"Still planning my neighbor's front yard garden, I am hunting for plants that will carry her through the winter as pleasantly as they do in summer. So I put on mud boots and trek through my own yard to view the carnage. Instead, I find the silver lining - plants that really passed the test! The winter heath is blooming heavily and the summer heather is standing erect with foliage in gorgeous hues of bronze, coral and red. The hellebores are still green, and there are buds forming under the slightly tattered foliage. Sweet woodruff still looks sprightly, and the silver foliage of the low growing Veronica incana 'Sarabande' looks as fresh as springtime. Primula foliage is still as crisp as lettuce, the creeping phlox looks as good as new, and so does the evergreen candytuft. And the heucheras are a bit battered, but still valiant."

"Other plants are no longer green, but they do present an interesting look - not exactly beautiful, but still hopeful. The framework of the fountain-like Japanese maple is spectacular. The fragile skeleton of Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' is an interesting silhouette in bronze and the remains of the 'Autumn Joy' and Rosy Glow' sedum are still attractive. A miscanthus still looks like a perfect buff-colored shadow of its summer self. The 'Elijah Blue' fescues could stand a haircut, but are still blue beneath their little scorched tips."

"So just from my own yard I can see dozens of possibilities for the front yard garden across the street that will keep it from looking like a vast wasteland in winter."

"If you recall from last week this garden now has its "bones" planned - a white birch in the front corner, fronted by red twigged dogwoods, plus a cluster of rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas in the opposite corner with a bench tucked between them against the stone wall. There is a fieldstone path leading to the bench and bisecting the garden. The front quarter of the garden is in filtered shade, but as we near the front walk we have some sunny areas."

"We are dealing with good, if acid, soil here, and zone 6 climate conditions - and since I have those same conditions in my own yard I know that anything that works there will work here. We are also dealing with a homeowner who has a few considerations of her own."

"She loves Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' - it's what got her interested in having a garden in the first place. So I was delighted to find it not entirely unsightly. She also loved variegated and purple foliaged plants. And she loves to sit on her front porch in the evening to watch the world go by, so a few plants for evening enjoyment are needed here."

"Starting with the shady side, the first plants I chose were hellebores. The glossy green foliage stays green all winter, and they are the first things that bloom in spring. I plant these in a semicircular drift around the birch and dogwoods, and bring them as close to the bench as possible because their downward facing flowers invite close inspection. Behind the birch I add Christmas fern, which is evergreen and adds a nice texture in front of the stone wall. Since the hellebore foliage is rather architectural, I want something evergreen with fine foliage for contrast. "

"Creeping phlox answers the description, and the pink candy striped variety will blend well with the pink tones of most Helleborus orientalis. It also creeps quite well, so it will eventually carpet an area with spring bloom, as you can see in this picture. At the same time I add more ferns in front of the rhododendrons next to the house, since this corner is still somewhat shady."

"To contrast with the ferns on the opposite side, near the house, I add a hosta with gold edges and green center to that corner. The area gets sunnier here, and gold foliage is more sun tolerant
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