A Seasonal Adjustment
In winter, the garden can look deceptively stressed. Leaves curl inward, surfaces dull, and familiar shapes tighten. It’s easy to mistake this for drought or damage.
But plants aren’t failing. They’re adjusting.
On particularly cold days, when temperatures drop into low twenties or below, large-leaved rhododendrons look especially stressed. Usually broad and flat, the leaves pull in tightly, reducing their exposure and water loss. This change can be unsettling if you haven’t seen it before.
On milder days, those same leaves begin to relax as the temperatures rise. The shift back is quiet, but reassuring — a reminder that nothing is lost.
Deciduous trees solve winter differently. Once their leaves drop, there’s nothing left to protect. Evergreen foliage remains present throughout the cold season, adapting in place. The curled leaves are not a sign of decline; they’re simply another way of coping with the cold.
The longer I garden, the more I learn to pause before reacting — a lesson to remember in every season.