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"   For more than 25 years, Nancy Goodwin has been creating Montrose, a now legendary garden in Hillsborough, North Carolina, which extends to 20 acres and is still evolving. Her keen eye for plants is matched by an enormous tolerance for hard work. Winter is her favorite time of year, not just because it comes as a welcome respite from the grueling heat of summer. &amp;quot;I think what I like most about winter,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;is seeing the buds. It&amp;#039;s all about the promise of what&amp;#039;s to come.&amp;quot; Hellebores, a cold-season bloomer with segmented evergreen leaves, are one of Goodwin&amp;#039;s particular passions and a mainstay of her garden. Over the years, she has grown many rare species, but to those just starting out she suggests limiting one&amp;#039;s choice to Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) or green hellebore (Helleborus viridis) and planting them in wide drifts. Winter-flowering bulbs are another essential component of Goodwin&amp;#039;s garden, and the woodland area of Montrose where they grow is what she describes as &amp;quot;the soul of my winter garden.&amp;quot; Here, sweeping clumps of snowdrops, which appear from October through March and &amp;quot;smell like spring rain,&amp;quot; are accompanied by aconites, tiny members of the buttercup family, and crocuses followed by thousands of daffodils. Then come trillium, bloodroot, little wood hyacinths, some brought from her mother&amp;#039;s garden many years ago, and winter cyclamen, rare species that Goodwin grows from seed. These naturalized plantings look random but in fact have all been carefully planned to ensure a succession of continuous bloom.    VIEW MORE PHOTOS&amp;amp;gt; The drama of a garden in winter lies in the subtle gradation of color, the special quality of the light and shadows and the unusual patterns made by the twisted branches of the bare trees. The framework, provided by such vertical elements as hedges, walls and trees, is all the more visible. At Montrose, the backbone of the garden is a wonderful selection of evergreens. There are junipers, spruces, firs and hollies, but Goodwin warns against having &amp;quot;too many&amp;quot; lest one lose the essential contrast between the needles and feathery leaves of the conifers and the bare trunks of the deciduous trees. She suggests that the texture and look of the exposed bark is as important as a tree&amp;#039;s leaves and shape, and she&amp;#039;s particularly fond of red-barked maples and river birches. Dogwoods are another much-loved standby at Montrose. Goodwin recommends planting them in groups and underplanting them with bulbs or hellebores. But different varieties of dogwood should be kept separate, she says, for there&amp;#039;s more drama to be had in a swath of a single color. With temperatures usually in the 50s and rarely dropping below 20 degrees, it&amp;#039;s not hard to understand why Goodwin loves her North Carolina winter so much. Always practical, she points out that winter is also the time for clearing the land. &amp;quot;I love cleaning the woods,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;and digging out all the little weed trees. I&amp;#039;m out every day, pruning, cutting and sowing seeds. The light is good and there are no bugs.&amp;quot; The weather is often harsher elsewhere in the United States, but, as Goodwin points out, winter gardens everywhere offer a similar irresistible mix of textures and shapes. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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