Design for February

Think bones first. Then "plant jewelry" - the seasonal, fleeting flower color - to add understated elegance. What bones listed or unlisted below, would you keep or remove, to accomplish that for winter? Which will then provide good bones to accomodate the jewelry.

Below are some random landscapes I saw driving back home a few weeks ago; none are of my design.

Pinon (L back), Prickly Pear (front), Rosemary and patio wall (R back), Desert Willow trunks (R), white mailbox and axial walk to front:

Banana Yucca, Red Yucca (front):

Sotol (L), red door and white portal / covered patio interior:

Sotol and Lavender (front), Red-Tip Photinia (middle), Parry's Agave and shade ramada (back): 

Sotol (front L), Creosote Bush (rear R):

Japanese Euonymus hedge. The anti-design/lawn/roses/order clique here loves to hate this old-time evergreen, but this is one tough plant - not as susceptible to scale and other problems here as other places:

On a future post, I might contrast fleeting flower-centered landscapes with some alternatives "designed for February".

Thanks for the inspiration on this post, here and here, Tara!