My Winter Garden Offers Up a Bouquet by Jo Busha, Author

Here in New England we are well into early winter by mid-November and this year we have already had many killing frosts and several light snow falls (though all has melted so far). On a mild day I ventured out into the garden to see if I might find some spots of color to cheer me up.

As I expected, I found some violas still in bloom. One reason I love the little flowers is their iron-hardiness. I have found them in bloom half-buried after a December snowstorm, as well as peeking out of dead leaves on a warm day in February.

But as I walked around the main flower garden, I realized that there was plenty of interesting plant material from which I could make a dried flower arrangement. I love to bring flowers into the house, but I don’t often think about it once frost has hit the garden.

I started with a tan-to-black theme for the background. The dry seed heads of Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ made a good place to start.

I cut some Japanese forest grass, Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola,’ to make a fluffy counterpoint to the round hydrangea heads.

Spots of brighter color were provided by Rosa blanda’s red hips,

Witch Hazel’s thready little flowers (now fading),

and the golden berries of Winterberry, Ilex verticillata ‘Goldfinch.’

Some curly blades of Deschampsia cespitosa, ‘Northern Lights,’ added a bit of whimsy.

Sprigs of sage and silver mound artemisia provided a dash of silver, and a small green and gold spray of Chamaecyparis was a fresh finishing touch.

The finished product.