Winter Condition Botonizin'

Above are some drawings of plants in winter condition.  The one on the left is the magnolia (Tulip Tree) in my back yard taken from my sketchbook.  The one of the right is from my garden journal of a gumweed plant I collected near the OU campus here in Tulsa.  I collected several other plants but they were so fragile in their winter condition that they did not survive my handling them.  I love botanizing in the winter.  Here is a list of Plants that winter over in their green state in my garden:  Star of Bethlehem, Black-eyed Susans, Larkspurs, Groundsel, Henbit, Winter Onions, Garlic, Speedwell, Winter Rye, Honeysuckle, Bachelor Buttons, Sedum, Mosses, & Spider Lillies.  So there is plenty to see here in our part of the country during Jan & Feb.  There are also plenty of insects that show up on warm days, even in Jan.  And, of course, you can see me out in the garden during those times.  Also, if one digs under the mulch or into the compost pile you can see a whole community of little creatures to study.  I would be happy to post a link to your site for any winter botanizing or gardening you have blogged.

I finally found a book on winter botanizing.  This one is by Carol Levine, "Wildflowers in Winter" available from amazon.com.  Unless one has a wildflower garden, many of the plants will not be found in this book.  But many gardeners love to go out and visit natural places...even in winter.  You can preview this and similar books on the amazon site.