flynn070

After a long week of snow and ice, we are finally emerging from hibernation. It was a long haul and I was beginning to think I would never see green again. The foot of snow lingered and lingered and there are still mounds and patches of it left even today. Temperatures struggled to get above freezing for almost a week. That kind of weather is actually not common here and winters are normally about as mild as they are in Alabama except our temperatures remain consistent (in the 30s and 40s) and we do not get spikes up into the 60s and 70s this time of year.  There was significant tree damage around town and I know many gardeners suffered losses. Most of our plants are still small and many of them were totally buried by the snow. Four limbs on the big dogwood tree were broken. There would probably have been more than that had I not gotten out and shaken snow off during the first night of the snowfall. The line of photinias along the back fence seem fine. There is one that was totally...

They say that it is the 4th largest snow in history in the Portland area. It started after dark last night and quickly started accumulating. I went out around 10pm and started shaking my plants that were being weighted down. We had around 4 inches by 11pm. I was reading and watching TV and about to get ready for bed when the power flickered three times and then went out for good. It was out for about 3 hours (we estimate). This morning we woke up to at least 10 inches (probably more) and light snow continued to fall until noon. I was terribly worried about my plants but fortunately, most are still very small. My biggest concern was the big dogwood out back that was heavily loaded down with snow (see the photo below). When I ventured out this morning, I saw that two large limbs had broken. I got most of the heavy snow off and hope that it will be okay. We have dry weather predicted for the next several days. It is going to get cold again at night, in the 20s, but at least the tender pla...

The amaryllis finally blooms, after the holiday of course. I have never gotten them to bloom in time for Christmas. This one seemed to be especially slow but they are always worth the wait.   Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna at Flutter and Hum . Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy