The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is now. Chinese Proverb
If you are looking for evergreens to put in your landscape, January is a great time to visit a nursery. Evergreens make good wind break and often improve the view,especially if your neighbor has a tacky shack. Lyland Cyprus trees work well with these problems. For beauty in winter profusely blooming Camila come in many colors ranging from reds, pinks, whites and varigated. The peppermint varigated with red and white is my favorite. The beauty can be brought inside by floating blossoms in water. One unusual shrub is the nandina, which is green in spring and summer and red throughout the winter. I have a cluster of 11 red nandinas on my drycreek.
Plan for you spring blooms in winter. Two pink dogwoods are on my dream list for this spring. It is a very interesting tree with blooms on bare branches in spring changing to green leaves for summer and red for fall with red berry bird magnets. It’s bare form is beautiful with slinger gray coloring. Gardenias are another beautiful evergreen with pure white blooms in spring. Look for evergreen ferns and ground covers. Improving your indoor view by designing the outdoor landscape is a worthy endeavor.
Happy New Year,
Ruby
