Friday, March 12, 2010

Winter into Spring

Perhaps it is the knowledge that Spring will be here shortly that enables me to savor the colors of the late winter landscape in Colorado. Sometimes the view can be a broad one, looking out over a frozen pond at sunset—the grays and browns of leafless cottonwoods, the straw color of dormant native grasses and dark, deep greens and blues of the conifers contrast with a very soft pink, peach, apricot sky streaked with silky yellow and cream clouds. I marvel at the range of subtle colors. Or the view can be up close, small, focused, like the photo above. 
The winter garden is full of things to discover. And I find that the winter garden invites a quiet serenity, a peacefulness, an invitation to slow down and contemplate small aspects of the whole vista. The abundance of summer and fall has died back so details of the landscape can be seen, such as combinations of textures in the rocks and boulders, dried grasses (Mexican Feather Grass is shown here), dormant basel crowns and, even mulch. The eye can rest on one spot that is part of the symphony of the whole. Small, seemingly random design details such as this vignette will give a garden winter interest and keep your visual interest up until the landscape moves into another range of color palettes in Spring. And yes, it’s coming…I can smell it!

Blog Title-itis
The sublimely clever, winning blog title "Words of Weedsdom" was submitted by Joy Harper of Colorado Springs, Colorado. For her wittiness, Joy wins a custom inspiration consultation for her uniquely designed back yard.

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