YAKIMA, Wash.- It may be the middle of the summer, but the Yakima Area Arboretum is already preparing a garden for this winter and winters beyond.
The new Winter Garden in front of the Jewett Interpretive Center is designed to host plants that will keep its color even during the depths of the winter.
“A lot of thought went into curating the collection of plants that are here,” said the Arboretum’s Executive Director, Colleen Adams-Schuppe. “All of them will have something interesting about them that will really standout in the wintertime.”
While the full effect of the garden won’t be evident for a few more months, the garden will offer a change of pace from the white, snowy conditions seen throughout the city.
“When people plant gardens they always think of the summer, they don’t think of the wintertime or having a fantastic garden in the winter as well,” said Schuppe. “In general, when most gardens you think are going to rest in the wintertime, this particular garden, because of the type of plants we picked out, it should still look pretty fabulous in the winter.”
A carefully selected mix of plants and trees plan to grab attention as planners thought of every aspect of the plants and their colors.
“Some of the trees will have really interesting bark,” said Schuppe. ‘We have dogwoods out here that will have red bark or yellow bark so all of that will have some contrast of colors and textures throughout the winter.”
The plants are still growing and will need a couple of years before they are fully matured, but the Winter Garden is open for anyone to take a stroll through.
