Main Greenhouse - Orchids, Ferns, Begonias The Camellia Greenhouse will be in full bloom through mid February Gardens & Grounds - Colorful Bark & Buds, Evergreens The pleasures of winter are different from those of the showier seasons at Planting Fields but equally rewarding. Cold days with bright blue skies and grounds decorated with newly fallen snow alternate with the bleak gray that sometimes marks January and February on Long Island. Photographers find some of their most dramatic pictures in the winter light and contrast.Plant shapes and textures are more visible without the summer finery, and strange shadows highlight what might seem ordinary at another time. Winter is the time to discover the subtle nuances of the gardens. A brisk walk around the grounds, beginning at the SYNOPTIC GARDEN, will give you an opportunity to appreciate some outstanding kinds of bark. Toward the front of the garden you will see Birches with white trunks and branches of a rich reddish brown. The Cutleaf Maple, Acer griseum, and Japanese Clethra, Clethra barbinervis nearby, are two small trees with cinnamon brown shredding bark. See if you can find drooping spikes of small brown fruit. Some of the fanciest of all the barks belongs to the shrub dogwood family. The brightly colored twigs of these plants produce the most conspicuous color in the winter landscape. For maximum effect, a severe renewal pruning is recommended every year to induce strong new growth from the base of the plant. The older branches darken and are less attractive. The plants can be pruned to the ground in early spring, thus assuring brightly colored branches for at least the following two years. One form, Red-Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea, is most outstanding with its brilliant red bark. Another, Cornus sericea cv. Flaviramea, Yellow Twig Dogwood, bears yellow branches. There is also an Orange Twig variety called ‘Winter Flame.’Cytisus praecox, Scotch Broom, and two Japanese Kerrias, Kerria japonica, and Kerria japonica florepleno, have green branches. As you continue throughout the garden, notice two plants with very unusual growing habits. Corylus avellana cv. Contorta, Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick and Salix matsudana cv. Tortuosa, Corkscrew Willow, have extremely gnarled, tortuously twisting branches that are most evident in winter. It is also interesting to observe the buds on various trees and shrubs. Many, including Magnolias and Rhododendrons, set their buds during the previous summer and fall. It is easy to understand that a very bad winter can affect the quantity and quality of the following year’s bloom. As spring approaches, after at least eight weeks of cold weather, you might want to bring in branches to force early bloom indoors. This is best done with forsythia, pussy willow, and witch hazel, but with luck it can also be done with star magnolia, early rhododendron (R. dauricum and R. mucronulatum are best), cherries, crabapples, and early azaleas. Prune carefully so that you don’t destroy the shape of the plant. Put the branches in water and keep cool until the buds start to open. Then they can be moved into full light and enjoyed for the first breath of spring that they are. Don’t be impatient, it takes at least a month for the flowers to appear. Did you know that rhododendrons are an indicator of temperature? They curl their leaves in the cold as a protection against moisture loss. They do this in summer for protection against severe drought as well. Most begin to curl at about 32 degrees Fahrenheit; the tighter they curl the further the mercury has plunged. At zero, the leaves of just about every variety of rhododendron will be curled up tight. Some of the shrubs in the garden still have fruit on them. Note especially the Hollies, Skimmia, Sarcococca and the Viburnums; then see what others you can find. You may be surprised to find that Parrotia persica, Persian parrotia, with tiny reddish purple flowers, and Hamamelis cv. Arnold Promise, with star-like yellow flowers (open on warm, sunny days), are both in bloom in this wintery weather. And perhaps in February, in the protected reaches of the DWARF CONIFER GARDEN, the smallest and earliest of our spring daffodils, Narcissus asturiensis, will suddenly appear from beneath the snow and pine needles. It has a tiny, delicate, nodding flower; the entire plant is no more than 3 to 4 inches tall. A brisk walk around the grounds, beginning at the SYNOPTIC GARDEN, will give you an opportunity to appreciate some outstanding kinds of bark. Toward the front of the garden you will see Birches with white trunks and branches of a rich reddish brown. The Cutleaf Maple, Acer griseum, and Japanese Clethra, Clethra barbinervis nearby, are two small trees with cinnamon brown shredding bark. See if you can find drooping spikes of small brown fruit. Some of the fanciest