A Warm and Green December

Today is a misty and warm day in December.  We have been enjoying many warm days- warm enough to complete gardening tasks I wouldn't have begun until March.  In fact, it has been so warm that I keep thinking of trying out some cold weather vegetables.  I stop myself as I know that here in the Mid-Atlantic we don't really get our coldest days until January, February and March. The time is approaching, though, for starting seeds- planning this seasons gardens and dreaming, envisioning the great plan for my Bee Garden in the city. 

This year I have a few new opportunities as the trees and bushes in my garden have been growing tall enough to begin creating a shaded forest garden area for woodland herbs and plants.    In another area I have been observing, I see that there is shade almost until noon in all seasons and the larger Vitex bushes I have planted there next to my Witch-hazel, have grown in and give the area  bulk and depth.  I now think that some low-growing bushes are what is needed there.  As I plan, my thoughts are directed toward plants with many flowers available for honeybees, plants with herbal/medicinal uses and plants that flower across different seasons.  These are my three priorities- my guidelines as I search for the perfect plants for my garden which is small but has numerous micro-climates.

These areas in my garden are for more permanent plantings and contain trees, bushes, perennial wildflowers and some bulbs.  I try to find plants native to my area and useful to me as well as to the birds and insects living around here.  I am keeping in my mind a vision of a magical place that nurtures the senses, the spirits and the bodies of whoever visits.  A place that contains something green in every season; something useful or edible any time of year; a place that inspires any time of day or night.