have irises blooming right now, since I've chosen remontant varieties, and they make up for the spring bulbs that I don't plant. Mine is a small and simple garden, but the fact that soon most of the roses won't be blooming and that some will be pruned, gives a different look to the overall scheme. It's not really until April that the flower show begins, assuming we've had a reasonable amount of rain (rather iffy lately), without the heat waves we've had the last few springs and the punishing dry winds. To me winter is a time for the garden to rest and I don't really want or expect much in the way of bloom. The quiet landscape is a welcome change.

Interesting that you should raise this topic now as I recently re-read a Beverly Nichols gardening memoir from 1932 & he had a chapter re his quest for winter blooms. This became my quest & I recently received 10 Iris Unguilicaris(sp?) which should bloom in winter & spring, a couple of them had blooms. I ordered Dan Hinkley's book on the subject from the library & I'm off to pick it up soon, this one should be good as he's local (ish). I also want to try one of the winter blooming clematis & perhaps a wintersweet. I have a beautyberry in full violet lushness & it makes me so happy, Profusion is the one that does best here. Our climate is described as coastal cool temperate.

Jane

"Temperate" may not be the right word. Much of non-Mediterranean Europe has a continental climate, which has cooler summers and less rain that a good deal of the U.S. What I meant was people who garden in a climate that has four distinct seasons. Marlorena, you're one of the people I was hoping to hear from. By the way, I just planted three plants of Arbutus unedo. You see it occasionally around here, but it's not common, either in gardens or in nurseries. I had been meaning to order it from a specialist when I stumbled across several pots of it in the back of a greenhouse at our local nursery--nicely grown, too--and ultimately walked away with three plants. I've always been a little scared of trying it because of our dense clay and drought. The three have gone into our areas of loose soil and part or full sun, and now we'll see how they do. Your soil is different from ours. We can't grow camelias, or any other acidophile plants, and have to site ceanothus carefully. But what a lovely garden you have.

One of the problems of gardening here, and this will be true for most people in Europe, is just how short the days are. We're at about eight hours from sunrise to sunset, and Marlorena's and Marianne's days are considerably shorter than that. Being outside is so much of my life that I get bored this time of year.

There's a difference between the garden being beautiful and being interesting. When the weather allows me to work, it could be considered interesting, and Lord knows we have enough work to do this time of year. Fall and winter are our busiest seasons: planting and pruning. The never-ending cleanup. More hole digging, for next fall. Pushing back the neighbors' appalling brush.

I do want to hear from people who live where it gets cold in winter, snow falls, frost descends, and so on. The Californians have responded with their usual verve and goodwill, but I'm wondering about the gardeners in Nebraska and Ohio and the upper South. A garden isn't just about flowers. There are bark and branching patterns, buds, carpets of fallen leaves, fruits, evergreen foliage. The beauty of snow (not much enjoyed in my case, I confess, though beautiful, because in our steep terrain there's the risk of falling). Virginia, that's interesting about the bird calls: thanks! We don't have a terribly varied bird population here, but tits and robins definitely brighten the season. Our bird feeder, as you might say, is the persimmon in front of the kitchen with some of the fruit left on it, as well as the remaining insect pests on the climbing roses on the balcony.

Oh Lord, I miss live oaks and Spanish moss. And that soft winter air.

People have mentioned a number of plants that grow here. Virginia creeper is common, and seeds around, too; and, in our climate that also doesn't favor fall color, will turn a rare brilliant scarlet. The related Boston ivy is also widely grown: it, too, colors well, and is a tidier plant. Virginia, I would expect you to have hickories and red maples where you live, since both grow in north Florida and color well. Jane, Callicarpa 'Profusion' is an appreciated part of the local garden repertoire: I have plants of it. A gardening friend gave me a piece of Iris unguicularis years ago. It's a pretty plant. There are named varieties, I understand, but mine, which I believe is just the species, is fine. A year or two ago I moved a couple of chunks of it (the parent plant proved impossible to lift) to be near a Lonicera fragrantissima that I'll be likely to visit in winter. Wintersweet is grown here; I only have two struggling small plants, so it's likely to be a while before I get to enjoy its fragrance, but I am fascinated by winter-flowering, scented shrubs. I've had witch hazels on my mind for a while: I don't know if I could find a suitable spot for them, though I see one once in a while down in town and in the Po Plain.

P.S. How could I forget winter-blooming jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)?

I love those Beverly Nichols books. He is so funny.

Sheila, I agree, good gardening info too. I wish I had a Gaskin!

Jane

I always look forward to the Hellebore blooms. In my climate, the buds start showing up around this time. I have a few in large pots and I can see the buds poking up from the ground, already showing color. Makes me feel hopeful....

Sigh... the only thing I 'see' in my garden this time of year, is memories of last summer.

Nothing much to show for right now.

