GROW: COLOR MY WINTER
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BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED PLANTERS ARE CRITICAL DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR BRINGING AN OUTDOOR SPACE TOGETHER. BUT WHY DOES ALL THE FUN STOP COME WINTER? WORDS DAISY BROWN
“A planter that sits empty all winter is a missed opportunity. A planter filled with a dead mum all winter is a travesty.” So says Amy Wilbur, owner of the Bedford, NY based container garden company, Sweet Dirt Designs. “Our winter landscape is so colorless. We need something lovely to look at while we wait for our gardens to come back to life.” While most of us don’t bother with planters after the fall, there are many creative ways to give them another season. “In the summer, green tends to be the backdrop for all the other color in our landscapes. But in the winter, green is the focal point,” says Wil-
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Winter 2014
bur. Even the simplest shrub can be a stunning accent in a winter landscape. Garden centers and nurseries stock evergreens in small containers (one or two gallon) during the fall that are perfect for planters. The lovely blue-green Blue Star juniper and varieties of chamaecyparis, such as limey Gold Mop cypress, are bright and showy against the pale colors of winter. Planters stuffed with evergreen boughs are a classic option. Wilbur finds most boughs will stay green through February. Broadleaf evergreens (holly or boxwood) are more apt to brown. Using an anti-desiccant like Wilt-Pruf can help. Garden centers stock an
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SWEET DIRT DESIGNS
Color My Winter