I love winter. I get excited to break out the warm coats (I may have too many in the closet) and put on a pot of hot tea. These gray months of cold and snow are a welcome respite. I don't even mind shoveling- it's good cardio. I'm tired. My garden is tired. The Winter Solstice is almost here and it is time for us both to take a nap- me under my fleece blanket with a purring cat, the yard under a blanket of snow. Time to make large batches of spicy chili and hearty, cheesy casseroles. Time to light candles with fragrances of cinnamon and pine. Time to binge watch all the seasons of Top Chef on Hulu and page through my cookbooks for inspiration. Time is no longer a luxury, but a beautiful 4 month stretch of activity (or inactivity) with my family.

But I understand that many of you out there don't share my positive winter vibes. If, to you, winter is a depressing slog that must be endured until spring arrives, here are some ideas to make the most of the season.

Sign up for Monarch Tagging

Visit Monarch Watch Shop and get a Monarch tagging kit for $15. Tagging monarchs helps collect data on their migration pathways, how weather affects their travels, and survival rates. Until the Monarchs return, get your Lepidoptera fix by visiting the Butterfly Wing at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

House Plants and Terrariums

Bring some green indoors. Studies have shown that houseplants purify air and lift spirits. But if you are like me and have an omnivorous cat that thinks potted plants are his personal salad bar, protect them in a bird cage or under glass. You can even decorate the Christmas tree with miniature terrariums. Or visit the largest terrarium in Southeast Wisconsin, the newly reopened Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes)

The Domes also hosts the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, free and open to the public on Saturdays, Nov 5-April 8.

Most outdoor public gardens are open year round. Many offer cross country skiing and snow shoeing. If you like a lower impact sport, paths are shoveled to allow for easy walking and provide inspiration. Look at how the natural forms of trees, shrubs, and perennials look when absent of foliage or decorated with frost and snow. During the holiday season, many public gardens also host outdoor lighting displays.

Check out: 

• Boerner Botanical Gardens, part of the Milwaukee County Parks system in Hales Corners
• Chicago Botanic Garden
• Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison, WI
• Allen Centennial Garden in Madison, WI
• Lake Park in Milwaukee (Enjoy lunch at the Lake Park Bistro while you are there)
• Urban Ecology Centers of Milwaukee- Riverside Park, Wasington Park, Menomonee Valley
• Janesville Rotary Gardens
• Green Bay Botanic Garden
• Lynden Sculpture Garden in River Hills, WI 

Feed the Birds

Winter is a good time to feed birds and bring them closer to the house for observation. The book Birds of Wisconsin Field Guide by Stan Tekiela will help you identify your new friends. Then when the days start getting longer and warmer, you can keep track of when the migrating birds begin returning from their winter vacations. Birdscaping in the Midwest by Mariette Nowak is a great resource to help you build a bird habitat in your yard.

Get Caught up on Your Reading

Speaking of books, start a Winter Garden Book Club with your friends who also like to garden. Some of my favorites:

• The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Bugs, and Wicked Plants - all by Amy Stewart
• Apples are from Kazakhstan - by Christopher Robbins
• The Botany of Desire and Cooked- by Michael Pollan
• Native Trees for North American Landscapes - by Guy Sternberg and Jim Wilson
• Jekka's Complete Herb Book - by Jekka McVicar
• Backyard Winter Gardening - by Caleb Warnock
• Bringing Nature Home - by Doug Tallamy

Make a Spring Resolution

Forget New Year's Resolutions, start planning now what you want to accomplish when spring arrives. Maybe you want to grow your own fruit trees and shrubs? These plants tend to sell out quickly in spring, so it is a good idea to pre-order them. Certain apple varieties like Haralson, Honeycrisp, Ida Red, and McIntosh are best for winter storage.

Browse through those colorful seed catalogs that will be arriving soon and layout your vegetable garden. Building a cold frame will allow you to start enjoying cool-season crops like spinach and other greens in early spring. If you plan correctly, you could also have potatoes and carrots through the next winter.

If you want to make changes to the yard, renovate the beds around the house, build a new patio, install a privacy screen, etc. don't wait until April to contact your landscape designer. We love it when clients contact us now, giving us the luxury of lots of time to put into a project. And if you want it professionally installed, you are given priority over those procrastinating folks that will contact us when the frost is gone!

If you still need more ideas on what to do while your garden is sleeping, watch a presentation I gave to the Master Gardeners in January 2016 on the subject.

Happy Holidays to you all and for Pete's sake, get some rest!

Our native Sycamore ( Platanus occidentalis ) is an ancient species and can be traced back to the Cretaceous Period. Native American tribes called them "Ghosts of the Forest" for their stark, spooky outlines in the winter landscape. They grow fast and can reach incredible heights of 100ft or more. Some Sycamores reached even greater heights. At the Botanical Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina, there stands a Sycamore tree planted on Arbor Day, March 19th, 1976. A plaque nearby reads "This sycamore was planted from a seed which traveled the January 31, 1971 Apollo 14 flight to the Moon. Command pilot Stuart Roosa is a former forest service smoke jumper. Commemorating the nation's bicentennial and forestry's centennial. 1976". 400-500 seeds of five different types of trees were taken on the Apollo 14 mission, to study the effects of weightlessness on germination and seedling growth. These stratospheric seedlings were planted throughout the country and earned the moniker "Moon Trees".

The nearest Moon Tree is located at Adler Park School in Libertyville, IL It is 1hr. 15mins. south from Menomonee Falls. Learn more >>

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