Technically, we are in the subtropics, not a temperate zone. And we really don't get four distinct seasons... more like two: a long summer, and then what I like to call yo-yo weather the rest of the year. Summer weather starts up mid-to-late-May and runs till mid-to-late-September. We may have hot weather in October, but it isn't the stultifying heat of summer. We do get freezes each year; some years we get snow, but it is flat here in the coastal plain, so the danger of steep landscapes in snow isn't a worry here. Not-summer weather can range from upper-twenties (Fahrenheit) to temps in the seventies and eighties. It is rare for us to have freezing temps for more than a few hours, though, so the freeze-and-thaw cycle that can wreak havoc with areas in zones 6 & 7 aren't usually a problem here.

We've had two freeze warnings in recent weeks, but still no freezes. I know, because I still have many coleus plants in the yard, and though they look pretty tatty at this point, they are still alive, and a few are still blooming and providing nectar to their biggest fans, the bees. That will end once we actually get temps below freezing. They will re-seed, though- I have little use for annuals that don't.

Roses here don't actually need winter protection, but I have toyed with the idea of moving my two Hybrid Chinas to a colder part of the yard to see if that might encourage spring blooms, but it's hard to determine where those colder zones might be; the ground is quite flat, and we have trees providing wind protection throughout the yard. Last winter was unusually warm, so it remains to be seen if what passes for normal winter weather will provide sufficient winter chill for those two, and my other once-blooming roses.

As for autumn color, there are a few Japanese Maples in the neighborhood, that look quite pretty with their yellow leaves. We don't have a hickory, but our pecan tree (related to hickory) does a dismal job of providing any color-the leaves turn brown and fall right off. We do have a couple of gumball trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) in the wilder area beyond the back fence, and they have yellow leaves in fall and early winter. I know folks like to complain about the spiky seeds, but they are such a benefit to wildlife, and the seedballs are not much of a nuisance out where our trees are.

Also in the back area there are some wild grapes, at least two types of Smilax, Virginia Creeper and Peppervine that provide fruit in the fall and winter. I do try to keep those plants from seeding in the yard itself. In the same area, there are a few invasives that I try to do battle with despite lack of easy access: privet (we call it disgustrum), Japanese honeysuckle and Russian olive. These plants may be better-behaved elsewhere, but are not wanted here.

Virginia

Virginia, I missed your last post; glad I checked back in. My native north Florida is a similar climate, I believe, though we do have hickories--and handsome trees they are, turning lemon then gold then burnt orange in fall--and red maples, that I remember coloring with extreme brilliance. There ought to be a fair amount of fall color in your area, both native and introduced. Does anybody in your area grow Japanese persimmons? Those are handsome in fall both for fruit and for foliage. And the persimmons taste good. I believe your invasives are invasive in a lot of other places, too. Sweetgums are a valued ornamental tree here.

The sun has come out here after two very dark days; temperatures drop down to freezing, then rise to balmy during the day, and the sky is limpid (except down in the plain, where you can see the pollution gathering). All this is enjoyable, even with the alarmingly low water level in the reservoir, which I saw on a recent hike, and which at this time of year ought to be brimming. The two recent days of drizzle mean that at least everything has been watered. I noted with surprise yesterday that some of the roses are trying to bloom. 'Sanguinea' is actually flowering rather well, paler than in spring; 'Odorata' has a few blooms, and "Miss Mystery" and 'Clementina Carbonieri' (of commerce) have buds. Oh, and 'Archduke Joseph' has a half-aborted flush up in the persimmon. All these are close to the house and protected. The regular morning frosts haven't discouraged them. There's a lot of green now, actually. I've been down in the woods lately, and along with the annual grass, growing briskly now, there's abundance of moss along the drainage, and a world of chickweed. It was all beautifully rich and almost bright.

Recent temperatures have been in the thirties and forties, though with the sun out now daytime temperatures have been rising higher. Still, lately we've finally been getting chill hours after a warm fall. No sign of snowdrops yet. I've been looking.

Is anyone growing those red or yellow-twigged dogwood shrubs? They always rate pictures in the gardening magazines, along with fancy-barked maple and cherry trees. I like the yellow-variegated boxwoods, but tend to grow them too close to bigger plants that swamp and kill some branches. Same thing happened to the birds-nest spruces and orangey-yellow mini-arbor vitae I was hoping to grow for "winter interest". I'd like to blame Lauren Springer for inspiring the "dry cottage garden" look, but have to be honest and blame my own laziness for not noticing and moving plants fast enough.

Growing up, we lived in a house with a hickory tree. I have no memory of the foliage, but recall that my siblings and I used to crack open the hickory nuts with a hammer; they weren't as tasty as pecans, nor as easy to get at, but they were there, and we didn't have a pecan tree. I like the look of witch hazels, and am tempted by the native, Hamamelis virginiana, although I think it blooms in the fall unlike others that bloom in winter or spring.

'Sanguinea' is a rose I like the looks of- I suspect it's closely related to my Bermuda Mystery Rose, "Emmie Gray" which is already one of my favorites, although I haven't had her long. She is blooming now, and has numerous buds with rather conspicuously leafy seapals. Her foliage is also great- dense and healthy, and she has a narrow upright habit (so far). Quite a few of my Teas also have buds, and 'Maman Cochet' has one rather lovely bloom.

