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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

A Four-Letter Word Beginning with "S" followed by the "F" word.

That's right, snow.  What were you thinking?   After our warm January and a cloudy  wet Candlemas we all thought that spring was arriving. 

If Candlemas day be dry and fair,  The half o' winter to come and mair. If Candlemas's day be wet and foul.  The half o' winter gane at Yule.  Seems that modern weather forecasters pay little attention to ancient Scottish wisdom.  Sunday morning brought big beautiful snowflakes.


The flakes were were joined for a time by hail.

Not a lot of snow but instead of melting off as usual, the mercury plummeted and brought that "F" word, freezing.  Again, where was your mind.



 

This was the only kind of snow drop I'd hoped to see.

Truth be told, the other two "S" and "F" words may have been uttered by more than one gardener in the PNW.

Even the early-blooming "Tommies" (crocus tommasinianus) are closed against the cold and look a little frost-bitten around the edges.

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' doesn't seem to mind but the Camellia japonica flowers are frozen and will drop.  Fortunately, there are more buds to take their place.  Magnolia buds have started to fatten up and I worry that they might succumb as the temperatures get even lower over the next couple of days.

I've never seen hellebores do this before.  Hopefully they'll pop back up when the weather warms. 

Stachyurus praecox doesn't seem to mind. 

I keep throwing boiling water on top of the frozen bird baths so that our feathered friends can have a drink.  Interesting how fast it refreezes.

Rhododendrons do this when it gets cold but it's still sad to see. 

I was planning on bringing the dormant begonia tubers out of the basement and putting them into the stained glass room this weekend but why try to heat that space when it's so cold? 


Meanwhile, there ares some bright spots in the greenhouse even though it's a bit messy out there at the moment. 


Scadoxus puniceus is popping up and soon it's happy orange pompom blooms will open.  Maybe spring isn't so far off after all. 
How's your garden faring this winter? 


18 comments:

  1. Your first photo is BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't help starting at it. There's something so alluring about snow, although I'd have a stroke if it happened in my garden. I hope you your losses/damage is limited...

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  2. We got the white stuff on Sunday, it stuck over night but most of it melted off during the day yesterday. However today it's been snowing since about 7am. Ugh. What a white nightmare it is out there. Hope your garden doesn't suffer!

    Now about that Scadoxus puniceus, what's the secret? If I knew I could have your success I'd grab one at Burl's this year.

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    1. It's supposedly hardy to zone seven (if kept dryish during the winter) but I keep the pot in the greenhouse in the dark under a table until it starts growing again. It's pretty easy.

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  3. You know I am one of those PNW gardeners who was saying those other "S" and "F" words all weekend (and still saying them). Not that I have anything particularly iffy out in the garden, but I did want to continue with projects out there, and frozen soil makes that impossible. Your flowering Christmas cactus is magnificent. We didn't get any hail, just snow, which still hasn't melted.

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  4. Very amusing. Your title did catch me wondering. I'll have to remember snow and frost whenever I want to say the other words.

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  5. We probably have to get used to extreme weather changes, don't you think so? But don't worry about your Helleborus, Peter. My helleborus have no problems with snow and frost. They even came out with blossoms. And my Rhododendron looks the whole winter like yours.
    What's Candlemas? Probably the same as our German "Lichtmess" day - Feb.2.

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    1. You're probably correct that extreme weather changes are becoming more frequent. Thanks for the reassuring words about hellebores and freezing. Yes, Candlemas and Lichtmess are the same.

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  6. The snowdrops pictures is wonderful. This is the only "S" word I'll be thinking of from now on.

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  7. Hellebores usually can take snow and cold and bounce back. I don't remember actually losing any flowers from weather issues. Love the snowdrops with those Epimedium leaves. Spine tingler?

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  8. We are having your weather here and you have ours. Thank you very much. It is 77 here today. We blew out the record high temp for this day. Crazy. Your hellebores will be just fine. I have seen that many times. They snap back.

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  9. Ooh, that looks too cold, esp. for the PNW~ Hope there isn't too much damage.

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  10. Oh my goodness Mr. TOG ! Are you having a touch of Canadian weather way over there ? LOL .. Sorry I can't help myself .. I think our weather got switched .. we are having heavy rainfall .. in fact warnings of that with fog .. so what is going on ??? I hope all of your plants will be alright after that shock .. but I'm sure they will be .. they have an excellent plant dad after all right ? LOL
    Good luck and keep warm !

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  11. The cold, frozen ground and dry weather were great for getting all of the wind storm debris cleaned you today and yesterday. All around the yard I saw things popping up out of the ground. Late winter/early spring is fun that way.

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  12. Ouch! I hope it warms up quickly and that the freeze doesn't cause much damage. Winter temperatures have returned here but, as they haven't been accompanied by rain, they're not at all welcome.

    P.S. I love the 3 frogs.

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  13. Peter, no winter down here but blazing summer...this post is seriously tantalizing! I love your camellia sasanqua, most of my camellias are japonicas and they only drop buds with the first hot days of late spring.

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  14. Hopefully this cold isn't too hard on your garden. There's something about that photo with the snowdrops and epimedium foliage that I just love. I can literally get just far enough into my greenhouse to shut the door behind me, with all the plants packed in to protect them.

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  15. You got me with the blog header. Tee hee. And, yes, my mind was being naughty--kinda the way I feel about the "s" and "f" words about this time of year, too--every year. ;-) We have been above freezing for a few days, but now slipping back. I think our forecasts are similar next week. The difference is our spring hasn't started yet. It sounds like most of your plants will bounce back just fine.

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  16. Welcome to my world, if only for a couple of days. Love seeing all those snowdrops and crocuses.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.