Thank you Babs, for posting a thread for December. I hope you will be able to post photos of your winter pots. I would love to do Winter Pots, but, we don't seem to have anything on the property that can be used for that purpose. I'd enjoy hearing what you have.

I guess there are not a lot of photos out there. Not even snowy scenes as yet. And I'd assume we are all distracted with other things right now. I did see a few things still had leaves on them. One I was hoping for an ID of which variety of Epimedium this is....

I barely notice it in the spring, but I happened to walk pastit last year and the foliage was so red. I can't remember which variety I planted there. It does get even redder as it gets colder.

And I have some cilantro that is not even covered and we are still using it.

And that purple Bok Choy has been under Reemay and is still looking good. We used a lot of green and purple Bok Choy for a stir fry a few nights ago...

And that's about it.

Hope everyone is staying safe, well, and finds a way to enjoy Christmas this year, despite everything.

Thanks so much for adding a response, PM2! I looked at last year’s December post and there were just Claire and me, a grand total of two posts. The epimedium is lovely, though I cannot ID it. I have still been harvesting kale from my garden, even unprotected. Last winter I havested into early January. How long are you able to keep up the bok choy harvest?

Because I am back home with my terrible internet, I need to leave the house to upload photos, But I will likely do that today while my house guest naps if the current ice coating improves. We had some nice snow a few days ago, just wet enough to look gorgeous, so I don’t know how the current freezing rain will change that. I will spend a bit of time this morning seeing if I can get good photos of my door swags and the ice coated plants, though branches are always a bit of a challenge to photograph.

My visitor brought some evergreen holly trimmings from her front yard in Ohio for me to use, so I have started adding those to my outdoor pots, but when I created the arrangements initially they were simple and used just materials that grow on the wilder areas of my property - winterberry/Ilex verticillata, white pine, and gray birch. The door swags have white pine, balsam fir, and hemlock along with ribbon and a few ornaments. I also cut red maple stump sprouts for their lovely pink color, but have’t yet used those. There is a pot by the front door that may get those added along with white pine.

Maybe other folks can add photos of Christmas trees or outdoor lighhts or how their gardens look in snow.

Babs, just you and Claire? Wow, glad to remember Claire. I’ll have to go back and look at last year’s December.

I am going to send the Epimedium photo off to the company I bought it from and I’m sure they will ID it. Thanks anyway. It is one of my favorites for that foliage and I’m planning to divide it and increase it in other areas and thought it might be nice to know which variety it is.

Isn’t it great to have Kale this time of year fresh in the garden! It always tastes sweeter after its hit by the cold. I had some big purple Kale, but I pulled it awhile ago. The Bok Choy, I don’t remember harvesting too many Falls. I know I haven’t covered it with Reemay before. But I have some uncovered and covered and I used both the other day. I’ll have to note the date they finish this year. I always planned to build some glass tops for my beds to extend the season but, I’m glad I didn’t spend the time. The angle of the sun is so low once Fall comes that I just don’t get enough sun to make it worth investing too much into a Fall harvest. But this Bok Choy was so easy. And we make Mango Chicken with Bok Choy and Peppers and Onions which is a perfect combination with the Bok Choy. Next year I hope to plant more, because I could use double or triple the amount I have out there now. I can see now that the trick is to have the Bok Choy large enough before the angle of the sun gets too low.

Sorry you are back with your slow internet. It’s great that you continue to try to post and post photos with those inconveniences to cope with. 😀

Lucky you to have snow!! It sounds beautiful! I was listening to my Christmas playlist this morning and had a number of songs about snow. And I was thinking about how much snow we used to get when I was young and a lot of these songs were written. Bare ground out there and raining today and mixed precipitation due on Christmas. Makes me want to move further North…lol.

I love the look of any kind of evergreen brought into the house at Christmas and I especially like anything that brings a fragrance with it. But your swags are for the exterior of your doors, right? Your pots sound like an interesting mix. Do you notice any fragrance from the greens once they’re potted?

We have been cutting back with decorating, but I always hope to get back to doing more at some point. No outdoor lights for me. From the looks of it, it may be January by the time we have snow to photograph. [g]

I see in 2017, spedigrees was still posting. Anyone know what happened to her?

And Bill was still posting in 2018.

Well, I've been watching this thread hoping for posts, but I got nuthin lol. Not even any snow to make things look pretty. I suppose I can go take a photo of my holly that has berries, but really that's it. I planted some things this fall for winter interest, but they are still small and nothing to write home about. Hoping to expand on that aspect of my garden next season.

