Winter

Winter in the Tawes Garden/Arboretum has its seasonal surprises: A Black-eyed Susan sculpture looking rather out of place with a covering of snow. A leathery brown shelf fungus furred in vivid green moss. The weird shapes of Bald Cypress knees rising through a layer of dead leaves, and the artful placement of boulders on a hillside. Small surprises that belong only to winter. But there are bigger ones too. Even while it's still barely noticeable--to us--that the days are lengthening, the plants are reacting to the increased light. The Lenten Roses will be blooming in February and not long afterwards drifts of Daffodils will start lighting up the bare woods. And there's still time for yet another surprise: a March snowfall to turn the landscape once again into a winter wonderland.