This time of year, you see so many conifers—spruces and pines and firs lined up in Christmas tree lots or lashed to car roofs or covered in colored lights—that you might wonder: how will I live without them come January? You don't have to:

Above: Blue-tinged leaves are a silvery complement to other plants. Picea pungens 'Montgomery' is a dwarf blue spruce that will grow no more than ten feet tall or wide. Hardy in USDA growing zones three through eight; find your USDA Hardiness Zone on the US National Arboretum Map. Photograph by Hickory Hollow Nursery and Garden Center via Flickr. For more information, contact Hickory Hollow.

Above: A low-growing ground hugger, Juniperus squamata'Blue Star' reaches a height of 16 inches and is hardy from zones four through eight; a 4-inch-tall starter plant is $5.95 from Evergreen Plant Nursery. Photograph by Jonathan Landsman via Flickr.

Above: The bottom side of a needle on Abies koreana'Horstmann's Silberlocke' is white, which gives the Silver Korean Fir a snow-covered look even in summer. Hardy from zones five to eight, it will reach a height of 30 feet. A one-gallon pot of 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' is $35 from Singing Tree Gardens. Photograph by Megan Hansen via Flickr.

Above: White fir (Abies concolor) is native to the western US and can reach a height of 200 feet if left to its own devices (growing on the side of a mountain, say). A tiny 2-foot-tall Abies Concolor is $25 from Forest Farm. Photograph by WBLA Corky via Flickr.

Above: 'Blue Totem' is one of many varieties of blue spruce; some reach heights of 50 feet. Hardy from zones three to eight, it prefers full sun. A Picea pungens 'Blue Totem' in a one-gallon pot is $34.50 from Carters. Photograph by F.D. Richards via Flickr.

Here in Brooklyn we know winter is on its way. The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting plenty of snow and ice for the eastern half of the country this year. So what’s a plant lover to do when it’s too cold and miserable to visit outdoor gardens?

Photographs by Jeanne Rostaing for Gardenista except where noted.

Above: An option for those lucky enough to be able to get to Pittsburgh is the Phipps Conservatory. Unlike our big public gardens here in New York City, which are mainly outdoor gardens attached to relatively small indoor display spaces, the Phipps is largely under glass—perfect for cold weather visiting. Photograph by RJ via Flickr.

Above: Indoors, it's a completely different climate. Photograph by Adam Prince via Flickr.

Above: A gift to the city in 1893 from steel and real estate tycoon Henry Phipps, the conservatory is a Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Phipps declared that the purpose of his gift was to educate and entertain the people of Pittsburgh. One hundred nineteen years later, that is still happening. Within the sprawling Victorian greenhouse are 17 different garden rooms. It seems that no matter what the visitor wants to see, there is a room for it here.

Above: But for those who come simply to see the plants, it is the meticulously tended spaces tucked away in the original Lord and Burnham glass house that offer the most delightful surprises.

Above: In recent years the Phipps has embarked on an ambitious state-of-the-art capital expansion plan. In 2005 it opened a soaring glass welcome center which was the world’s first LEED-certified building in a public garden. Other green buildings have followed, including the 15,000-square-foot Tropical Forest Conservatory. Photograph by Carrie Chan via Flickr.

Above: In the orchid room exotic blooms are tucked high and low almost like Easter eggs at a spring time hunt. If you look closely you will see that the space is populated by the whimsical glass figures of East German-born artist Hans Godo Fräbel.

Above: Dale Chihuly is another artist who has partnered with Phipps. Thirty pieces of fanciful colored glass sculpture adorn the conservatory and include a large yellow and teal chandelier that hangs in the 50-foot rotunda of the welcome center. Other pieces appear throughout the garden… distinctive in their shapes and hues but never out of synch with the surroundings.

In the desert room a Chihuly glass star hangs from the ceiling. The plants nearby echo its spiky form. One can imagine how delightful it would be to stand in this room when the snow is swirling outside.

Above: Fräbel's "Tower" glass installation. For more information about the exhibition, visit Phipps Conservatory. Photograph by Via Tsuji via Flickr.

For another conservatory to visit this winter, see "Modern Vertical Gardens for a Victorian Glass Palace."

You aren't the only one looking to stay warm and safe during winter storms. Consider a roosting box to provide a haven for local birds.

Different from nesting boxes or houses, roosting boxes have entrances at the bottom, to keep warm air trapped inside the box. They typically come with perch pegs or ladders to allow a crowd of birds to huddle together to escape bad weather and benefit from each other's body heat. Place the house where it will receive the most sunlight to maximize warmth.

Above: Duncraft's Convertible Roosting House has a ladder inside to allow six or more birds to perch. In spring, the box can be converted into a nesting box by removing the ladder and turning the front panel so the entry hole is at the top. Crafted of Eastern white pine with a slate predator guard around the entrance, it measures 7-by-9-by-13 inches; $59.95 at Duncraft.

Above: Made of Eastern white pine, Coveside's Small Winter Roosting House is perfectly proportioned for most small backyard birds. It measures 13 inches tall and 9 inches wide and comes with a metal hanger, slate predator protector around the entrance, and a tilting front panel for easy cleaning; $34.23 at Amazon.

