Get your green going

By Nina Koziol

Chicago Tribune (TNS)

CHICAGo

Winter has set- tled in, and for many gardeners across the country, it’s a time for quiet reflection before the flurry of spring activities.

You may have stowed your trowel and packed up your pruners, but there are plenty of ways to get your quota of green.

We talked to veteran gardeners and landscape professionals for their advice.

Explore a garden’s winter bones

Winter is a time when Anne Roberts, president of Anne Roberts Gardens in Chicago, takes a short break from garden installations to muse over design ideas.

“I go to the Chicago Botanic Garden for inspiration all year long but in the winter it’s wonderful, too,” Roberts says. “You can see the form of trees and large beds massed with plants. The Japanese Garden (there) has incredible forms in the winter.”

She also looks to the Internet and calls Houzz a wonderful resource of photos and inspiration.

“It can be searched based on the type of home and landscape you are looking for,” Roberts says. “Taking classes is another great way for homeowners to dream and design their landscapes during the winter.”

Cozy up with books

Margaret Roach, the former garden editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine and an author of books and blogs ( www.awaytogarden.com ), hunkers down in her home in Columbia County, N.Y.

“As experienced as I am at growing plants, I can’t make roses or hydrangeas bloom in February,” Roach says. “And frankly, that’s good news. It would be exhausting to be bombarded by the spring or summer garden all year long.”

For Roach, winter offers an opportunity to delve into field guides in search of answers and a deeper connection to nature.

She recommends Bernd Heinrich’s “Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival” (Harper Perennial). “I have shelves full of field guides — to birds, yes, but also bees and beetles and dragonflies and moths and caterpillars and on and on. There’s lots to learn. Now’s a good time to hit the books.”

Garden-friendly library

When it comes to books, gardener Carol Balabanow of Bloomingdale, Ill., likes to curl up in the Sterling Morton Library at The Morton Arboretum in suburban Lisle, where she pages through stacks of garden magazines.

“The library is very cozy and I can look out onto beautiful vistas to see what plants, trees or shrubs provide good winter interest. My other go-to resource online is Pinterest, which can lead you down all kinds of dazzling garden rabbit holes.”

Greenhouse investment

Morgan Simmons of north suburban Evanston has eight decades of gardening experience and during winter, he spends time reflecting on his indoor garden.

“Some 20-plus years ago I indulged myself in the expansion of a narrow porch into a small greenhouse,” he said. “The expenditure has paid off handsomely, providing a sanctuary on the coldest winter days.”

Among the plants that bring promise of elegant blossoms are several camellias that connect him to his southern Alabama heritage.

“A Meyer lemon also reminds me of happy times visiting family in California where it was purchased, and a cymbidium orchid rescued from (Chicago’s) Fourth Presbyterian Church following an Easter Sunday display provides rejuvenating memories of my long association there,” he says. “Each of these treasures, and many more, will be integrated in the outdoor garden come spring.”

Easy introspection

Sometimes you don’t have to go far for inspiration.

With hundreds of hostas lying dormant in her frozen soil, Patricia Bailey of suburban Palos Park uses this as an opportunity to mull over her landscape.

“It’s a good time to stay in and be introspective and appreciate the stillness,” she says. “But I love the garden in winter — taking photographs of the snow on the grasses and trees, or the sunrise with the light glistening on the snow.”

She notes that gardeners also need to unwind after the growing season dies down. “I’m watching footprints in the snow and having a fire with a glass of wine — spending time with my pets. The plants are resting and so should I.”