Is my beautiful rose garden freezing to death? Will my skip laurel hedge survive it’s first frigid winter? These are some of the questions concerning KDHamptons right now. What are your winter garden worries? To find out the answers I went straight to the guru of Hamptons gardens for some wise winter season tips. Famed garden stylist, founder of TheBest@Dianne B, and president of LongHouse Reserve, Dianne Benson helps prep our green thumb for a glorious spring / summer season in this KDHamptons Garden Diary below:

KDHamptons: As an enthusiastic Hamptons home gardener I would love to know what somebody of your level of expertise does to your property during the winter season?

Dianne Benson: “The garden, even under several inches of snow, is extremely demanding.
Trudging around in high drifts shaking snow from the tree limbs has been the most physical effort this winter season in the Hamptons, but the most challenging part of winter garden work is deciding what to order from the specialty nurseries and summer bulb people. Stop stressing about the snow in your backyard. The longer you wait to place your bulb orders, the less likely to get exactly what you want.”

KDHamptons: Do you have a dream team working with you on your home gardens?

Dianne B: I actually do much of my own garden work. For me it serves as a spa, a workout and a cure-all therapy. I am never happier than when I have a few uninterrupted hours to spend outside.

KDHamptons: The hunt for specialty bulbs can be quite competitive during the winter months. Which flower do serious gardeners search for most? Do you have a special bulb you are looking for?

Dianne B: Precisely the right peony: I like single petal white ones with dark burgundy splotches in the middle (Khlem’s Song Sparrow Nursery) or giant black Elephant Ears, but not the shiny ones (Brent and Beckys Bulbs) or Fabulous fuschia already trained to look like an Alice-in-Wonderland tree (Landcraft’s Hot Plants for Cool Places). I’m on a constant quest for new colors in calla lilies and species lilies, which are the old fashioned ones: small and richly colored with upturned petals, often called ‘Turk’s caps’.

KDHamptons: The winter months are a great time to research and plot out spring projects. What have you been reading?

Dianne B: After reading The Signature of All Things, my passion for different kinds of mosses has gotten completely out of control. Also, surprisingly, I am looking for geraniums, not the obvious red Pelargoniums, the perennial sort, but I want interesting variegated leaves and violet flowers — a hard combination to come by. And clematis, to get exactly the ones you want, and for me that means not only rebloomers, but also the kind that create little tuft-balls after they have bloomed plus no pink — not in any of its shades — and that is hard to avoid.

KDHamptons: Have you ordered any special seeds this winter?

Dianne B: I am not an instant gratification gardener by any means, nor do I have the time or patience for growing from seed, germination or hybridization I leave that to the more horticulturally advanced. However, I am crazy about bulbs, tubers and corms and hunt them out in all seasons because they are usually the most exotic plants. Most of the fabulous tropicals grow from one of these intense packages: bulbs contain all the ingredients that are needed to make a plant grow, unlike plants with roots that have to depend on types of soil and moisture. Think of an amaryllis, really healthy ones can bloom without ever being planted and the same goes for my various voodoo lilies.

KDHamptons: Will you please share a great garden book you are currently reading?

Dianne B: Well, I am actually buried into The Birds of New York. As Chair of the LVIS Nature Trail Committee, I aim to identify the myriad ducks at the ‘Duck Pond’ on Davids Lane so that the new kiosk can be kept up with the best information. This afternoon there were at least 8 different kinds of ducks [see top photo] devouring the healthy food and two that I have never seen before! I think they are ‘American Black ducks’.

KDHamptons: How do you manage so many projects and still have time to cultivate a gaspworthy Hamptons home garden?

Dianne B: There is not enough time in any day to accomplish all the things on my ever-mutating To-Do List. My leather Garden Gauntlet Glove [below] has become a big hit, so I put a larger size for Men into production. Life is good!

For more information on Dianne Benson, please go to: http://www.diannebbest.com