Above: Made in Michigan, the cedar Stovall 15H Roosting Box features an opening panel for cleaning and two 15-inch perches inside. The large two inch diameter opening to allow multiple species to use it at the same time during extreme cold weather; $31.19 at Amazon.

Above: The WoodLink Cedar Winter Roosting Box measures 9.75 inches wide and 14.75 inches high; $42.78 at ATG Stores.

N.B.: See our other Avian Dwelling Posts for more ideas.

It’s well known that the natural majesty of the Hudson River inspired the eponymous Hudson River School of landscape painters. A less-known fact, however, is that the major American landscape designers Alexander Jackson Downing, Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, and Fletcher Steele all had a part in shaping the landscapes of the Hudson Valley.

In Gardens of the Hudson Valley, photographers Steve Gross and Susan Daley render the historic landscapes with images whose sweeping views and lush plantings are like paintings in themselves.

Above: A sweeping view of the river with the changing autumn leaves.

Above: The 25 gardens include private ones as well as ones as that are open to the public.

Above: The fertile river beds provide lush plantings.

Above: A quiet vignette displays a neo-classical urn being used as a planter.

Above: Gardens of the Hudson Valley, photographed by Steve Gross and Susan Daley and written by Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner; $31.50 at Amazon and £28.80 at Amazon UK.

N.B. For another example of landscape design from the same era, see America's Greatest Forgotten Garden.

When I moved into our current home, I was delighted that there were three large olive trees in the garden. When autumn came, the trees were laden with plump, black olives. Imagine my dismay when I discovered a hole in each, the result of a worm. I promptly went out and bought a couple of small olive trees in pots and for the past few years have managed to get at least four small jars of cured olives out of them.

Curing olives is easy, requiring nothing more than salt and water and a little attention. See below for details and if you are the sort of person who finds weekly tending to olives a bore, you can always try the slacker's approach: chuck all the olives in a pillowcase, drown in salt and hang from a tree. Leave for several months (even in the rain). Taste periodically and one day you will know they are ready when suddenly they taste good. (I tried this one year after a friend gave me five huge buckets of olives.)

Above: The small olive tree in a pot in the garden produces enough olives for two small jars.

Above: Olives ripe for picking.

Above: The three simple elements needed for curing: salt, water, and olives. RInse the olives, put them in a jar along with a healthy handful of salt and mix around. Use a weight on top to make sure all the olives are submerged. Change the salted water weekly (or thereabouts). Store in a dark place for four to five months.

Above: Two jars of home-brined olives.

N.B.: For more DIY holiday gifts, see "DIY: Moroccan Preserved Lemons."

We always suspected our readers are incredible gardeners. Now we're thrilled to have hard evidence.

After asking you a couple of weeks ago to send us photos of your gardens, we've been deluged with beauty. Thank you for sending us so many secret gardens: glimpses through a gate of a meandering path strewn with succulents; great sweeps of misty lawn bordered by seaside flower beds, and tiny, perfect jewel box balconies. We'll be featuring several of our favorites in upcoming weeks.

To kick off the series, today we're visiting screenwriter Maria Nation in western Massachusetts, at her home in Ashley Falls where she's taught herself cloud pruning to create a garden with good bones. Excellent bones, actually. Here's the story of how it got that way:

Photographs by Maria Nation.

"I had lived in New York in the Eighties, and loved it, and then moved to Boston and didn't love it, and I got the idea that if I could afford it, if I could buy a weekend house in the Berkshires, all my New York friends would come up and visit me," says Nation. "I found an old farmhouse, and that was it. I bought it, and I've lived here ever since."

That was in 1997. There were eight acres. There was no garden. "There was grass, and more grass, and shrubs here and there," Nation says.

Eight acres, from scratch? Was this daunting?

"I've always loved having my hands in dirt," she says.

That was the start of her first garden.

"The first two or three years, I worked feverishly, but without a plan," says Nation. "I just put stuff in the ground."

One day local horticulturalist Barbara Bockbrader, who owns the nearby gardening store Campo di' Fiori, came over to give Nation a one-hour consultation. Says Nation, "We were walking around, looking at basically this mess I'd made, and she said, 'Take a mower and mow where you walk from point A to point B in a day, and make that a path. Make the rest garden.' "

That was the start of Nation's second garden.

Nation dug out all the old beds and gave away plants to friends. She tore down a stone wall and rebuilt it. And she put in new gardens all along her daily route, building, building, building, until one day she had a massive perennial garden. And word got out. "People kept coming over, and admiring it, and everybody said, 'It's exuberant.'

"The garden was so big, it wound around the house, and it went down the hill, and there was a greenhouse and a wood fired bake oven and ... something went off in her head: "I started thinking that it was like a migraine headache."

"I realized the garden owned me now," Nation says. "It was like a monster. And I was in a pit of despair because now I'd spent a decade doing it, and I hated it, and it owned me."

Then she discovered the work of French gardener Nicole de Vésian, in Provence. "Her private garden was like some cosmic thunderbolt. It took my breath away -- it was all boxwoods, clipped and shaped, and it was so serene and beginning a garden at age 70."

That was the start of Nation's third garden.