Actually, I still have to finish raking and then put down some shredded leaf mulch. The nice weather always seems to occur when I'm working, and now with the holidays time is short (as are the days lol). So I imagine I'll be out there in a few weeks cursing under my breath as I freeze my butt off throwing down shredded leaves.

But so thrilled the days are now getting longer! I love the solstice and look forward to it every fall. Just knowing the days are getting longer, even by just a minute or so a day, makes everything so much more hopeful!

:)

Dee

Dee, my DH loves when the days get shorter. [g] Something we all tease him about and he teases us back about it. He just said to me the other day, 'Well, you must be happy the days are starting to get longer.'. He finds it 'cozy'. He enjoys rainy days too. My perfect day is a sunny day, with a temperature between 60F and 70F with a light breeze.

I'm glad the days are getting longer, but really, the end of December, we still have all of January and February and March to get through. Winter has barely started. I try not to think about spring until halfway through February, I start to get excited.

SW CT - i still have a swallowtail caterpillar hanging on to parsley. They overwinter in the chrysalis form but it seems late to not have done that yet. I love the silvery lavender. The foxglove i posted last month still has some ragged blooms. The new butterfly garden looks a bit sad but looking forward to next year when fuller.

PM2, I enjoy an occasional rainy day. It's kind of nice sometimes, especially if I'm off from work and it's a lazy day. And I have to admit that I seem to "hibernate" a bit too. In summer, I'm going till 8:30 or 9pm, but come those shorter days, it's home from work and straight into jammies to sit and read, do a puzzle, do stuff on the computer. So it's not ALL bad lol. But I do find the worst thing to me about winter is the darkness, and I count down to the solstice starting in November and then love to see the days get longer, even if it's just a minute a day. It's something to look forward to.

Brdl I had a very late snapdragon bloom - about two weeks into December - and I can still see it out there. I think it may be frozen in place lol!

:)

Dee

In winter I love growing not only common indoor plants, but also those that can be consumed as food. The main thing is to choose those that have lower light requirements and provide them with warm conditions. I also have a kind of hobby - take pictures of my plants and constantly post them on social media, I use this editor - remove backgrounds. Among the things I grow are baby potatoes, spinach, arugula - gives a high yield, etc. Oregano grows very well, btw, the more often you pinch oregano, the thicker it`ll be. Basically, if you choose the right temperature regime, you can grow almost anything.

Thanks to PM2, Scot, Dee, and brdrl for jumping in and adding to the discussion.! I have changed out my internet provider to saltellite because I had such poor DSL and no other options. Here are my winter views:

Winter buckets, taken before it started snowing.

Door swag with a bit of freezing rain; sorry it is sideways. Hemlock, balsom fir, white pine, all from the woods here.

Snow in the field.

ice on the rhododendron in front of the house.

By now after freezing rain and a couple days of semithaw, the snow isn’t pretty.

Brdrl -A swallowtail caterpillar still alive despite all the cold temperatures we’ve had. That seems hard to believe. One year I had one caterpillar on the Parsley but I haven’t seen one in a few years. But that was in summer! Lol

Dee, I hear you. I like a rainy day once in awhile, just not as much as my DH. He seems to be happy with one every time we get one. [g] I look forward to winter and a break from the garden. As much as I enjoy it, it is a lot of work and focus and it’s nice to switch gears for a couple of months. I love to read and do puzzles too.

Yes, longer days are amazing really. Now, I’m not really missing the longer days yet and enjoying the seasonal shift, but by the end of January….I’m really wanting longer days for sure and by then, we’re that much closer.

Scot - I’d love to hear what kind of food you are managing to grow indoors! I’ve been contemplating doing that for the past year or so and haven’t pulled the trigger on it. I do have a light set up. Not sure I want to give myself that job. Once you start them, you have to take care of them every day. I was thinking of trying micro greens. When did you start doing that?

Babs - You have satellite now? Is that a better experience for you?

Oh, nice buckets! They are nice and full! Look at the height of the berry branches. It looks like a shrub growing out of the container.

I love that swag. Nice and simple and the frosting from the freezing rain makes it even prettier. Such a pretty bow. See thru, lacy….lovely and nicely made too. It looks easy but it’s not all that easy to put something together and have it come out looking so perfect!

Love your snowy field. I showed the photo to DH and he was saying, it must be great walking around that area.