of all the barks belongs to the shrub dogwood family. The brightly colored twigs of these plants produce the most conspicuous color in the winter landscape. For maximum effect, a severe renewal pruning is recommended every year to induce strong new growth from the base of the plant. The older branches darken and are less attractive. The plants can be pruned to the ground in early spring, thus assuring brightly colored branches for at least the following two years. One form, Red-Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea, is most outstanding with its brilliant red bark. Another, Cornus sericea cv. Flaviramea, Yellow Twig Dogwood, bears yellow branches. There is also an Orange Twig variety called ‘Winter Flame.’Cytisus praecox, Scotch Broom, and two Japanese Kerrias, Kerria japonica, and Kerria japonica florepleno, have green branches. As you continue throughout the garden, notice two plants with very unusual growing habits. Corylus avellana cv. Contorta, Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick and Salix matsudana cv. Tortuosa, Corkscrew Willow, have extremely gnarled, tortuously twisting branches that are most evident in winter. It is also interesting to observe the buds on various trees and shrubs. Many, including Magnolias and Rhododendrons, set their buds during the previous summer and fall. It is easy to understand that a very bad winter can affect the quantity and quality of the following year’s bloom. As spring approaches, after at least eight weeks of cold weather, you might want to bring in branches to force early bloom indoors. This is best done with forsythia, pussy willow, and witch hazel, but with luck it can also be done with star magnolia, early rhododendron (R. dauricum and R. mucronulatum are best), cherries, crabapples, and early azaleas. Prune carefully so that you don’t destroy the shape of the plant. Put the branches in water and keep cool until the buds start to open. Then they can be moved into full light and enjoyed for the first breath of spring that they are. Don’t be impatient, it takes at least a month for the flowers to appear. Did you know that rhododendrons are an indicator of temperature? They curl their leaves in the cold as a protection against moisture loss. They do this in summer for protection against severe drought as well. Most begin to curl at about 32 degrees Fahrenheit; the tighter they curl the further the mercury has plunged. At zero, the leaves of just about every variety of rhododendron will be curled up tight. Some of the shrubs in the garden still have fruit on them. Note especially the Hollies, Skimmia, Sarcococca and the Viburnums; then see what others you can find. You may be surprised to find that Parrotia persica, Persian parrotia, with tiny reddish purple flowers, and Hamamelis cv. Arnold Promise, with star-like yellow flowers (open on warm, sunny days), are both in bloom in this wintery weather. And perhaps in February, in the protected reaches of the DWARF CONIFER GARDEN, the smallest and earliest of our spring daffodils, Narcissus asturiensis, will suddenly appear from beneath the snow and pine needles. It has a tiny, delicate, nodding flower; the entire plant is no more than 3 to 4 inches tall. Your last and most exciting stop should be the CAMELLIA HOUSE, just off the drive leading to COE HALL. These beautiful, glossy, green-leaved shrubs begin blooming before Christmas and reach their peak in late February. Their lovely red, pink, white, and variegated flowers are a cheerful contrast to the grounds outside. When Mr. Coe bought the plants from the Waterer Nursery in 1916, he did not realize that they were not winter hardy in this climate. A hastily erected structure was built to protect them from the cold and the more elaborate greenhouse that you see today was built later. The original collection was composed of more than 150 named cultivars-mostly Camellia japonica. Apart from the size and sheer numbers in the collection, this assemblage is important as it is the largest and oldest of its kind in America. It also includes plants from the first cultivar that was developed from the rarer Chinese species, Camellia reticulata cv. Captain Rawes—one whose excellence has not been surpassed in the intervening seven decades. We are also establishing a collection of hardy Camellias around the exterior of the CAMELLIA HOUSE. The greenhouse was renovated in the early 1980’s. It was dedicated to Mr. Coe’s second wife, Mai Rogers Coe, when it was reopened in 1983. Mai, like her husband, was interested in the horticultural development of Planting Fields and contributed greatly to making it the showplace it is today. Through their joint efforts and those of the dedicated staff that maintains the estate today, Planting Fields is truly a garden for all seasons. Arboretum Monthly Highlights are available at the Visitor Center located at the Main Greenhouse.