Now she has boxwoods and evergreens and shrubs, instead of flower beds, and it's all about structure, and the play of light on the shapes, and the color of the foliage. And it's exceptionally beautiful.

"That was three years ago," says Nation. "I remember when I put it in, it was late October, and it was raining and it was dark and I was standing out there and looking at my dirt, studying how to do this, how to plant things so that the garden could grow into itself over the years, and the tools were muddy, and the dogs were looking at me like I was crazy.

"And I couldn't believe how happy I was," she says. "It was then that I realized that the line between ecstasy and insanity is really thin, and I was standing on it."

"That was the beginning of what you see now, and it's no longer exuberant, but it's right," says Nation.

Because it is built around evergreens, the garden maintains its structure and beauty year round. Armed with books by sculptor Jake Hobson, who trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and spent several years in Japan learning pruning techniques, Nation started to shape her shrubs into soft, billowy shrubs.

(N.B.: For more about Hobson's pruning techniques, see "Topiary: Cloud Pruning as Arboreal Art.")

On the eight acres, Nation and her partner Roberto also have a working farm, and supply local restaurants with produce. They keep a rescue donkey, and a rescue horse, so they also have a pasture. And there are dogs, of course—she named the property Good Dogs Farm because "there are always good dogs around."

In the autumn, the spirea leaves turn bright yellow, a foil for the green boxwood.

The view from the porch: a maple tree in late autumn.

"Everybody loves their garden, but I don't think anybody loves their garden as much as I love this garden," says Nation. "I really worked for it."

Would you like us to feature your garden in an upcoming post? If so, send us some photos. For more information, see "In Search of Secret Gardens, Reader Edition."

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What's a gardener to do in the off season, after the beds have been put to rest and next year's wish list of plants and seeds, raised beds, and fruit-filled strawberry pots fully envisioned? Accessorize, of course.

Take a look at your bare-bones outdoor setting and see what it needs to fortify it (and you) through the winter. Here's what we'd like for our own gardens:

Above: West Elm Market's multi-pocketed cotton Garden Tote, $39, is designed to hold tools, but works equally well for a wallet and laptop.

Above: Nearly 150 feet of rope go into each Celtic Knot Door Mat, $62, hand tied by Etsy seller Stalking the Wild Snark.

Above: Dramm Hoses in colors to remind you of summer. Made of rubber and nickel-plated brass, each is 50 feet long and $69.95 from West Elm Market.

Above: Stoneware Thrown Bells with walnut knockers, handmade by Michele Quan (formerly of Me & Ro Jewelry). They're suspended from knotted hemp and are $215 each from Love Adorned.

Above: A set of three Nesting Fruit Boxes made of oak from a demolished Pennsylvania hardware store and finished with tung oil for water resistance; $90 from Peg & Awl.

Above: A Patterned Garden Tool Set—trowel, pruner, and fork—made of aluminum and steel, from West Elm Market for $29.

Above: A Fermob Bistro Floreal Folding Table, 38 inches in diameter, comes in 23 colors, including storm gray, cotton, and linen; $391 at The Garden Gates.

Above: A Handmade Carved Oak Rope Swing, ready to be attached to a tall, sturdy tree branch or a barn beam, is $200 from Kauffman Mercantile.

Above: A set of ten Reclaimed Wood Garden Stakes comes with a pencil and is $22 from West Elm Market.

Above: A string of 5-Tier Temple Bells wind chimes, inspired by ancient Chinese bells and made of copper-plated steel or brass, is $45 from Potted.

Enter the West Elm Market Giveaway to win $250 of clever, hard-working, time-saving, clutter-busting solutions for everyday living.

Every family has one: the weather buff; and, what would we do without them? Here's a round-up of gift ideas for the weather watcher (and measurer, and predictor, and reporter) in your life.

N.B.: To make sure we've got everyone on your list covered, see all of our gift guides to date in our House Gifts section.

Above: A Zinc Thermometer from Terrain measures just shy of 20 inches tall. Designed to develop a patina over time, it's $48.

Above: An accessory for the science-minded, the hand blown glass Radiometer (invented in 1873 by Sir WilliamCrookes), is powered solely by the sun. The black vanes absorb light while the silver reflect it, creating a difference in temperature that causes the vanes to turn. The 7.5-inch- tall Radiometer is $42 at Schoolhouse Electric.

Above: New England craftsman Steve Conant makes rain gauges using techniques developed in the19th century. The Conant Estate Stainless Steel Rain Gauge is 26 inches tall; currently on sale for $47 (regularly $159) at Restoration Hardware. A Conant Estate Brass Rain Gauge is available in brass for $118.17 at Amazon. For the more technically oriented (or those who like to read their gauges from the comfort of the indoors), consider the Oregon Scientific (RGR202) Wireless Weather Station; $44.35 at Amazon.

Above: An age-old weather predictor, the 2013 Old Farmer's Almanac Classic Edition offers facts, practical advice, and entertaining articles. The book is edited by region; $5.99.

Above: An All-Weather Pocket Memo Notebook from Rite in the Rain features a soft, flexible cover and all-weather paper that sheds water, letting you write in any weather conditions with a pencil or all-weather pen. It measures a compact 3.5 by 5 inches and is $4.25. The Black Metal All-Weather Pen is $10.95.

