Red, White and Blue by KCB

Hello again,

KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family!

This week KCB goes on a local auto journey, also known as a "ride"; what KCB describes can be seen by all of us--what KCB describes is right around us!

Berry, Snow, Sky


Red, White & Blue. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear these colors mentioned? The American Flag? Good for you. Memorial Day? The 4th of July? New England Patriots?

For those who didn’t answer ‘the winter landscape’ perhaps soon you will.

Light powdery whiteness covered our earth again this week. The morning following the snow brought forth a blue sky as crisp as the ground beneath my feet. I ventured out early in the day to be greeted with snow relatively untouched. Chaste. Until I approached a Hawthorne Tree. Birds had already been busy knocking the bright red berries to the ground. Shielding my eyes to the sun, I looked through the branches to the sky beyond. Red against the Blue, Red against the white. I love the color red.

Red is the color of fire, blood. Passion, love, strength and determination are other attributes associated with red. It warms my soul. It makes me smile. Surely I am not alone.

Red is the perfect color for the winter garden. Red attracts and catches your eye. A glimpse of a cardinal scouring the white blanket for fallen seeds or taking rest on the snow tipped limb. Lipstick Red berries of the American Cranberry or Cardinal Candy Viburnum offer food for wintering birds and a feast for the eye. Who among us is not familiar with the Winterberry? Yes, there is the holly berry, bursting forth against the deep green gloss of the leaf. However, I prefer our deciduous friends. They offer naked branches armed only with berries against the winters of Maine.

Red punches of the winter landscape are not claimed by berries alone. Redosier or Red Twig Dogwood boast of red stems extending beyond the snowy landscape.

Train your eye to scan for red sprinkled along the horizon, not quite touching the blue or gray of a winter sky. Yet do not forget to look downward. The Cranberry or Creeping Cotoneaster offer red to maroon berries that wind and peak through the snow. When trained to cascade over the granite of wall, the berries appear as strands of garnet pearls.

Red is both Cupid and Devil. . .I am often reminded of this. On a recent drive, I glanced along the following landscape. Arches of dull red branches born from the Multiflora Rosa dominated the roadsides, power line trails and other places left unchecked. Waves of muted red rosehips like the road and my thoughts rambled for miles………

My ride was coming to an end but not the color red. The setting sun punctuated by naked branches set the horizon on fire. A sliver of blue embraced the graying landscape. As if to say Good Night, a cardinal weaved and dived as he made his way to shelter. I guess it was time for me to head home as well.

KCB
for Skillin's Greenhouses
January 18, 2008

P.S. Coming soon from KCB, some "How To" suggestions for creating a Winter Landscape--and more!