Garden Galleries

Garden pathways are a classic garden element. Add some color to your pathway to brighten the cloudy days of winter. Choose your color to complement or contrast with your plants that are flowering at other times of the year.

Frequently found in older San Antonio neighborhoods, pittisporum is a long-lived large shrub that stays evergreen; boasts very fragrant white or cream flowers in the spring.

Bring a little Jurassic Park to your landscape. Not a true palm but a member of the ancient Cycad family of plants, segos were around with the dinosaurs. These plants have changed little since then. They are evergreen, long-lived and slow-growing -- so large ones are valuable. Can get nipped in a frost.

Here is a fun way to use not only bottles, but also bottle caps.

Ornamental kale (foreground) is a winter annual that will fade with warmer temperatures. The dark green bay laurel hedge (background) stays green year-round and is an interesting substitute to more common hedge choices such as red-tipped photenia, which is no longer recommended for our area. Yes, this is the same bay leaf used for cooking.

This busy bee is finding much-needed pollen from the blossoms of a Japanese cherry tree. In South Texas, cherry trees don’t wait until April to bloom and are sometimes blooming as early as the end of January. When planning your landscape, try to include some winter bloomers that pollinators can rely on.

This pear tree is a late winter bloomer and probably a better choice for our area than the cherry tree. It is also much enjoyed by our bees.

Looking for more color in your winter landscape? Garden containers come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Choose your favorite and place it in a visible spot right in your garden bed. Some pots don’t even need plants to look great.

New gold Lantanas are great WaterSaver plants that require cutting back in the winter. But leave them as long as possible as it provides winter cover for small birds and other wildlife. Cut it to the ground by March 1 and it’ll be full grown with no water by May.

This backyard is all set for mild winter nights with a fire pit on a pervious patio.

Winter is when your evergreen backbone plants shine. The spineless prickly pear retains its good looks all winter. Paired here with a European olive tree, its wispy silver green leaves provide nice contrast.

Rosemary is a workhorse in San Antonio gardens. It’s evergreen, freeze-hardy, tough as nails and comes in upright or trailing versions. And, you can use it in cooking or crafts, too.

Plants that sport winter berries, such as this yaupon holly, are a festive addition to a landscape and a must in any wildscape.

A mockingbird, the state bird of Texas, enjoying a hearty meal of yaupon berries.