Word of mouth. That's the way most gardeners learn there's an amazing collection of moss-covered terra cotta pots at a nearby florist's shop or that a shipment of unusual hellebores just arrived at the local nursery. It feels like a "find" every time—but also a little haphazard. Time to make a list.

What's your favorite shop? Maybe it's a family-owned nursery that's been in your town for three generations. Or a brand-new florist's shop your best friend's daughter opened last month. Or a Japanese tool store that's willing to ship overseas.

We're making a list of all the best sources to go to if we need a new pair of pruners, or a truckload of mushroom mulch, or a special bouquet for a friend's birthday. Help us make sure your favorite shop is on the list. Here's how:

• Send email to edit@remodelista.com with the name of your favorite shop and where to find it (its address or website, for instance).
• Tell us why you like the shop, and we'll include your review and credit you for the "find" when we make a list of everybody's favorites.
• We'll publish the list on Gardenista after the New Year (when we'll all need something new to tide us over until the ground thaws).

To get us started, here are a few of our own favorite shops:

Above: Julie discovered Crimson Horticultural Rarities in Oakland last summer; it describes itself as a "rare plant shop and floral design boutique" specializing in unexpected vegetative decor (plus terrariums and taxidermy. We love the science-y vibe, with all those chemistry beakers repurposed as vases.

For more, see "Oakland's Coolest Flower Shop."

Above: In central Stockholm, the gift shop at RosendalsTrädgård offers seeds for sale, including peas; instructions included. Image by Maurice Flower, via Flickr. For more, see "Shopper's Diary: Rosendal's Tradgard."

Above: In his Tokyo shop Sinajina, bonsai artist Kenji Kobayashi sells whimsical creations, including miniature landscapes, hedgehogs that grow moss on their backs, and pine seedlings that literally tie themselves into knots to please him. For more, see "A Bonsai Revolutionary."

Above: Snug Harbor Farm in southern Maine is a must-stop shop, specializing in everything from topiary to willow garden accessories to fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. For more, see "Snug Harbor Farm: Your First Stop in Maine."

Above: At Oliver Gustav's moody antique garden shop in Copenhagen, you are as likely to find formally pruned topiaries and busts of the philosophers as a basket of crocus bulbs that got tired of waiting for daylight—and went ahead and bloomed in a hand-turned wooden bowl. For more, see "Shopper's Diary: Oliver Gustav's Antquaries."

Above: Alexa is an admirer of the work of Brussels-based florist Thierry Boutemy, who operates the simply named Fleuriste shop in Belgium and creates haphazard-seeming but impossibly artful bouquets and floral installations. For more, see "Fashion's Favorite Fleuriste."

Above: I've developed a serious dependence on Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco. Most weekends you'll find me lurking around the "Make Your Own Aerium" bar, with a pair of tweezers. Photograph by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid.

Spread over 185 acres of the Hudson Valley is a landscape that feels like taking a trip through a mystical land—like Clara's dream journey into The Nutcracker's country of sweets.

Originally the summer residence of Walter and Marion Beck, Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, NY, is a vast estate surrounding a 40-acre glacial lake. Walter, an artist who was influenced by Japanese and Chinese tea gardens, began creating a series of carefully defined, inwardly focused “cup gardens” in the 1920's. But it wasn't until the late 30's, after the couple teamed up with landscape designer Lester Collins, that the dynamic vision for Innisfree began to take shape.

Taking a broad view, Collins used the existing natural features of the dramatic setting —the “cup” defined by the sky, the lake, and the enclosing hills—to link Beck's individual gardens together into a grand scheme. Applying a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, and modernist design principles, he choreographed a new suite of gardens and landscapes to create a sense of flow through the space. The result is la mix of contemplative nooks and sweeping vistas that coax you in and draw you onward.

Innisfree is an ambitious combination of modernist and Asian design principles set on an American scale. Fifty years in the making, it is the realization of a life-long dream, as only three visionaries could conceive:

Above: One of Innisfree's more dramatic and yet contemplative spaces, The Point enjoys the rays of the rising sun on a misty morning.

Above: Inspired by the natural formations around it, the manmade Point Dragon Rock looks at home in the surrounding lakeside landscape.

Above: One of the key elements of Collins' dreamy sequence of linked landscapes is his Yarimizu, the oxbow in the meadow stream at Innisfree.

Above: One of many, a lotus lily pad dots the lake.

Above: Each season brings new drama to the landscape. Here a terraced peony garden delights visitors in the spring.

Above: Like a ruin reclaimed by Mother Nature, a verdant stone arch evokes a mystical doorway.

Above: A more intimate space, Lip Rock Waterfall is a wonderful example of how Beck and Collins used existing materials, rocks gathered on site, in their Asian-inspired gardens.

Above: The Terrace shows Collins' gift for tempering manmade, modernist spaces with fluid, informal plantings.

Above: The bog garden overlooks a distant jet fountain, one many sculptures throughout the park.

Above: Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera) bloom from mid July through September.

Above: Feathery fronds complement one of the many misty waterfalls. Innisfree, open to the public from early May through late October, is located about four miles off the Taconic Parkway. For more information, see Innisfree Garden.