Having a quiet morning here….making cookies soon.

Sadly the caterpillar is frozen solid this morning. He was alive yesterday. We had some overnight snow. I love your winter pics!

Brdrl - Poor caterpillar - it must be climate change that has it so confused that it’s not settled in for the winter.

Dee - Look at all the snow you have! We haven’t got a drop. And really, much better to still have a pumpkin out, then to have it out too early when it’s warm and they rot.

That stump you have if you could level it out, would make a great set up for a bird bath. [g]

The photo of the shrub that you think is a laurel - I LOVE that! Something about the shape of the leaves and the arrangement of leaves, that look so pretty with snow on it. And your holly has a lot of berries on it. I think it was a good year for berries. I have more on mine than usual.

I really like that Osmanthus Goshiki - I’m going to have to look that one up.

Not too long a post, loved seeing so many photos from you!

Love everyone's pictures. Woke up today to a wintry scene. Got freezing rain and some snow. Hurried out to get pictures because everything's starting to melt.

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Beautiful, RTHawk!

Thanks PM2. Got a new iphone 2 months ago and it takes really good pictures.

RTHawk, It really does take great photos. I love that last shot and the one with the Winterberries. Is that the Ilex shrub? And are you growing it in full sun?

I hope you will continue to post photos with your new phone. I always take a ton of photos when I get a new camera. [g]

PM2, yes that is Ilex v. Not sure of the cultivar - I bought a couple of them from a Mom and Pop nursery some years ago. The owner said I don't need male plants because they're native so there are a lot of male plants elsewhere. He also does not accept credit cards which we didn't know - but he was very nice (and trusting of complete strangers) and let us take the plants home with a promise to send him a check by mail.

They are not in full sun as they are on the northeast side of the house so get shade from the house and the nearby birch trees for most of the day.

RTHawk, It's good to know that there are still people in the world who are able to trust others and do business that way. Happy to hear that story. Looks like your shrubs worked out really well. I've always avoided Ilex v. because I thought they needed full sun to berry well and I don't have a lot of that. I have part sun. So, I might have to try a couple. They are beautiful in the winter. I bet the birds love them too.

RT Hawk those are gorgeous photos! Looks like one of those days that is treacherous to drive to work but gloriously beautiful to look at, especially if the sun comes out. Feels like you are living in a winter wonderland, with every little twig and leaf and berry, every blade of grass, outlined in crystal.

PM 2 I was at first hesitant to grow ilex because of my part shade. But then I would see them along the sides of roads, in the understory of woods, so I thought I'd give it a try. I started with some in my customer's garden, because she has practically a swamp garden and I know they like moisture, and they have done very well there. Winter Reds, I believe, with a male pollinator (Southern Gentleman or Jim Dandy, can't remember which, off the top of my head). I also planted one (forgotten cultivar but likely a Winter Red) in my yard in a very overgrown, scrubby area along the street. It is under a cover of sassafras trees, a huge cedar(?) of some kind, and a young oak that has gotten way too big and is growing into the power lines (this area is under power lines along the street; the electric company has been telling me for 20 years they are going to cut it back and they never do!). Anyway, the ilex is doing fairly well considering I planted it and haven't paid a lick of attention to it since. No pollinator either - well, none planted by me.

There is an interesting thread on winterberries over on shrubs or perennials that I've been following. I love these and just two months ago added a Berry Poppins and Little Goblin Red to my garden (with Mr. Poppins to pollinate). I'm looking to add more in the coming year or so too.

:)

Dee

Do the birds eat your berries, Dee? I also wonder if a bigger reason I haven't tried them is that my garden is dry and I have no actual wet or moist spots.

They do eat the berries. Ilex doesn't seem to be their first choice though. The berries on my aronia Brilliantissima disappear first (although honestly this plant has been a huge disappointment. I planted it front and center for it's form, color, and berries. The form is good, but the color is meh, the leaves fall practically in August (so much for fall color even if it was good!), and if there are any berries the birds get them straight away. I've barely seen berries on it in ten years and supposedly it does not need a pollinator. Anyway, I digress.....)

Secondly the birds love the viburnum berries. I have a Winterthur that I hardly ever see berries on because the birds get them. I planted a second Winterthur in another part of the yard and while it's still young, the birds haven't seem to have found it yet as it was heavily berried (for it's size) and we were able to enjoy them a bit longer!

