Piedmont Master Gardener
Most of our yard is a lush green right now, despite those weeks with little rain and the April frost that knocked back some of our trees and shrubs. But it wasn’t long ago when we were grateful for any color that offered a respite from the bleak midwinter.
On one side, we could see flecks of gold when the sun caught the leaves that cling to our American beech trees through the cold months, a trait known as marcescence. On the other side, our old boxwoods, planted decades before we moved to our house near Crozet, provided a punch of green even when everything was covered with ice…