N.B.: Looking for more dramatic landscapes to visit? See 58 garden tours in our Gallery of Garden Visits.

Winter has us heading indoors to garden. We caught up recently with San Francisco urban gardener Flora Grubb, who was on her way back from collecting a Martha Stewart "American Made" award for being a "rising star" small-business owner; here are her top tips for indoor gardening:

Photographs courtesy of Flora Grubb Gardens except where noted.

Above: Don't water your succulents too much. "Many succulents will thrive indoors, but many of the vessels we like for them have no drainage holes," says Flora Grubb. "The trick to keeping succulents happy in small containers is to water very carefully. The succulents prefer to be on the dry side, but don’t allow them to go bone dry."

Above: It bears repeating. Grubb warns that it is easy to drown succulents by overwatering: "Water once a week at most (maybe less) and add tiny amounts of water each time."

Above: It's hard to go wrong with low-maintenance tillandsias (often called air plants). They live on sunlight, air, and moisture, but grow free of soil. "This makes them perfect for a windowsill." Grubb's advice: "Water them about once a week by running them under the faucet until they are completely wet, or soaking them for a few minutes in a bowl of water."

Above: Be creative about where you "plant" tillandsias. An unusual caterpillar-like Tillandsia funckiana sits in the Gideon Bowl available for $22 without plants and $55 with plants.

Above: Cover the walls with plants. A Thigmotrope Satellite from Flora Grubb Gardens is a wall-mounted plant hook. "This elegant tool can be screwed into a wall where it gently holds the air plant, allowing it to be easily removed for watering and rearrangement," she says.

Above: An installation of tillandsias as wall art. Flora Grubb recently showed us how to do it. The steel Thigmotrope Satellite is 2 inches in diameter and extends 3 inches from the wall; $40 for a set of three.

Above: Use several to create a pattern of your own design.

Above: Consider a soil-free indoor garden. "Aeriums are like terrariums, but contain only air plants and thus have no soil. They thrive in a bright spot, but will burn in direct sunlight," says Grubb. "Generally, they should be watered about every ten days. But more important, water when the inside of the vessel looks dry, and there is no sign of water inside the glass." Flora Grubb's Cadence Aerium, as shown, measures 3 inches square; $34.

Above: "Over time, you can add little things you find to your aerium," says Grubb. "Rocks from the beach or dried flowers from a hike." Flora Grubb's Footed Aerium stands 4 inches tall; $32.

Above: Be a discerning indoor gardener. "While a long-term relationship with a beloved house plant is a beautiful thing, don't be afraid to move on from unsatisfying, dying, or overgrown plants," says Grubb. "Give the live ones away and compost the dying ones. They are not pets." (Image via Missouri Botanical Garden.)

N.B.: For gift ideas, see Flora Grubb's Living Ornaments recently reatures on Gardenista.

N.B.: Working on your indoor garden? See all of our House Plant Posts.

You've probably heard of McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Pink Lady apples, but what about Cox's Orange Pippin or Esopus Spitzenberg? These are some of the rare heirloom apples grown at Fishkill Farms in Dutchess County, New York.

Owned by the Morgenthau family for just under 100 years, Fishkill Farms has transformed over the generations from a conventional American apple orchard to a diversified farm with environmental stewardship on the forefront of the agenda. Today the farm is run by third-generation farmer Josh Morgenthau, who has maintained Fishkill's identity as a "u-pick" apple orchard. Morgenthau and his farmers oversee 40 acres of apples, 15 acres of mixed vegetables, 15 acres of summer fruits, more than 400 pasture-raised chickens, and a flock of sheep. The farm uses such sustainable farming methods as seasonal crop rotation, alternating between annual and cover crops; growing pesticide-free vegetables and berries under NOFA's 'Farmer's Pledge" program, and managing five of the 15 acres of apples with organic methods.

Recently, photographer Nicole Franzen visited Fishkill for a selection of apple varieties and summer fruit sold at a nearby farmer's market.

Photographs by Nicole Franzen.

Above: Fishkill Farm recently received a grant from the USDA's Rural Energy for America Program, to aid in the installation of a rooftop photovoltaic array on the new pole barn; the panels will generate more 50 percent of the farm's energy.

Above: McIntosh apples in an orchard full of 15 different varieties.

Above: The farm's resident flock of pasture-raised sheep.

Above: In the spring of 2009 the historic barn, packing shed, and cold storage were all lost to a fire, but the Morgenthau family was able to rebuild the pole barn a year later. The new barn will have an apple cold storage room, machinery workshop, vegetable and fruit packing facilities, and a cider room.

Above: A pear tree dropping fruit in the harvest months.

Above: Golden Delicious apples.

Above: Franzen's picnic of sliced Golden Delicious apples, just picked from the tree above.

Above: Apples for sale at a local farmers' market; in addition to filling orders for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, Fishkill Farms sells at markets in Dutchess County and in New York City.

Above: White peaches, plums and pears.

Above: Organic plums that have never been sprayed with pesticides, thanks to the farm's use of organic kaolin clay, mulching, and Integrated Pest Management techniques.

