Thinking Winter

Designing gardens that look good in fall and winter is always a little tricky.  Unless you live in the tropics, you sometimes think you're reduced to the reds, yellows, and oranges of autumn leaves; to evergreens, interesting bark and great architectural form.  Now, along comes British designer Noel Kingsbury to remind everyone once again that grasses and perennials offer much to the astute gardener even when the plants die back.

In the foreward to Kingsbury's new book, Seedheads in the Garden (Timber Press), landscape architect James van Sweden notes that "autumn is equally as important in garden beauty and interest as spring or summer ... and foretells winter, -- the year's final garden display that I like to describe as a 'dried bouquet'."

With gorgeous photographs by Jo Whitworth, Kingsbury illustrates how to place Achillea filipendulina 'Gold Plate' so that its dried seedheads are set off against a backdrop of Calamagrostis; how to achieve a magical frosty winter view with different types of Stipa and Miscanthus. A master of the natural landscape, the author explains the botany of seedheads, offers tips on cultivation and design, and concludes with a full directory of plants to use in fall and winter.  A very useful compendium for anyone interested in year-round gardening with a different kind of impact.

(click on image to purchase book)

Comments

[James Golden]

I look forward to all Noel Kingsbury's books. This one carries a message he's been telling us for quite a while. It's a message Piet Oudolf, Henk Gerritsen,and many others have been preaching for years. But a book devoted to seed heads alone, with beautiful photographs to entice us, is valuable, helpful, and I hope will widen the interests of American gardeners generally. Let's hope Timber Press continues to publish such a unique selection of gardening books.

[panasianbiz]

I think too many gardeners think of how their landscaping and garden beds will look only in the middle of their blooming cycle. It's possible to create a year-round beautiful effect by planting evergreens, plants with interesting or colorful fall and winter foliage or bark, and by using natural elements such as boulders and stone walkways to create visual interest even when plants are not flowering.

[Takoma Gardener]

Thanks for the recommendation!