Specialty Gardening: First snow, 1 by sempervirens

sempervirens wrote:
Pagancat,
Breathtaking scenery. If I can't be there at least I can see and hear about different places. When you feel connected to so many parts of the country through their gardens and the people who tend them you start to really get a sense of the country on a very personal level. Thanks for the photos and the little extra touch by explaining "hollers". I'll have to do a google search on the Cumberland river and the Smoky mountains.

Illoquin,
When I saw your comment on winter presence and garden bones, or lack of, I had to laugh to myself because I started my garden completely backwards and didn't add hardscaping and shrubs until the end. I just wanted tons and tons of perennials and small native ephemerals, and to try everything: raingardens, herb garden, garden rooms, topiary, vegetable garden, prairie, native hedge row, cottage garden. It has taken years to fit all those things in a small space. Everything, except a few small trees, is open to revision. I was so greedy to at least try "everything" I read or saw that stuck my fancy that I didn't want to settle on shrubs until I knew which ones I really loved. In fact all the shrubs were moved or added in the last few years. I changed the paths and shapes of the beds so many times it can make you dizzy, and still I have whole areas that look flat and uninteresting in the winter. But that is the fun of it all I think.
Here is one of my problem areas in the winter. I'm trying to use as many natives as possible. The Oregon Grape Holly (tallish shrub in the center) suffers winter burn and is very slow in growth. The native pachysandra is doing well and is not over rambunctious but the wintergreen and partridge berry ground covers are very slow growing. The Heuchera does well but I'm still relying on 3 non native hellebore for the big show. I have a few Christmas fern in there also. It would look a lot better with a light snow cover which I think is coming today or tomorrow.