March madness

I was out in the garden Friday checking on emerging snowdrops and Hellebores.

Galanthus 'Magnet'

Helleborus 'New York Night'. The leaves on most of the Hellebores were flat on the ground around the flower buds. I cut them off and set them aside, thinking I'd toss them over the plants if the weather took a turn for the worse.

Saturday morning I woke up to very different garden; the turn for the worse had arrived. I sat around, just checking every couple of hours to see how much more snow had fallen. We were at 6" when I got up at 6:30 am. It was up to 8" by 8 am and 10" at 10 am — the time that the day-long textile workshop I signed up for in January was beginning

Luckily they offered a Zoom component for those of us stuck at home due to the weather. I've only done Zoom lectures or chats with friends. This experience was an eye opener in terms of what students and many employees have been dealing with since the start of the pandemic. Not easy trying to do serious work on Zoom.

The windows on the north and south sides of the house had melting snow on them, suggesting how whirling the wind was. Both snow photos were taken through the windows which suggests why they are not my best ever images.

I visually measure snow depth using the wooden bridge over the dry stream (below). This time I went outside with a yardstick to get the 10" measure.

I've lived in snow states my whole life, so this weather wasn't all that surprising. My personal weather theory is that at the end of the winter season — just when you are frantic for spring — you will get the snow that you missed at the beginning of the season. Unhappy to be proven right again.

Comments

[Beth@PlantPostings]

Sounds like you're a lot more patient than I am. I always figure we'll get snow in March and April, but the amount we got on Saturday was crazy (and record-setting for any day in March). I was crabby. Of course, there wasn't anything I could do about it, but I'm admitting I was crabby. ;-) Anyway, like yours, my snowdrops are/were blooming, and the Hellebores were starting to unfurl from their rest. Happy spring anyway!

[Barbara H.]

I think you nailed it, from my memories of long ago living in snow states.

[Kris P]

Ugh! Sorry that your late snowfall stopped spring in its tracks - and that you had to miss attending your textile workshop in person. I hope this is the last snow you see before spring takes over.

[Susie at pbmGarden]

The snow looks beautiful but it clearly is an unwelcome visitor at this time of year. Hope spring finds you soon, Linda!

[danger garden]

We had flakes falling from the sky multiple times over the weekend, thankfully no accumulation. Well, except for when what they're calling graupel fell, that had everything white for several hours. I am so done with winter.

[Ginny]

Oh my! What a drag... Sorry you're having to tolerate this.

[Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening]

It's a very hard time of year. Wishing you a speedy thaw.

[Linda Brazill]

I think gardeners generally fixate on the weather. I certainly do. So thank you for being polite and letting me rant!