It’s easy to ignore evergreens when the yard is loaded with flowers. Often called the “bones” of the landscape, some evergreens are about as sexy during the summer as just that — bones. The “flesh” draws all the attention when times are good: flowers, bolder and more sensual, steal the show while warm winds blow.

But when Old Man Winter arrives in the North, blowing icy gusts that chill us to the bone, we rediscover our admiration for that mousy little Blue Star juniper over there in the corner. It’s not that the evergreen, itself has changed; it’s just that the deciduous flowering plants around it have been deprived of foliage and flower alike. Evergreens have become the only game in town, a rare commodity. Suddenly, their stock price soars. Read more…