On a December night, colored lights disarm the darkness. But even in the gloom of a winter day, the colors of a walk in the woods can lift the heart.
Emerald-green moss gleams along a fallen log. Bright red winterberries are vivid against black bark. Silvery magnolia buds snuggle against the cold in their tiny fur coats.
The needles of a tall bald cypress, lingering on the branches before they fall, glow with gold. The red of a cardinal flashes against the white of birch bark. A ruffly shelf lichen, growing on a stump, has cheerful contrasting stripes. The wine-red bark of dogwood stems stands out against the gold of grasses at a wetland’s edge.
“Winter beauty is subtle,” said Sharon Yiesla, plant knowledge specialist at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “It’s all in the details.”
You can find that subtle beauty along nature trails, but you also can bring it home to your garden. Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea subsp. sericea) and winterberry (Ilex verticillata) are native to the Chicago region and will do well in many home landscapes, Yiesla said. Some magnolia cultivars are winter-hardy in Chicago and bring not only silvery buds but the promise of early spring flowers.
Many kinds of evergreen trees and shrubs work well in Chicago-area yards, although they are not all alike. The different species and cultivars vary in size and form, and in the conditions they need. Some are more disease-prone and troublesome than others. The Arboretum’s Plant Clinic can help you choose an appropriate evergreen plant to bring green to your garden through the winter.
Look for trees and shrubs that have interesting bark. Consider paper-barked maple (Acer griseum), a Chinese tree whose peeling bark is the dark gold of cinnamon. Exclamation London planetree (Platanus acerifolia ‘Morton Circle’) has bark that peels in patches of silver and olive-green. Gray birch (Betula populifolia) has striking chalky-white bark and is a local native species.
“Of course winter interest isn’t the only reason for choosing a tree,” Yiesla said. “You need to consider whether its mature size and shape and its needs for sunlight and soil type are right for you. But that’s true whenever you select a plant for your garden.”
Red and green, white and silver, shades of gold and amber: Enjoy them in the woods or bring them home to light up your garden through the year.
For tree and plant advice, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (mortonarb.org/plantadvice, 630-719-2424 or plantclinic@mortonarb.org). Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Arboretum.
