A winter view, re-evaluated

Last week I extolled the virtues of Carex buchananii, a mounding brown grass that's a real plus in my winter garden. Continuing the theme of critical garden evaluation, this week I'm decrying the ugliness of two other mounds of brown in my winter view.

These two Potentilla are long-time residents of the garden, planted in 2008. On the left is P. fruticosa 'Sunset Red' and on the right is P. fruticosa 'McKay's White'. (In between is an Abutilon that succumbed to our December cold blast. What a forlorn trio!)

'Sunset Red' long ago reverted to a plain yellow flower, probably because it now gets less sun than it would like. It's nice enough in summer, but not what I bought it for.

'McKay's White' is delightful for three or four months of the year when it's covered with tiny simple white blossoms.

But look at it now (and I do every day) - it's not doing anything for the garden. It takes up precious space at the front of the border when it's not even green, let alone not blooming.

I've always liked the finely cut gray-green leaves and slightly tough look of Potentilla foliage. When I planted these two I was under the impression that they were semi-evergreen in our climate, but that hasn't been the case for mine, even in mild winters.

For several years, the Mulch Man has lobbied for my taking them out and I've resisted. This year, for the sake of our winter view, I've reluctantly come to agree with him: Those two brown blobs have got to go.

Having made the difficult decision to remove them, the fun comes in deciding what I'll find to take their places - stay tuned for exciting spring developments!