Weekly Garden Snapshot: 2023 week 45
Well, we have definitely now entered the brown phase of Colorado Front-range fall/winter. I almost said ‘the everlasting brown phase’, but of course this whole post-series puts the lie to that. We have come to the time of year, though, when a long look at the landscape reminds you that this is the next thing to a desert, and the bits of beauty hiding out in the garden require, usually, a rather close eye.
Looking back 1-2 weeks and 1-2 years paints a surprisingly festive picture, where the hints of grey and a little bit of snow only emphasize the season.
(I also find myself curious about which bits of foliage turned pretty colors and which did not on any given year. Red raspberry leaves in 2021, but green in 2022 and mostly green this year. Brilliant barberry in 2022 but not this year…)
Looking back 2-4 weeks and 2-4 years demonstrates that this is definitely the time of year for showing off the hardy lambs ears whose soft, grey-green leaves give such a pretty color contrast with fallen tree leaves. And of course the suggestions of either upcoming dry or upcoming snow. It’ll be both, of course, but the timing and proportions are always the question.
…This week my garden is decidedly untidy. So it goes.