Now’s the time to look out the window and imagine what spring can bring

The end of November means a move toward indoor plants and plans.

Rake up the last of the fallen leaves and get ready for the starkness of winter. It is not too late to prune branches that block the views from windows or reach out and grab the sleeves of visitors.

The start of winter is also a time for scheming and dreaming, and after leading a group to see historic gardens of America on the East Coast (New York, Philadelphia and Washington) here are some take-home ideas for your own landscape:

Use ornamental grasses in large containers

The street containers of New York showcased the graceful weeping forms of Japanese forest grass as well as the rigid and upright forms of Miscanthus grass.

Foliage plants with large leaves provided contrast. The lime green leaves of sweet potato vine, the colorful form of coleus and the moody, dark tones from purple heucheras provided more color from foliage.

All this color and form with no faded blooms to deadhead. New Yorkers are tough survivors and so are the plants in their containers.

Colorful ceramic pots always stand out in the crowd

We visited big city gardens, country estate gardens, wild gardens and formal topiary gardens — and all showed gardens showcased colorful pottery.

There is more to pots than terra cotta orange. A wonderful illusion was created at Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia by arranging a collection of large pots so that the taller pots and plants were at the back and the shorter in the front like a stand of choir boys.

The arrangement sang beautifully but was also practical. When one plant was past its prime, it was easy to remove the entire pot and replace it with something of the same height but in prime condition. It’s no surprise that the diva plants were placed in front, spotlighted in blue ceramic pots.

Create vistas and views — no matter how small your garden

Just look outside your window and plan for a better view. Winter is the time of year when staring out windows can be the biggest spring inspiration.

Move overgrown shrubs and trees so you can open up views into the borrowed landscape across the street.

Beware of badgers

I met my very first badger on this trip.

The first time we were in the historic Bartram garden near Philly, and the pleasantly plump rodent moved rather slowly into a formal flower garden. Our guide suggested we give the fellow room.

A few days later a second, more confident badger wandered about his business at the National Arboretum in Washington. Don’t badger the badger, we were told — but maybe he was a wood chuck.

Either way, they are not friendly and they like to dig for grubs in the lawn. I would rather deal with moles any day.

George Washington did tell a lie….

Well, he sort of lied — but actually fooled a lot of people when he built his lovely home of Mount Vernon on the shores of the Potomac River.

The house and extensive gardens are lovely and the on-site museum one of the best, but it was a guide at the site who shared the president’s secret.

The house looks as if it’s made from stone blocks, when in reality sly George just had sand thrown on top of wet paint so that the gritty surface gave the illusion of stone.

Washington built his house of wood — carefully disguised as limestone.

So this spring I’ll be spray painting a plastic urn with gray paint and then tossing sand onto the matte surface. I’ll see if I can get the look of sandstone the same way George Washington did.

Gardeners and travelers never stop growing and learning.

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Now’s the time to look out the window and imagine what spring can bring."