If you have heard it once you have heard it a thousand times: "plan your garden for four-season interest." Well, did you? The true test is probably today: look out your window right now and tell me if you have been successful. If the leaves are off the trees, the fall colors are gone, and the summer blooms are long faded, what is left? Do you have texture, color, structure, seed heads, and those hardscape "bones" that make the winter garden interesting? Does it look nice today? It's okay if you say "no" ('cause you are probably alone anyway). It's okay if you haven't gotten the hang of creating a four-season garden. In fact,I think it is the Holy Grail of Chicagoland garden design. That elusive, fabled quest of gardening nirvana—filled with all the dragons, wizards, swords (or at least pruners) and journeys of a King Arthur-like tale.

In the November/December issue of Chicagoland Gardening, I wrote an article about designing for the view from a window (Check out the article in the new E-Zine. You'll need the Entry code printed on page 59 of the magazine). In the story I talked with Zach Lukes, project director at Hinsdale Nurseries, Willowbrook, and David Van Zelst, president of Van Zelst, Inc., Wadsworth. Here's what they say about year-round interest:

"Texture, foliage and color all play roles in a good four-season planting. Think of not just spring and summer, but fall and winter as well." Lukes designs with form, bark, and snow-holding capabilities in mind. For instance, a globe blue spruce plus perennials that have fall color make a nice fall planting that holds its form through the winter. He likes long-lasting perennials like black-eyed Susans, switch grasses, Miscanthus spp. grasses and sedum paired with broadleaf evergreens like boxwoods, hollies, winterberries and conifer evergreens.

Van Zelst points out, "As designers we look for seasonal color, seasonal change and interest in all four seasons. The season that is most overlooked in our area is late fall and early winter." Hetells clients to fore go the fall clean up. "Don't cut things to the ground in late fall. Leave the perennials standing. The snow and ice that fall on them can be exquisite."

—Michelle Byrne Walsh