Winter gardens

The Japanese Fatsia japonica usually blooms in early winter, when no one is outside to appreciate the tropical looking flower. They're planted mostly for the gigantic, notched leaves anyway.

We haven't had a hard freeze yet in Seattle, but by spring, this one looks ragged and pitiful. At that point, they benefit from "renewal pruning." Which is a nice way of saying, whack it off to the ground.  Once Fatsias are established in a place they like, the top grows right back.

I walk past hundreds of yards on my walks, from the meticulously tended to the utterly neglected. The real garden comes into focus now, when the shrubs are bare and the colorful bloomers finished. 

Some winter garden are very attractive, the result of good planning and all the attention the garden got through the growing months. Sort of like well-tended old folks, in the winter of their years.  Not all gardens (or people) are so lucky.

I still have some raking, then the outside work is pretty much done until February.

December 1st officially marks the start of "Meteorological Winter." The Solstice is still three weeks away, but this far north, the sun barely comes up and creeps along the horizon for a few hours of daylight.  This week of dry, bright weather is a special gift, taking a big notch off the darkest month.