Oscar Wilde in The Selfish Giant wrote the following words:

"He did not hate the winter now, for he knew that it was merely the spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting."

And Anne Bradstreet, who died in 1672, wrote:

"If we had no winter the spring would not be so pleasant."

Kathleen Norris sounded a little more impatient about winter when she wrote:

"There seems to be so much more winter this year than we need."

Nancy Hutchens in her book A Garden's Grace described plants that look good in winter. She said,

"The wheat-colored blooms of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora' add charm to my backyard-one at its entrance and another next to a red-twigged dogwood."

She continued:

"…the tall black stalks and round heads of Rudbeckia, Echinacea, and bee balm are attractive and fill the bare ground with texture and interesting shapes… The sedum ‘Autumn Joy' turned out to be another winter jewel. Its faded bronze was spectacular next to the pearly silver of a large Artemisia. As I began to think about how a particular flower or shrub would look in winter, I discovered many choices that enhanced the poor evergreens, who had been doing all the work alone."

Reference: A Garden's Grace: down-to-earth lessons and simple rewards by Nancy Hutchens, (Pocket Books, a division of Simon and Shuster Inc., p. 172-3, 1997).