Today’s photos are from Joan Ganley.

My garden in January is always a cold and snowy place. Looking out on the snowy landscape, I make notes of where I might improve my winter interest. In the backyard this currently includes ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs (Syringa pubescens ‘Miss Kim’, Zones 3–8), spruce (Picea, Zones 2–7), crabapples (Malus), Viburnum, ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius, Zones 2–8), ‘Matrona’ sedum (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Matrona’, Zones 2–9). There is also an obelisk and a birdbath.

My supervisor inspects the winter sowing project.

Fast-forward a couple of months to the first flowers of spring: Crocus.

Fritillaria pallidiflora (Zones 5–9) is a spring ephemeral with large, buttery yellow bell-shaped blooms that last about three weeks before setting seed and then disappearing underground until next year.

The garden is in full-swing by June with Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ (Zones 3–9), pink Paeonia veitchii (Zones 4–8), yellow Primula, the pink flowers on the crabapples, and the various-colored foliage of Heuchera. Clematis durandii (Zones 5–9), on the obelisk, will bloom from July through October, and Dahlia ‘Cornel Bronze’ (Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb) will start flowering in August and continue until frost.

Peonies are an early summer highlight throughout the garden, including the unusual peachy, copper color of Paeonia (Itoh) ‘Singing in the Rain’.

The supervisor is serious about his work and is always on the job. Here he is inspecting Dahlia ‘Ferncliff Copper’, which grew well over the height of our 6-foot fence.

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