Winter Interest: Brown Is A Color Too

Yes, BROWN is a color. Yes, it can be quite boring. But in the category of “work with what you are given”, we have abundant BROWN during our Chicagoland winters. This little guy certainly “worked his BROWN”. He is BROWN to begin with, and he has chosen a BROWN scarf. Still, he is totally adorable. So give the BROWN some love, I’ll show you how.

BROWN might not seem so appealing in your garden, but it can be. I think sedum can be one of the highlights. Contrast it against snow, and you have instant pretty. We don’t cut ours back till spring, and as you can see, the sedum is not alone. Even the dried out annual in the milk can and the old BROWN pump add winter interest right from our back door.

There are a LOT of things we don’t cut back till spring. We let the snow land on plants that are past prime and its way better than flat. Sure, the sweet autumn clematis below isn’t quite in its glory, still, its better than looking at a plain ol’ fence. We did cut it back in 2021 and let the BROWN sun shine through. I’m not sure that was the best way to go since we saw more of our neighbors house. BROWN would have been better and we did let it stay this year. On the other hand, seeing more of our interesting BROWN fence is always a bonus.

Are you wondering what those BROWN stems are in the photos above? Well wonder no more. Consider weeping trees in your garden and be rewarded with BROWN winter interest. Here is our weeping mulberry, and no, it doesn’t make those messy berries.

My gosh, as I look around I keep finding more BROWN. Mike moved our log pile this winter. It just happens to be in our line of sight from the house. Who would have known that it would be nice to look at?

teddy bear

Then there is my favorite BROWN of all, Aubrey, happily running around the yard no matter how cold it is. 75 pounds of bouncy cute!

So go on out there and enjoy the brown while you can, because it won’t be long till you have to look at spring flowers bursting with vibrant colors instead.

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