“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is time for home.”
~Edith Sitwell
When winter is relentless, bringing cold and snow day after day, what’s a person to do? I could move to a warmer climate. No, I like the change of seasons. I could be miserable and complain, stay indoors and become a hermit. Well I tried this, and it just makes for a lousy few months. So instead, I have been looking for the wonders and beauty of winter around my garden.
As the snow falls and piles up, it can suddenly change a landscape as if it is being painted….transformed. The picture at the top of the post shows how snow, as it melts a bit, can get heavier and look more like whipped topping on bare branches.
My neighbor’s evergreens look stunning in their new snowy coat. I wish I had added more evergreens earlier when I planted the bones of my garden.
Late in the day, long shadows paint on the snowy palette and bring more color to the white.
On those darker stormy days, I love to watch the ornamental grasses being spray painted….
…..creating great textures.
Even the stalks of debris make for interesting vistas.
And the snow hats always make me smile, and reach for my camera to catch them especially on monarda and echinacea.
Snow falling on tightly-knit willow branches, creates its own high drifts and piles almost completely hiding the tops of trees.
And once the snow melts a bit and then freezes again, you can see a sparkling icy surface you could skate on.
The snowy winter outside isn’t the only place to find lovely pictures of winter. Watching the fire, paints a warm, cozy picture I can get lost in.
Of course one of my favorite things about winter is the warm comfort food, like homemade soup, that tantalizes the senses with its savory herbs.
Do you find beauty in winter? What is your favorite thing to do in winter that makes you happy?
You can read more about Winter Love in other parts of the northern hemisphere in the latest RURAL magazine issue just out, in both digital and print versions. I was pleased to contribute a prose piece and photo for this winter edition.
A Warming Vase
My paperwhites are blooming like crazy and are so long lived. I thought it would be nice to put this vase in my sanctuary room lit only by candlelight. Isn’t it warming and serene.
I added some dried seedheads from my native Agastache that I gathered to bring indoors, before winter began. It gives a wonderful texture to the vase.
I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme. The pictures shared here were created with my iPod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma.
I am posting poetry, almost weekly on Sundays, on my other blog, Living From Happiness. You can read my latest poem here.
All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2018. Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.