Finding Color in Winter

           Lacking summer's vivid colors, winter may at first glance seem rather drab.  However, if you take a walk looking for color, you may find it in some interesting places, both in nature and in the garden.   


          The green and white stripes of a single leaf found among the leaf litter on the forest floor indicate a future orchid.  The single basal leaf of the puttyroot orchid emerges in the fall and remains through winter and into spring, when it withers and disappears just as a stalk, or raceme appears.  The raceme will have about a dozen tiny orchid flowers.  The size of the flowers, as well as the pale, muted colors makes them very hard to see.  The orchid blooms for about two weeks during summer.  It is believed that a substance in the plant's corm was once used as putty to repair broken pottery.

Puttyroot orchid leaf, Aplectrum hyemale

           Another single leaf orchid is the crane-fly orchid.  It, too, emerges in autumn and is gone by the time the flower blooms in late summer.  The top of the leaf is dull green but the underside is purple.  Despite the flower’s long spur, they are small and often difficult to spot.

Crane-fly orchid leaf, Tipularia discolor

The purplish underside.

 

 

            The distinct silvery veins of the downy rattlesnake plantain, Goodyera pubescens, are attractive and easy to see, even among the leaf litter.  This native evergreen orchid blooms in late summer, producing a spike of white flowers.  The entire plant is covered in fine, downy hair. Pubescens in the botanical name means hairy.

Rattlesnake plantain

 

          In a container garden, euphorbia leaves provide interesting color.  Euphorbias belong to a diverse group of plants worldwide that includes cacti, trees, flowers and even the Christmas poinsettia.  All have a toxic substance that can irritate skin.  Some non native euphorbias can be invasive in the garden.

Euphorbia

 

            In shade gardens, Lenten rose, Helleborus spp, is an evergreen plant that blooms in winter.  These hardy, drought tolerant perennials add color and interest to the winter garden.  Despite the name they are not roses, nor are they native. 

Lenten rose

   


           With less showy flowers but great chartreuse color, Helleborus foetidus, also known as "stinking hellebore," adds color and interest to the garden in winter.

Stinking hellebore

Unlike the open flowers of most hellebores, this one features drooping, cup-shaped flowers.