Secret winter garden

Hamamelix x intermedia 'Diane'

There's actually no secret to my winter garden except that I've forgotten to post about it! This was a little side project that I started last winter when I feel in love with witch hazels and decided I needed somewhere to plant one. This little corner of front yard, north of the driveway and east of the street, already had a pieris japonica and a forsythia that's been overrun by wisteria. It's shaded in the morning by the house and a Japanese maple but gets quite a bit of afternoon sun.

February 2017, looking west toward street

Last February, I moved a few wheelbarrow loads of mulch here and planted:

• 1 Hamamelix x intermedia 'Diane'
• 3 Sarcoccoca ruscifolia

Later in February 2017, looking east

Later in February 2017, a better view of the new plants

Then added a few more plants through the year:

• Salvia spathacea, hummingbird sage
• Satureja douglasii, yerba buena
• Cornus sericea/stolonifera, red osier dogwood
• 10 eranthis hyemalis
• 14 trumpet narcissus
• 5 narcissus 'Barrett Browning'
• Viburnum x bodnantense 'Pink Dawn'
• Another package of narcissus bulbs that I've lost the label for

June 2017, see the wisteria in the back

Fall 2017, colorful leaves on the red osier dogwood (left) and witch hazel (right)

The salvia and satureja are experimental ground cover. I planted them in a couple of other areas around the yard too, wanting to see where they do the best. Some of the daffodils are starting to poke through the mulch, but I don't see any sign of the eranthis yet, not sure if I should be worried about them. 

The big problem that I'll need to work on in the spring is the wisteria. It was planted by previous owners and I've been fighting with it for 15 years. It has to be pruned weekly or it'll take over the sidewalk and everything I have growing along the street - and it tries to spread down the driveway too. It had pretty blooms for about a week each spring but is definitely the wrong plant for this location. I cut most of it down late this the fall and painted poison on the stems. I'm sure that won't be enough to kill it, I expect to be chasing shoots for years, but it was time to start.

January 2018, remaining wisteria trunk on the right

The witch hazel and sarcococca are almost a year in the ground now and I'm glad I started this bed every time I go out the front door! I'm looking at what else to plant now, probably some winter heath and cyclamen. 

Hamamelix x intermedia 'Diane

Sarcococca

Dawn viburnum

January 2018