Vivid colors of conifers brighten winter days

I drove to the office one day during the holidays to assess my calendar so I could hit the ground running come January.  It was a dreary day, with a fine mist of moisture that refused to get into sync with any setting of windshield wipers.

I don’t like January. The holidays exact a sustained burst of energy and good cheer, and after the new year arrives I am tired, broke, and my favorite corduroys are uncomfortably snug.

So the day suit my mood, and I hoped a few quiet hours working would at least give me a sense of readiness for upcoming tasks, if only I had entered my office. Instead I spent a couple of hours photographing the gorgeous plants surrounding the parking lot. Of course, forgetting the keys to get in the building was the primary motivation for this activity, but I stuck around, hopeful that someone else would show up – someone that had the sense to come to the office with keys in hand.

That person never showed, but I left feeling much better about the world in general, and happy with our display gardens in particular. I’ve mentioned many times that it is an official reference garden for the American Conifer Society. Boy, does that statement sound dull and stodgy, though colorful, stunning and artful would be the words that might jump to mind if you were to drive into our parking lot and glance at the plantings on its perimeter.

Perhaps it was the contrast with the gray day, or maybe the moisture on the plants that made the colors deeper and more intensified. Whatever, in spite of the drizzle, I walked around mesmerized and thrilled with the lively hues and quirky growth habits.

I had several favorites already, but added a few more to my “must have” list. The native eastern red cedar – which is actually a juniper – has produced some cool mutants, and many have been added to the nursery trade in the last several years, though they can still be somewhat difficult to find. ‘Royo’ is a fabulously blue foliaged form with widely-flung branches, studded with light blue berries that are actually tiny cones, indicating it is a female form. ‘Glauca Compacta’ is bluer still, but without the blue berries. It is more upright, thrusting many tight pointed spears of foliage to the sky.

There are many beautiful and strange pines to be found in northern conifer collections, but many of the more exotic forms are not tolerant of conditions here in Dixie. Virginia pines do well, and have a shrubby, spreading habit that provides a more robust garden presence than some pines. ‘Wate’s Golden’ is thriving in our garden and must be seen in winter to be appreciated, as it develops this bright hue only during the winter months. Summer will find it clothed in a quiet green.