Gardens in Winter

Traditionally, winter appears as a quiet time for any gardener, but it’s more like the kid at the back of the classroom waving their hand because they’re certain they have the answer.

For whatever reason, the teacher doesn’t call on this student. The student has a lot to say answering the question you ask. A garden in winter is the same, and just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean it will remain silent.

I have plans based on what I’ve learned during 2023, and for the first time, I’m excited as time moves closer to spring. Yes, spring is still far away, but hope has re-entered my heart in such a way to make me stronger.

The year, 2023, was perhaps my biggest year of growth in my grief journey. I worked through the good and the bad. I learned some rude, uncaring, and disconnected comments three individuals had uttered about me during 2022, and I decided to create a nice, clean cut. That’s what you have to do sometimes for your own happiness to prosper. Hayes, Corrie’s big brother, once said, “Mom, you’re the Queen of cutting people off.”

Because you have to let go of what was from people who could never walk your path. 

The year, 2023, helped me move from those negative individuals on to more positive friendships. It introduced the healthiest, happiest, and most peaceful aspects to life that I’d experienced in a long time. This occurred due to my growth as a gardener. A lot of my emotions, the good and bad, with grief transferred to the soil, plants and layouts of the garden.

Pain produced.

Almost one year ago, when it was warming before March, Arendelle—Corrie’s second memorial garden—looked like this:

I knew little about gardening before I really started with watering in 2021. The first garden, Corrie’s Butterfly Garden, was built by my husband, prior to his colon cancer diagnosis in 2021. My dig-into-reading, watching videos of gardeners on TikTok and YouTube, and visiting garden nurseries I adore lessons really began in 2023. 

It’s difficult to see with the winter season, but in the picture above, I did layering of plants according to the seasons. When the early spring flowers fade, the day lilies and small, ornamental grasses will appear. There are also calla lilies and mums sleeping in this small bed.

By now, I have my favorite local nurseries, where the owners and employees have educated me. My favorite place for shrubs, S&K Greenhouse in Shelby, N.C.; has its own YouTube channel. The videos are not only full of great information, but the guys also entertain you with an excellent sense of humor. I went only yesterday. 

I spent time asking questions about my shade garden borders, and the borders for Arendelle and the Butterfly Garden. It is important for me to go to places where it is calm and peaceful. Plus, you never know what you’ll find at S&K.

Gardens in winter raise their hand; waiting for you to answer because it has a lot of answers. It doesn’t matter if they’re correct or not. It’s more about the dreams. You spend time educating yourself, as much as you dream about your garden for the rest of the year. Winter in the gardens is the season, which sets you up for all seasons. It’s your planning, dreaming, scheming, and designing.

I’ve started drawing plants I’d like to go into the garden, specifically focusing on border plants in shade and sun. There is a peace I’ve found in shading plants in with colored pencils.

For now, we’ll continue adding the pathways with cardboard and wood chips, soon to be followed by gravel. Winter in the garden is the Christmas Eve of spring.