I’m somewhat conflicted relating to utilizing the time period “winter.” I usually use the gardening time period “cool season” to explain this time of the yr.
The phrase winter carries sure meanings that merely don’t apply to our climate in December, January and February.
Once you shut your eyes and consider winter, do you think about a chilly, snowy panorama with individuals bundled up in coats? Be trustworthy. However we simply skilled nearly every week of temperatures within the 80s, and highs are sometimes within the 70s or 60s for Christmas.
And that’s the issue. Our gardens and landscapes don’t expertise excessive chilly all winter lengthy. As an alternative, we see lengthy intervals of chilly to delicate climate punctuated with brief intervals of subfreezing temperatures. This gorgeous a lot sums up our winter climate, and it permits our landscapes to remain remarkably energetic.
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Candy olive gives not solely greenery but additionally perfume within the cool months.
Certainly, the cool season is an energetic gardening time, not a time of relaxation and dormancy. We proceed to plant hardy timber, shrubs, vines and floor covers, in addition to cool-season flowers and greens all by means of December, January and February.
Admittedly, our gardens do look totally different this time of the yr. Most of our shade timber have dropped their leaves and are naked. Lawns have gone dormant and misplaced their lush inexperienced coloration. Tropical crops miss the heat of summer time and infrequently maintain chilly harm throughout freezes.
General, our landscapes don’t look as lush now in comparison with summer time. However they aren’t naked and lifeless.
For one factor, we use numerous broadleaf evergreen shrubs and floor covers, which preserve our landscapes from wanting so naked. However it’s not only a matter of utilizing evergreen crops.
A few of the broadleaved evergreens aren’t content material merely to retain their foliage by means of the cool season — they deck themselves out. Take into account sasanquas (Camellia sasanqua) and camellias (Camellia japonica).
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Snapdragons are a star of the cool-season flower backyard.
Sasanquas bloom from October to January. Camellias produce massive, flamboyant flowers that brighten our landscapes from December by means of March.
Cultivars of Encore azaleas and Robin Hill azaleas bloom within the fall and into the winter and are offering coloration now. Roses are nonetheless blooming.
Different winter bloomers is probably not so flashy, however candy olives (Osmanthus fragrans), leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei) and winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) delight us with their enchanting fragrances on delicate days throughout the cool season.
There are additionally crops that do most of their rising right here throughout the cool season. Our native Louisiana irises develop from October by means of April.
Different winter-growing herbaceous perennials embody calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica), pink spider lily (Lycoris radiata), Easter lilies (Lilium longiflorum) and acanthus (Acanthus mollis). These crops present wealthy inexperienced foliage and great textures to beds and, within the case of Louisiana irises and calla lilies, to water gardens within the winter panorama.
All of the spring-flowering bulbs develop by means of the winter right here, offering patches of spiky, upright inexperienced foliage.
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Cabbage and carrots are among the many cool-season greens.
I’m typically requested about defending the foliage of spring bulbs throughout low temperatures. You may chill out. The foliage of bulbs, like narcissus, tulip, daffodil, snowflake and Dutch iris, to call just a few, is kind of hardy. Open flowers are extra susceptible to freeze harm. If temperatures threaten to succeed in the mid-20s, harvest the open flowers to get pleasure from in vases indoors.
Talking of crops in energetic development throughout winter, we proceed to plant and develop all kinds of cool-season greens and herbs.
A few of the most scrumptious and nutritious cool-season greens can solely be grown in Louisiana throughout cool to chilly winter climate, together with broccoli, cabbage, carrots, turnips, mustard greens, lettuce and inexperienced onions.
And we will harvest many herbs as effectively, resembling parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, oregano, chives and lots of others.
Preserve your vegetable and herb gardens productive by planting hardy herbs and greens by means of the winter.
After all, one of many issues that make our winter landscapes come alive is use of cool-season bedding crops, resembling pansy, viola, dianthus, alyssum, petunia, snapdragons, columbine, foxglove and lots of others. These indispensable crops present considerable and vibrant coloration for the winter flower backyard.
Though the perfect show of cool-season bedding crops is seen within the spring (late February, March and April), sufficient flowers are produced throughout our delicate winters to decorate up the panorama superbly.
Even cool-season bedding crops which will wait till spring to bloom, like columbine, foxglove and hollyhock, present engaging foliage to the backyard earlier than they bloom. Like cool-season greens and herbs, you possibly can proceed to plant cool-season bedding crops by means of February or early March.
So, our landscapes keep remarkably energetic throughout the “dormant” winter. The evergreen crops we use so abundantly retain their foliage, and lots of crops develop and bloom or produce contemporary meals for the desk all by means of the winter.
In spring, as our gardens start to develop in earnest, and deciduous timber and shrubs ship out new development, we merely see extra crops becoming a member of a celebration that has already began.
Spring, it could possibly be argued, is extra like a climax to the expansion and coloration that happen in our gardens all by means of the cool season. This isn’t so shocking when you think about that our cool season just isn’t (fortunately) the frigid, dormant, barren winter it’s up north.
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