Winter Interest All Stars

Moving in to a new build home meant I would be starting from scratch with my garden.  And trying to start a garden in the middle of summer was a challenge.  Most of the material I've planted so far are transplants from my mother's garden, divisions from other gardeners, or plants that I rooted myself.  I only had a few months before frosts began to start establishing beds and foundation plantings but I slowly but surely got a decent amount of the back-bone installed.  It will be a few years before the woody plants mature and start to make a statement but I did have a few perennials that stood out all winter long by providing structure and color during the dreary, cold months this winter:

• Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy'
• Ornamental grasses (various)
• Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'

I can't say enough about this euphorbia:  variegated evergreen foliage, pinkish-red new growth, long lasting blooms.  A lot of my evergreen plants suffered significant cold damage from the snow and frosts we had this winter but this euphorbia was completely unfazed!