A friend of the family has a persimmon tree, and she shares the fruit, but I haven't developed a taste for them. Not sure if hers is a native or an Asian species?

Genevre, I love the look of the Redosier Dogwoods, too, and wish we were in its native range. In Arizona, though, it should do fine? I think you should plant at least one and post photos!

Virginia

Right now, I have quite a few rose blooms, but Crepuscule, which I almost lost to Chilli thrips but is on the road to recovery, Bermuda's Anna Olivier, Rosette Delizzy, White Pet and Softee are putting on an amazing display. The crepe myrtles are flaunting their gorgeous winter bark, and the cassia trees are just about over.

Normally by now, I have planted hundreds of petunias, pansies and snapdragons, and thousands of seeds for larkspur, baby's breath, etc. for early January, February bloom, but I have an entire family of armadillos and 11 wild hogs tearing up my yard and flower beds nightly, so I fear it's a waste of time. I'm actually beginning to worry for the large established roses. The hogs are getting more and more aggressive as winter advances. I have hired trappers, but no luck so far. Who knew they were so clever.

Genevre, I have a similarly colored columnar thuya (arborvitae), acid yellowish green in summer and bronze in winter, and enjoy the color change, though the tree itself is a littler rattier than I'd like to see. I was out shearing it the other day. Have you read Henry Mitchell's books? He talks about winter color of conifers, and how some of them change surprisingly. He lived in zone 7 and had to deal with 0 F weather and ice storms, so his observations are relevant to cold climate gardeners. He was a great fan of yews, and mentions junipers (which I've never grown). I battle native dogwoods and willows, which may be why I've never been interested in the ones with colored stems, but they certainly sound worth a look. I share your fondness for yellow-variegated box.

I traveled through the Arizona high country one winter some decades ago and absolutely loved it.

Incidentally, for anyone who has winter blues and has not read Henry Mitchell, I strongly recommend him. What a joy it would be to encounter his books for the first time.

Viriginia, 'Sanguinea' is a great rose, one of the first to open and last to close down, and handsome as can be in flower. I'm guessing your friend's persimmon is one of the Japanese ones, at least, if it's a large seedless fruit. The American ones have similar flavor, as I recall, but are much smaller and full of seeds.

Pigs are intelligent animals. Here I'm rooting for the lately arrived wolves, as incessant hunting does nothing to keep the wild boars under control.

Melissa, thanks for this thread! I need to re-read Henry Mitchell, it has been several decades and I don't remember much, except that he was gardening in Washington DC? You mentioned variegated euonymus as being flawless, even with wildlife around. In Eagar I tried to grow the variegated species that is supposed to grow to about 4 x 4 foot, but the elk browsed them into the ground. Not the roses, mind you, but the euonymus and the young apple trees. Here at my new home near Payson, the elk prefer white rose blooms and they have an aggressive attitude. I haven't given them an euonymus to try. At least our javelina are much smaller than wild boars, and people keep them away with 2 to 3 foot high fencing. The elk laugh at anything lower than 7 to 8 feet. Virginia, I have seen red osiers growing in gardens (especially the variegated ones), but they may not have been in Arizona. I think most Arizonans are wary of species listed as native to wetlands. I'm having trouble keeping my two ninebark shrubs watered enough to be happy in the gravelly granite soil. I think red osiers are showy enough to work as single close-up specimens as well as in groups, more so than any willow I know. But you have to give them some room to develop many coppiced branches, and I'd rather put a rose in the space.

My hellebores disappeared last winter. Probably through lack of water the summer before when I had a broken leg and my DH did the watering. So now, apart from the pansies, aloes and emerging bulbs, my winter highlight is a tiny clump of Galanthus elwesii which have been flowering since early November and still have some blooms.

Daisy

The cold came at last with -3C today and a dusting of snow on the ground but not enough to cover the grass. I rely on evergreens for winter interest, pines, junipers, the new small collection of dwarf abies, piceas and pines with needles in different colors, lots of rhododendrons, the box roundel, box balls, the curved yew hedge and the silly yew topiary. Mine is a capercaillie, my husband's is a turkey. Evergreens really stand out with a little snow on top but as soon as there is too much snow we have to rush out and brush most of it away or the shrubs may be weighted down too much.

Helleborus niger, the white Christmas rose is the only plant in flower. The large leaves of bergenia 'Winter Glow' are dark red now. I can't say that I'm fond of bergenias but I use them as full stop at the ends of larger borders and they stand out in winter. The deer like them, too. The red stems of Rosa blanda 'Betty Bland' would show off better if there were more snow but that will come soon. The same with another 'Winter Glow', a Salix alba with orange-yellow stems. The ghost bramble grows in front of a group of native junipers but doesn't make much of a show. I think I've seen too many pictures in English garden magazines of this white-stemmed bramble mirrored in ponds but we don't have a pond.

Florida rosez our hearts go out to you. Wild hogs and armadillos make me think you need a fence.