N.B.: Looking for more farms like this one? See 143 other Garden Visits.

Seventeen years ago, a librarian at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History came across a curiosity: two mysterious, century-old volumes of beautifully drawn and colored illustrations of the nests and eggs of birds native to Ohio.

Librarian Joy Kiser learned that the author, a young woman named Genevieve Jones, had died suddenly of typhoid fever before completing the project, prompting her family to labor for years to finish it. The Jones family hand colored the illustrations and published, in Genevieve's honor, nearly a hundred copies of Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. Today only 26 intact copies still exist.

In America's Other Audubon, Kiser tells the story of the Jones family, self-taught ornithologists who searched for birds' nests with the aid of their cocker spaniel Archos and who, over the course of nearly a decade, produced a remarkable work of scientific importance:

Above: America's Other Audubon, illustrated with Jones family photos and reproductions of the 68 original color plates of nests and eggs, is $29.02 from Amazon.

Above: The nest of a Baltimore oriole, found in the branches of an elm tree, was constructed of bits of string, flax, and horsehair.

Above: The nest of a red-winged blackbird, found in a swamp, was woven of dried grass and leaves, and lined with grass and black horsehair.

Above: To research the book, Kiser contacted descendants of the Jones family, who provided photographs, reminiscences, and documents. A great grandson transcribed the original "Key to the Eggs" for Kiser.

For more ornithologically oriented holiday gifts, see "Gift Guide: For the Aspiring Ornithologist."

Great Dixter in East Sussex is a warm place. With rain lashing against the windows and wind howling around the chimneys, it is still immensely warm; cozy even.

Yes, there are roaring fires in the massive fireplaces, under which several people can stand or sit, and yes, there is always something going on in the kitchen, but there also is a warmth out in the garden, because the place has a big heart. Even without the late great Christopher Lloyd, who was born at Great Dixter and gardened here for about 80 years, it has a lot more to say.

Winter is a great time to visit Great Dixter because its bare bones are very good. Set high on the Sussex Weald, the network of yew and box originally planted by Lloyd Senior, Nathaniel, with the help of Edward Lutyens, is practical as well as charming. Along with a good number of trees, the house and garden are enclosed and protected and in turn Dixter throws its arms around people who work there and those who are lucky enough to visit.

N.B.: For more, see "Required Reading: The Best of Christopher Lloyd."

Photographs by Kendra Wilson for Gardenista.

Above: Malus baccata, in the orchard behind the house. In summer this is a meadow, with a narrow brick path threading through and there are more meadows at the front of the house. Like her youngest son, Christopher Lloyd's mother Daisy took a radical approach to gardening, and they both experimented with meadow flowers. This caused confusion and consternation until the recent acceptance of prairie planting, though people of a tidy bent still ask questions.

Above: The ancient beauty of Great Dixter has human proportions and the "porch" is the perfect place for amassing pot plants. The house is a combination of great hall, (shown above) dating from around 1460, with a yeoman's hall built just after. This was rescued from demolition, not too far away, and taken apart and rebuilt here. Edward Lutyens was called in to restore these buildings and to add more living quarters which are entirely "in keeping."

Above: Hedges form narrow alleys by the front of the house. Seed heads are left to add height and structure during the early winter months, as well as food for birds and invertebrates.

Above: There are a lot of blackbirds hopping around at Great Dixter, and there are a lot of cotoneasters (shown here). The two are often together. Dixter is a lesson in the growing of cotoneaster: Its low, spreading black branches in winter perfectly complement the style of the house.

Above: Without the distraction of the vibrant summer color so characteristic of Christopher Lloyd's planting style, the Arts and Crafts garden is able to take center stage in the winter months.

Above: The shriveling and the browning of plants is balanced by much glistening red: in berries, fruit, and hips.

Above: On the tiles of some of the low-roofed outbuildings or "hovels" and on the main house itself are sedums growing on a slant. Actually, they are growing out of wooden trays on the tiles, but these are barely visible and are rather charming when they are.

Above: Freshly cut box shapes near the front door. In his book The Cottage Garden, Lloyd talks of the "cottage garden gentry" who took certain elements of traditional cottagers' gardens and made for themselves a loose cottage garden style. He admits that Great Dixter is based on this as well as Hidcote and Sissinghurst. "Although they are patently on a larger scale than that of a true cottage garden, these planting schemes and the intimate atmosphere they create have a strong feel of the authentic about them," he writes.

Above: Planning a visit to East Sussex? Great Dixter is open from the beginning of April until the end of October. The next practical symposium will be from February 2 to 9, 2013. The symposia, which occur throughout the year, offer a rare opportunity for a small group to learn traditional techniques in the borders of Great Dixter with head gardener Fergus Garrett and his team. The week-long stay involves private tours around other gardens and an in-depth tour of the house.

N.B.: For more, see "Required Reading: The Best of Christopher Lloyd."

It can be hard to know what to do with a window box as the weather gets colder. Some of my Brooklyn neighbors will let their boxes sit empty for the coming months, while others will plant miniature evergreens and replace them with plants of the flowering variety in warmer weather. I admit that I like to take a slightly different approach. Instead of planting my winter window box, I decorate it. Here's how:

Photographs by Erin Boyle for Gardenista.

