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Date: Fri 29-Dec-1995

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Date: Fri 29-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: AMYD

Quick Words:

gardens-Sydney-Eddison

Full Text:

Winter Gardens Are Like Poems, Spare But Not Simple

BY AMY D'ORIO

Writers often have said poetry is the hardest form of writing because thoughts

and expression must be accurately pared into a few concise words.

Winter gardens are like poems, but unlike a poet, a gardener is not given a

blank page to create.

The work must relate, like a chapter in a novel, to an overall design.

Winter gardens are, after all, usually created within an existing garden. They

are culled from pages that are already written.

Due its challenges, winter gardens are rare visual treats.

Those that exist should be shared, which is why garden author Sydney Eddison

of Newtown recently published a book about winter gardening called The Unsung

Season .

Her own winter garden was barely mentioned or shown in the book, probably due

to her modesty, but it is as beautiful and noteworthy as those she profiled.

Structure and form make up for the lack of color, and the scene stealers in

winter are completely different from the ones in the other three seasons.

In Mrs Eddison's backyard, the euonymus overlooked in summer stands out with

its red and orange berries. It is as eye-catching as a flowering shrub in

spring.

Any apple tree's shape can be overshadowed by its fruit and bloom, but in the

winter, its well-pruned branches get the limelight.

After one recent snowfall, some of leaves that survived the fall, dropped to

the ground, making a perfect circle around the apple tree's base.

With the outdoors as quiet as it is in winter, and the colors muted to blacks,

whites and grays, it was like entering a photograph.

Winter is not without its whimsy and humor.

A yucca, with its spiky branches of green and yellow piercing through the

snow, blends into Mrs Eddison's garden in the summer, but in the winter, its

southwestern looks usually get a double-take.

The dark gaping hole in the sugar maple grabs attention, as do the ornamental

grasses. Their plumes look delicate, but make no mistake, they stand firm

against the northern winds.

Mrs Eddison cuts back many perennials in the fall, but she keeps the sedums

for their burgundy hue. And if anyone thinks container gardening is only for

the warm months, think again. Mrs Eddison fills her flower pots, which contain

exotic annuals in the summer, with sprigs of juniper, holly and white pine.

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