More Winter Interest Plants

September 21, 2024

Fort Vancouver Garden

I was not interested in watching the debate last week, so I decided to get out of the house. I've been wanting to visit the Fort Vancouver Garden for years and decided to go on the spur of the moment. Once I got there, it occurred to me that this was not the peak time to see a vegetable garden but what I did see was interesting and there were quite a number for visitors milling about. This garden once comprised eight acres and the food grown there fed the Hudson's Bay Company Fort's residents. Today's garden is a smaller version and the vegetables and flowers grown there are some of the same varieties found in the fort's records. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Beautyberry (Callicarpa)

As we hunker down and await whatever the Weather Gods send - freezing rain and snow coming later this afternoon - I'm taking stock of the remaining plants that bring some interest in the garden this time of year. I previously wrote about conifers and evergreen trees and shrubs. Here are a few more, some that are not evergreen at all, but offer drama in the form of structure and form.

Evergreen Clematis (Clematis armandii)

It got really cold last night - around 20 and today's high is only 21! I covered a few things - a eucalyptus that I planted late in the summer, the loquat tree and I brought the African Boxwood into the garage. Everything else will have to fend for itself. We were mainly concerned about our beloved hummingbirds. I brought in the feeders last night and got up earlier than usual to put them back out. Michael tried wrapping them in fabric so we will see how that works.