A true perennial garden is like music that changes in tempo and tone from season to season. The piece quickens as spring bulbs and flowering shrubs give way to summer's annual and perennial flowers, then reaches a crescendo with the blaze of fall color.

Until recently, this concert was a three-season event. Then the concept of a winter garden took shape, allowing us to extend the horticultural possibilities for what was once regarded as the cold, gray, lifeless season. Many of our country's best arboretums have developed space to showcase this idea.

The garden in spring, summer and fall is a sensory overload. We are assaulted with vibrant color; the sounds of birds, insects and planes; fragrant smells; the sweet taste of the harvest; and the wonderful feel of all things growing. The winter garden offers a far different perspective. It offers a quiet beauty that allows us to thoughtfully focus on color, texture and form. We gain a new appreciation for plants as they reveal these aspects. The underlying beauty makes a powerful statement. I feel drawn to walk through the garden in the snow and cold and experience the music this time of year.

Color comes from many sources. All of the firs, pines, spruces, hemlocks, junipers and cedars, which had in the past seasons provided an innocuous backdrop, seem to come front and center now. The snow and ice that cling to their foliage serves to accentuate their strong presence. The Atlas cedar has an intense blue-green color that makes it a focal point in the landscape now. Hollies' red berries shine like small Christmas ornaments. Cornus sericea 'Cardinal' and cornus sericea 'Silver and Gold' are deciduous yellow- and red-stemmed dogwood shrubs that show off their magnificent framework. Their branches are particularly striking against the backdrop of a snow.

There are flowers that bloom in the winter garden. Icicle pansies that are planted in the fall seem to draw warmth and strength from the snow blanket. When the sun removes it, they rise like phoenixes with their colorful, smiling faces. Helleborus niger, the Christmas rose, and Helleborus orientalis, the Lenten rose, sport magnificent nodding flowers atop dark green, leathery foliage. They can appear from February through March and make a stunning display. Many of my perennials continue to photosynthesize during the winter. Heuchera, lamium, dianthus, and bergenia all retain their color, although it is a bit more muted.

To experience texture in the winter garden, touch these deciduous trees: paperbark maple (Acer griseum), river birch (Betula nigra) and stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia). When devoid of their leaves, these wonderful specimens reveal inner beauty through their peeling and exfoliating bark. The colors that surface give an added dimension to the landscape.

The form of plants in winter is what draws me outdoors again and again. The weeping larch and caragena offer up an intricate framework that cannot be envisioned when they are cloaked in green. Harry Lauder's walking stick is at its peak. Not only do the dancing branches twist and turn, but also they are graced with soft lovely catkins that twirl in the wind.

The water garden takes on a different tone in winter, too. The sounds of splashing water and fish are gone and there is a stillness as the cold forces the fish to gather at the bottom of the pond. On warmer days, they leave the comfort of this thermal layer and rise slowly to the top. It is reassuring to know that they are there and that this wonderful small ecosystem will continue.

One word of caution: The horticultural guru who stated that we should leave our ornamental grasses standing for vertical interest in the landscape should be soundly flogged with every piece of stem that the winds shear off. I have retrieved these broken bits from my yard, my neighbor's yards, the street and the garage. Cut down your grasses in late fall.

If you are thinking about creating winter interest in your garden, pick a place where the specimens can be easily viewed. Perhaps a spot near the driveway or a window. While you are perusing the multitude of garden catalogs that fill the mailbox this time of year, look for plants that can offer four seasons of interest. Once they are there, you will want to walk in the winter garden and enjoy their special offerings.