Weather Juncture

As the weather fronts collided the rain came and washed away the snow. Happily as the snow melted some winter buds came into view.

The Galanthus certainly grew since I had last laid eyes on them. 

Daffodils and Narcissus are poking out of the ground. 

A few hellebore buds are peeking out.  I got itchy seeing all of the leaves around these plants. The neat nik in me wanted to remove them but my better gardener self said 'don't you dare it is only January'. 

Sure enough the warm front that brought the rain was pushed out by Arctic winds that brought the cold. The rain didn't have a chance to soak into the ground or drain off. All froze in place. 

Obviously there is a bit of a dip in the garden where the paths lay. 

I probably won't be putting anything in the compost for a while. Maybe the sun will take care of some of this ice but I rather doubt it since it is not to get above freezing anytime soon.

You all take care and stay warm. 

Snow Time

Don't let that sunshine deceive you. It is cold out there. Ten degrees F and they say it won't warm up much the next few days so we can enjoy our snow. When this snow came it blew so hard it didn't pile up on plants too bad.

I thought it was sort of odd that this branch right outside the dining room window had some snow on it. It sits right beside the house protected and the rest of the tree branches didn't have any snow on them. 

The snow isn't going anyplace soon. In the photo below on the left side behind the weeping spruce you can see a large barn type building emerging from the landscape. It is in our neighbors yard. We are wondering what they are going to do with such a large barn. It is larger than the houses around it. I hope the workers aren't forced to get out in this weather to finish it. I can't imagine having to get out in this weather for work. Although we do walk Annie daily it isn't like having to be out there working. 

I hope you are all warm and well. Possibly even snowed in for a day or two.

Have a great week no matter what.

Riding the Wind

So far this January has felt more like spring with the weather being twenty degrees above the normal temps most days. That is soon to change so I decided to get outside to see if any of the late winter plants are showing buds or blooms. 

I was delighted to find a couple of blooms on the Jelena Witchhazel. 

None of the hellebores had any buds but at this time nor were there any snowdrops showing signs of coming up. They are the smart ones. Not fooled by this warmer weather.

The wind is howling today. Trying to warn us of colder times to come. 

Have you found anything blooming in your garden lately?

Happy 2019

On a gloomy foggy cold day I looked at the lemon tree here in my living room and found there was a bloom!  A positive way to begin the new year.

I hope you are having a positive start to 2019 too!