Worried about winter

The worry beads are already working overtime for gardeners. One day it's 10C and insects are hatching, and the next its -35C and human nostrils are freezing shut. Readers like Helen Barcza were troubled.

"Twenty daffodils are sprouting 6-10 inches high. There's no snow, should I dig them up, put branches on them or just give up", she writes.

Never give up Helen. Since the first optimist plunged a trowel in the ground, spring bulbs have been growing green leaves during winter warm spells, than hibernating when it gets cold. By spring their botanical clocks are right on schedule, and the daffodils, tulips and crocus bloom as they should. Adding branches or leaves is fine, but do it after the ground freezes.

It was bittersweet seeing the grassy leaves of daffodils in January, there were a few days so warm it seemed like trout season was just around the corner.

Now the frozen ground is as hospitable as the Mars landscape. At least there is a blanket of snow in many places, and if the garden is planned wisely, the snow clings to shapely things in surprising ways.

Believe me there is beauty to be discovered in the winter garden, its found in shapes, shadows and silhouettes.

Take kale (ornamental cabbage), good in soups, great in the ground. In the summer, it's unassuming like a sturdy foundation garment, in the fall it's a scene-stealer in striking colours, in the winter, there it is, still pumping up its profile. A big planting of it covered in snow looks like a Caspar the Friendly Ghost convention. Brush off the snow and kale reveals ruffled leaves the colour of sautéed shrimp. On a brutally cold day, a bunch of kale casting plump shadows can make you smile in spite of yourself.

So what else warms up the winter landscape? A plump specimen of American bittersweet Celastrus scandens will light up the skies with berries as sizzling as firecrackers. The red fruit is abundant and looks electric against a winter blue sky. American bittersweet is a deciduous, thick, woody vine that needs a strong support. Let it loose and it can put the squeeze on shrubs or small trees. But it is a wiser choice than the invasive oriental bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus which is a threat to native habitats.

Evergreens of course add a solid dimension to the winter landscape, but the shadows cast by deciduous trees are starkly beautiful. Picture the sharp outlines of fruit trees against pristine white snow, or the fragile shadows cast by branches on a stone wall.

For those yearning for leaves, some oaks and beeches will cling to crispy leaves through the long winter. They will rattle away in the wind, brown as cinnamon contrasting with a carpet of snow.

It's often subtle, the winter beauty of the garden, but always worth planning for and discovering.