Above: Last weekend, I took the train to my parents’ house outside the city and returned with a brown paper bag filled with wintry trimmings to spruce up my box for the winter and to add holiday cheer.

Above: I began my search with a walk around the yard, scoping out low-hanging branches on evergreen trees and bushes. I wanted a variety of colors and textures, so I took clippings from umbrella pine branches, cedar trees, and holly bushes and gathered as many pine cones as I could find. If you don’t happen to have a place nearby where you can forage for wintry clippings, you might have luck at a local flower shop or Christmas tree lot. In my neighborhood in Brooklyn, just about every corner flower shop is hawking big bunches of bright red winterberry and juniper clippings this month.

Above: I kept the soil in my window box (if I’m lucky, the perennial forget-me-nots I planted in April will bloom again next year) and trimmed my vinca vines for the winter. Large clippings from white pine or cedar trees make a good first layer, so I began by tucking alternating branches into the soil.

Above: I made sure to bury the very ends of my clippings in an effort to help them stay green for as long as possible. If the temperatures are cool, the greens should last a month or two before beginning to brown. When they dry out, it will be easy to make a swap for something fresh.

Above: After the first layer of pine and cedar, I tucked pine cones into bare spots and stuck shorter holly clippings vertically into the dirt to help anchor the larger branches and pine cones. The result is festive for the holidays and makes for good protection for the soil during the long winter. With the window box tucked into the rear of our building, not many neighbors get the chance to see it, but it’s adding cheer to our tiny apartment and that’s good enough for me.

Above: To see what my window boxes look like in the summer, see DIY: A Window Box Grows in Brooklyn.

Maybe it's the heavy scent of fir and pine in the air. Or maybe it's because December is when you get a good look at what was hiding under all those leaves and flowers. I know I'm not the only one filling my pockets this month with acorns; here are a few gifts for the winter naturalist who comes home with bits of bark and smooth dark rocks and the last red leaf:

N.B.: For more holiday ideas, see our roundup of House Gifts.

Above: Washi tape. OK, not technically a tool you use outdoors, but ask yourself: what can't washi tape do?I got mine from Summer House in Mill Valley. Online, you can find a 10-meter-long roll of Kamoi Kakoshi Co.'s Animal Paper Washi Adhesive Tape, decorated with chipmunks, rabbits, deer, and the like, is available, via Etsy sellers, for $6.50 from Memtree or for $7.20 from Washimatta.

Above: Display a specimen—or your favorite seashell, or an air plant—in a 10-inch-tall Single Glass Jar on a pedestal; it's $82 from Minam.

Above: Found in an old trunk, still wrapped in tissue paper, a trove of vintage educational posters printed in Denmark in the 1940s, sets of six Danish Seed Prints feature different seeds, beans, or grasses. Each poster measures approximately 19 inches wide and 26 inches wide; prices for a collection range from £180 to £320 at Whippet Grey.

Above: Dry plant specimens for an herbarium with a 10-by-6-inch Standard Flower Press Kit. It comes with two MDF boards, eight sheets of card, 15 sheets of blotting paper, bolts, wing nuts, washers, and instructions: £7.95 from Fred Aldous. In the US, an 11.75-by-8.75-inch Flower Press kit is $24.95 from Gardener's Supply.

Above: A sturdy Triple 3X Folding Loupe allows you to examine specimens at three magnifications: 3x, 6x, and 9x. It measures 2 inches by 1.5 inches by 1 inch; $92 from Deutsche Optik. Another option is the Donegan Triple Folding Magnifier (with magnificatons of 5x, 10x, and 15 x)); $15.95 from Amazon.

Bedtime reading. Two of my favorite words. In wintertime, I spend as more time imagining the garden as working in it. Among the pile of books on my night table is always something by British gardener Christopher Lloyd, the champion of the modern cottage garden—and of the modern gardener, by the way.

"I do believe that, numerous as the world's band of gardeners is, there should be more of us," Lloyd wrote in a confiding tone in the preface to The Adventurous Gardener (originally published in 1983 and conveniently re-issued in paperback last year).

I mention the confiding tone because Lloyd's books are filled with the sort of conspiratorial confessions—"Unlike the chap with prying, eyeing neighbors, I have no inhibitions about my garden looking a mess through the winter," he writes—that make me feel as if the master of the grand gardens at Great Dixter and I are in cahoots. It keeps me reading:

Photographs by Michelle Slatalla except where noted.

Above: In The Adventurous Gardener ($15.56 from Amazon), Lloyd discusses the basics: pruning hydrangeas ("delay till spring"), growing violets from seed ("sow in a pot or box in autumn"), and paving a path ("square blocks look unbearably monotonous").

Above: Lloyd, born in 1921 in a manor house about an hour's drive south of London, experimented all his life in the gardens surrounding his family home. For more, see "Garden Visit: Great Dixter."

Above: Eccentric insights abound in Lloyd's work. “Although appearing free and easy, the best kind of cottage garden is actually well organized, otherwise nature would take over, and nature is no gardener (except in the high Alps),” he writes in The Cottage Garden.

Many of Lloyd's books have been re-issued; for more information, see Amazon. For first editions and used copies, see ABE Books. Photograph by Kendra Wilson.

