Many gardeners think of winter gardens as desolate and bare. With some good plant choices, you can create a garden that is beautiful and colorful even in the dormant season.
Planting trees and shrubs with interesting shape, bark or decorative fruit in winter can create a colorful and structurally interesting cold-weather garden.
Trees that retain fruit into winter can also provide food for birds, beneficial insects and other wildlife. These creatures will provide you with some winter entertainment, too.
Some of my favorite trees with attractive fall and winter fruit include pomegranates (Punica granatum), persimmons(Diospyros ssp.) and crab apples (Malus ssp.). All of them do well in Napa County. Any pomegranates that split or fruit that is too high for me to reach stays on the tree for birds to enjoy all winter. Hanging from bare branches, the fruits look like Christmas ornaments.
California native shrubs with colorful winter berries that are good for birds and wreaths include toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), with its clusters of small red berries, and snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) which has white berries. You might also consider the eastern coralberry (Symphoricarpus orbiculatus), with white or pink berries.
Another California native tree with decorative winter fruit is the Western redbud (Cersis occidentalis). The fruits make a wonderful rustling sound in the wind, adding yet more pleasure to the winter garden. This drought-tolerant tree stays small and is thus a good choice for small yards. It produces magenta flowers in early spring, magenta pods in summer and yellow to red foliage in fall.
Look to trees and shrubs with fascinating bark or trunk shapes to provide interest in your deciduous garden. Trees with weeping or twisted branches can add a lot of drama. Some trees can be trained into intriguing shapes, while others have been expressly developed for branches that weep or twist.
I recently saw an example of a twisted black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) called 'Twisty Baby' with bright pink flowers. 'Twisty Baby' is Monrovia nursery's trademarked name for this cultivar. It is drought-tolerant like other locusts, but because it is a dwarf, only getting 8-10 feet tall it is suitable for a smaller garden .
Maples (Acer spp.), dogwoods (Cornus ssp.) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus ssp.) come in varieties with many different bark colors and textures. Some dogwoods are not deciduous, so choose carefully. The dogwood fruit is also good for wildlife.
For white-barked trees, many people often think of white birch (Betula pendula) or alder (Alnus rhombifolia or Alnus rubra). But these trees need well-drained soil and ample water. In our heavy clay soils, they are often not long lived. A better choice would be crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia ssp.) or lemon eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora).
Our native manzanitas (Archtostaphylos ssp.) are among my favorite red-barked shrubs with interesting forms. They come in many sizes, from low-growing ground covers to large shrubs that work as small trees. They produce clusters of small, urn-shaped flowers in late winter through spring. Later, these flowers yield small, apple-like fruits that birds enjoy.
Manzanitas need good drainage but will tolerate poor soils. Once established, they require little watering, as infrequently as once a month or less.
Closely related to manzanitas are two other good garden shrubs or small trees with similar water needs, red bark and unusual red fruits: Arbutus 'Marina' and Arbutus unedo, also known as the strawberry tree.
Many trees have bark with an interesting texture. I grew up with a Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia), which has bark that falls off to leave a mottled pattern or "puzzle bark" on the trunk. These trees are resistant to Dutch elm disease and have long, arching branches, making them lovely for a patio. On the other hand, they have small leaves and produce many small fruits that can be messy.
Another tree with so-called “puzzle bark” is the sycamore (Platunas ssp.). Both the American sycamore (Platunas occidentalis) and the California sycamore (P. racemosa) are useful, attractive and appropriate trees for Napa Valley.
Melaleuca (Melaleuca ssp.), Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus) and the paperbark maple (Acer griseus) are a few examples of trees with shredding or peeling bark. Melaleucas are native to Australia. They come in various shapes, sizes and flower colors. All are drought-tolerant and have interesting bark that peels off in papery layers. The smaller shrubby species are useful as screens. The flowers attract birds and bloom in a range of colors.
Catalina ironwood has reddish, scaly, shredding bark; narrow scalloped leaves; and showy clusters of creamy white flowers in early summer. It needs good drainage, so choose its location carefully or it will not thrive.
The paperbark maple has lovely red bark in winter, showy fruit in summer and bright red fall color.
Yvonne Rasmussen is a UC Master Gardener. UC Master Gardeners of Napa County (http://cenapa.ucdavis.edu) answer gardening questions Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon, at the UC Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143.