WRITTEN BY VALERIE EASTON ILLUSTRATED BY JULIE NOTARIANNI

	Colchicum 'Dick Trotter'		Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'
	Geranium 'Rozanne'		Rosa 'Hansa'
	Hypericum kouytchense		Sarcococca hookeriana humilis
	Bergenia 'Eroica'		Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon'
	Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans'		Mahonia x media 'Winter Sun'

Even though Fox is now living in an apartment, he escapes being an armchair enthusiast by propagating potted plants on his balcony, as well as designing and tending the display border at Wells-Medina. That every plant on his list had to be find-able was a tough go for him. After all, who covets a plant that just anyone can buy? Searching for wriggle room, Fox extolled the virtues of desirable species and cultivars not possible to buy — yet, anyway. After much jockeying back and forth, he committed to a basic list of plants with good bones and seasonal effects for a small garden . . . and you can purchase every single one of them. You might consider these plants a knowledgeable compromise between the rare and the possible.

Fox grew up farming and gardening in Palmer, Alaska, so winter effects and hardiness are top criteria. He collects bergenias, appreciating their wine-tinted winter foliage that remains lush through the harshest weather. His pick is Bergenia 'Eroica,' an ideal groundcover in moist soil with especially long-lasting flowers. The vivid rose-pink spears are held aloft on red stems, and the fat, heart-shaped leaves turn cherry red with maroon undersides as the weather cools.

Another plant that shines in winter is the indispensable most frequently named by our experts; Fox chose sweet box (Sarcococca hookeriana humilis) because it's a glossy little evergreen with supremely fragrant, shaggy white blossoms that open in January to scent the garden during the bleakest months of the year. "This is one tough genus," says Fox. "It takes shade and drought and even thrives in wet clay soil."
 

MORE INDISPENSABLES Meaning-full Indispensables [Feb. 29, 2004]

He suggests tucking it beneath Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn,' a large, deciduous shrub with pleated leaves and fabulously fragrant little pink flowers that bloom from November well into March.

Even the most floriferous shrubs go out of bloom eventually, so Fox gains a second season of bloom by draping the viburnum with Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon.' Because this ruby-red flowering vine is a smaller-flowered viticella-type clematis, it doesn't suffer from the dreaded clematis wilt and can be cut down in autumn just as the viburnum opens.

"Hypericum have gotten a bad rap because of some weedy or disease-prone relatives, which is a shame," says Fox of this genus that thrives on neglect. He favors the elegant H. kouytchense, with pointed buds opening to golden-yellow flowers with a starburst of fluffy stamen, followed by bright red berries. A fine companion would be the hardy Geranium 'Rozanne,' which Fox admires for its wide-spreading mass of long-blooming flowers in a showy shade of blue centered with a white eye.

Colchicum 'Dick Trotter' offers two surprises: first, a burst of shiny foliage in spring, followed months later by luminous lavender flowers that look like oversized crocus. These unexpected harbingers of winter bloom from September until Halloween.

Apparently led by his nose and recollection of bleak Alaskan winters, Fox chose another fragrant winter-bloomer in the evergreen Mahonia x media 'Winter Sun.' Architectural in shape with handsome toothed leaves, it's beloved by hummingbirds for its topknot of nectar-bearing yellow flowers in January.

The plume Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans') is a conically shaped conifer that grows slowly to 30 feet and takes on wine-red tints in winter. You can keep it in a container when young, where its appealingly soft, shaggy texture can be appreciated close up.

Fox chose Rosa 'Hansa' as his last pick because this rugosa is so tough it thrives even in Palmer, Alaska, producing extremely fragrant, ruffled reddish-purple flowers in summer and juicy orange-red hips in autumn. "I've known this rose for over 40 years and still treasure the appearance of its first flowers every year,'' reminisces Fox, proving that for even the most studious of plant collectors, gardening is fraught with memories.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle free-lance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Julie Notarianni is a Seattle Times news artist.

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