Here's the younger Winterthur with a young Winter Red (right) and ilex China Girl in the background from earlier this fall

Then the birds go for the ilex berries, and last, the callicarpa, which I'm glad about because they are my favorite! (Or maybe they're my favorite because they last so long lol?) I don't really mind the birds eating the berries - after all, that's WHY I planted them - but it would be nice if they waited just a bit longer so we humans could enjoy them a bit too lol!

:)

Dee

Dee, I love your Viburnum Winterhur - planning a new border garden bed (slowly whittling down my lawn) -- wiill include this. I don't have callicarpa either and I have always wanted to plant one, just haven't gotten around to it.

I don't know if I have more Ilex berries this year but it seems like they were completely gone last year much earlier. I also have some Aronia near the Ilex -- last year, the birds ate the Ilex berries before the Aronia berries but I think this year, they seem to favor the Aronia berries first.

Saw a couple of deer munching on my hollies -- promptly went out and sprayed Liquid Fence on the bushes. Haven't seen the deer come back yet - hope it works. The hollies are only 2 years old - I'd be happy to share them with the deer when they're bigger and more established. They only do it in the winter though - probably when food is more scarce.

Dee, great photo of the berries on your Viburnum. I can't get a Viburnum to survive for me for nothing. I've had a lot of them, but, they all seem to end up with some kind of bug or disease. I've pulled them all out but one, a Wentworth, that I pruned to the ground 3 years ago hoping that would be the end of the bug that makes a mess of it, but the bug is back. *sigh*. So I am enjoying it as long as I can before the bug makes such a mess I feel I need to cut it back again. Otherwise, it would be a great shrub. It grew fast and was huge even under the dripline of a Maple and in more shade than not.

I also have an Aronia 'Brilliantissima' and it's funny but that is the absolute last berry the birds eat. I still have berries in early spring. The first berry to be eaten here is on a Gray Dogwood shrub. It produces little white berries and the robins strip it before August is even over.

I'm not all that satisfied with the Aronia either. Mine is not very dense or bushy, it's kind of sparse. And yes, I love the fall color of the leaves, but now that you mention it, they do fall off very fast. The berries are pretty and mine stay on all winter, but because of the sparseness of the branching and foliage, I wouldn't add another one. I really like a vigorous plant.

I have a lot of berries on Blue Holly this year and usually the birds seem to eat those gradually over the winter.

Do any birds eat Taxus berries? I know they are toxic to dogs and probably people too, I just wondered if any wild animals are able to tolerate them and eat them.

I have blueberries and elderberries that get eaten in the summer. And small rose hips on one of the climbing roses which I'm not sure if anything eats those. And that's about it.

RTHawk - You are being very smart, to try to keep the deer away to allow the shrubs to establish so they can use them going forward too.

Great-looking sunset today

Some beautiful photos on this thread. So much that is gorgeous outside even in winter. My part of NH has had several days of dew points close to the actual temperture, just above freezing, creating some unusual December fog that at times was much more dense than in my photo.

Lovely sight with snow and sunshine. I thought that was wind I was looking at but it was fog? I know nothing about the dew point [g], but we had a day of fog one morning too. Very unusual for us to have fog. I was just looking at the 10 day forecast and it's going to be pretty cold most days. Rain and warm today but that's the exception. Snow on Friday here, but barely. Defintely not enough to blanket the garden.

We had a great looking sunset that night too, RTHawk. Very rosy and surprising.

Nice picture, NHBabs. We haven't gotten more than an inch of snow or two at a time so I envy all the snow. PM2 - have you gotten significant snow yet?

No, we are due to get between 3-5 inches this Friday. Rain and freezing rain today. We had one dusting that disappeared by the next day. I'd love a foot of snow that stayed for the whole winter! lol

I would love that too! Looking forward to the snow this Friday.

We had about 6 inches maybe? Looks pretty but the snow melted late yesterday on the steps and this morning the wind chill factor is 6 and the steps are frozen. Just as a reminder. DH took a fall on Christmas Day from black ice on the steps. Be careful out there!

We got a bit more than 6 inches, not as much as what some areas in MA got. Hope your DH is okay. Not much melting going on right now - temps are still below freezing. But we may get freezing rain tomorrow (:

I also heard one day next week we're going to be waking up to zero! Not my favorite kind of weather. 20s and 30s are just fine with me.

Thank you RTHawk, yes my DH is doing very good. We are very grateful, it could have been a lot worse. Nothing broken, amazing! Still sore but moving okay. But that scare has made us much more cautious. We probably needed that reminder.