Above: Are we turning to bedtime reading as an excuse to put off our wintertime chores? "The average gardener, whom we must conceive of as being a lazy, pleasure-seeking so-and-so," Lloyd writes (as if he has met me), "has traditionally waited upon the Easter holiday before getting down to the annual tasks in the garden that are associated with the dormant season."

Wretched creatures, he calls us lazy gardeners, before admitting, grudgingly, that there might be something to our sloth: "The fact is that if you do leave border tasks till early spring they go like lightning." On to the next chapter, without a bit of guilt.

For an intimate look at Lloyd's gardens, see "Garden Visit: Great Dixter." Photograph by Kendra Wilson.

Love the look of holiday greenery indoors but looking to go beyond the usual evergreen decor? Make your own easy and inexpensive garland using whatever foliage you'd like: forage it outdoors, collect it from your garden, or pick up a few sprigs of greenery at the farmers' market.

Want to give it a try? See my DIY video for step-by-step instructions (you'll need to source the materials outlined below).

Above: The finished privet berry garland now lives on my kitchen countertop and adds a Christmasy note.

Above: Use thin silver wire so you can wrap it around and through the berry stems; twist the wires together to create a strong hold when tying it off.

Here's What You Need:

• 2 bunches of Privet Berry (I live in a small apartment, so I only required a three-foot-long garland; for longer garlands you'll need more foliage).
• Thin, bendable silver wire; 6 Yards of Tarnish-Resistant Silver Wire is $5.85 from Amazon.
• Garden scissors like these: Ikebana Scissors for $31.95 from Amazon.

N.B.: Looking for more how-to videos? See 18 of our Gardening and DIY Videos.

If holiday decor were reduced to one item, it would have to be string lights.

N.B.: While the lights included are rated for outdoor use (some recommend covered areas), they can all be used indoors.

Above: Silver or gold? Gold Starry String Lights feature Amber LED lights on bendable fine copper wire; available in several lengths; prices start at $15 (currently on sale for $12) for a 5-foot length at Restoration Hardware.

Above: A 15-foot-long string of white Stargazer Lights on copper wire scatters pinpoints of warm light in the garden. Maybe you'll leave them up all year long; $48 from Terrain.

Above: Flexible copper wire (L) is easy to wrap—and hide—when stringing the Stargazer Lights.

Above: Silver Starry String Lights have diamond-colored LED lights strung on bendable fine silver wire that conforms to any shape. The adapter- or battery-powered lights are available in 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-foot lengths. Currently on sale for $12 to $40 (regularly $15 to $50) at Restoration Hardware.

Above: Classic globe Festival Lights come in a 25-foot length and up to three strings can be connected; $36 at Terrain.

Above: The White LED Angel Light Set is 54-inches long with 10-inch spacing between strands; $84.99 at Hayneedle.

Above: Ikea's Snowflake Strala Light Chain uses LED lights and has 48 snowflakes and is about 30 feet long; $19.99.

Above: The Strala Snowball Light Chain uses LED lights and is 55 inches long; $19.99 at Ikea.

Above: The Flickering Flame Lights do just that. The 21-foot strand is $38 at Terrain.

Above: The Mercury Glass Globe String Lights can be used in protected outdoor areas. Available in 8- and 21-foot lengths with 10 or 20 globes respectively; $39.50 and $79.50 at Pottery Barn.

Above: Traditional white twinkle lights go green with efficient with LED lighting. The Warm White LED Italian Christmas Light String has a generous 23-foot long green wire; $28.99 at Hayneedle. No outdoor power source? Consider Solar Powered LED White String Lights available at Solar Illuminations for $39.99 (for a 100 light set).

N.B.: See our earlier Outdoor Lighting Features for more inspiration.

A round up of our favorite mail-order wreaths for gift giving or holiday door decorating:

Above: The Live Olive and Myrtle Wreath is handmade in California and measures 22 inches in diameter; $89 at Pottery Barn.

Above: A Repurposed Metal Springs Wreath made from six steel springs wired together; it measures about 13.5" in diameter and is $16 from Rustic Wren Antiques via Etsy. Display as is or add garden greenery to the form:

Above: The springs will hold even small boughs in place (L); a spring of holly (R).

Above: For traditionalists, a 17-inch Pepperberry and Birch Wreath, made with green spruce, is $98 from Terrain.

Above: Brooklyn Florist Emily Thompson (who notably decorated the White House last Christmas) makes holiday wreaths to order. Those available for shipping include the Wreath of Rosehip Floribunda (L) hung with velvet ribbon, and the Wreath of Norway Spruce Cones (R) made with pear branches. Available in 24- or 30-inch diameter sizes; $85 to $245 depending on size. Thompson offers more wreath options for local pickup or delivery.

Above: San Francisco's Flora Grubb Gardens, the Fresh Silvertree Wreath has shimmery leucadendron argenteum leaves, rosemary stems, sempervivum rosettes, and kalanchoe cuttings. It measures approximately 24 inches in diameter; $250. For more gift ideas, see Flora Grubb's Living Ornaments.

N.B.: For more holiday gift ideas, see our House Gifts section.