Autumn Clematis seed - interesting as they evolve to facilitate flight...

I leave my grasses for winter interest until early spring-



Eulalia (Miscanthus) sinensis 'Little Kitten'--


Eulalia (Miscanthus) sinensis 'Gold Bar'---sorry blurry pic--


Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Avalanche'---


Eulalia(Miscanthus) sinensis 'Adagio' ----


Eulalia (Miscanthus) sinensis 'Morning Light'---


Eulalia (Miscanthus) sinensis 'Strictus'----

Also Heucheras----
Heuchera 'Peach Flambe'---

Maple trees too----

These look good in winter also.

Beautiful grasses. Wish I had room for more. The giant Miscanthus does need to be used with care. It does spread and is a pain to cut down in the Spring.

Susan I had to use electric hedge trimmers!!! I am thinking about getting smaller grasses like 'Golden Sedge', it stays a gold color all winter and in evergreen of course. I already have a couple in pots, my son mowed down the ones in the ground but I think the roots are ok. Here is a picture from a medical center near my home where they use it as an annual for winter interest!




This will get two feet tall and wide if left alone. Only in full sun will you get the gold color but you can still plant in shade and they will be green.

It is winter here. Does yucca count as an evergreen? My shrubby pines and dwarf evergreens are mounds of snow currently. Best color is from the rocks.

@dirtdorphins

Great pictures!! I have Yucca Colorguard and it is very evergreen! The colors are so bright and vivid, great plant for winter interest. I cannot wait for it to get big. I might want another one.

Nothing beats winterberries for winter interest.



Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' can't be beat either for winter interest. It looks good year-round, even during the ice storm.

Golden Mop looking real good for Winter Interest and berries on Heavenly Bamboo always extra red at Christmas time. How appropriate!

Methinks I need some of that lovely bamboo. Susan, did you say somewhere that it took a number of years to produce berries?

My winter interest/camouflage plants can't touch it, but they do help to hide utilitarian items in the yard.

I have a smaller one on the other side of steps and it is only two or three years old and had one or two bunches of berries. They are evergreen and the foliage turns burgundy and orange at times so even without the berries it is a stunner. Here is an older pic.

New leaves are emerging. It's not much to look at now but when the clump develops more...

Wow! That's a really neat plant, Evan. What are your temps? It's amazing to me that it's developing now.

Thanks Chelle. We've been mostly below freezing for quite some time, even hitting -2F several nights back. I wish I had paid more attention to see when new leaves emerge.

Evan, is it emerging now? I love the look of those leaves. Awesome!

eclayne said:Thanks Chelle. We've been mostly below freezing for quite some time, even hitting -2F several nights back. I wish I had paid more attention to see when new leaves emerge.

Sounds about like here, then; five degrees when we woke, and up to ten degrees by noon. Sometimes I can't imagine anything pushing up through the frozen ground now, but I guess we do have iris showing.

I can see Anthriscus cerefolium from the kitchen window, and it still looks really nice.

Aethionema schistosum and Creeping Thyme outside the sitting room window are pleasant to look at as well. They're in a drier, windswept area that's free of snow.

I just took the pic this afternoon after noticing it while cutting some evergreenies for decorating. Weather here is typical, almost a foot of snow a week or so ago, now no signs of white. It was in the 60's a few days ago, down to 15F tonight. I noticed the ground is like a rock when pounding in some stakes a few weeks back. How perennials grow through that... I definitely need to pay attention to the evergreen types I have. A. italicum goes dormant when it's drier. I think many of the Arums are like this so I'll have to try some new varieties where I can enjoy them.

Merry Christmas all!!

Merry Christmas all!!