by Leslie Cox; Sunday; February 19, 2017

What a span of weather this last week! We started off buried under a huge accumulation of snow which had fallen nonstop the entire week before…February 4th to 10th, to be exact. Unreal. We had only just been out in the garden, working on some clean-up, at the end of January…thinking the snow was done with us. Such fools.

I fretted all week about my hellebores which I had uncovered last month from under their winter mulch layer to allow the developing flower buds some sunlight. Now they were buried under about four feet (1.2 m) of snow.

My Cyclamen coum had also disappeared…again. They, too, were in flower and I feared for the safety of the pink petals atop such delicate stems. It was doubtful they could survive the weight, I thought.

Any number of shrubs in both the front and back gardens were also suffering from the weight of the snow. Our two Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’ (double-flowered Japanese rose) where bent double…as were the Aucuba japonica ‘Crotonifolia’, Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosa (double-file viburnum), the hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas, Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’ (dwarf box)…and a whole host of other shrubs.

 

Fast forward to the end of this past week…and there are green patches all over the place once again. Amazing what some wind and over three inches (78 mm) of rain can do to so much snow. (There was so much rain, I was almost wishing for the snow to return. I repeat…almost wishing.) But who is complaining?!! Even Sadie, our small-sized Golden Retriever / yellow lab / border collie cross, was finding the bunny-hopping through the snow on our daily walks a little trying after so many days. I know I do not miss the slippery conditions.

 

Thankfully, most of the shrubs have rebounded. Their branches are pretty much back in their proper form once the tips were freed from their snow-cuffs. A few look like they are showing their age as the branches have not rebounded quite to normal stature. But perhaps they are waiting for warmer temperatures to get the sap flowing as it should.

 

 

I am also pleased to report the cyclamen flowers survived their temporary chilly burial, and…my baby cyclamen seedlings are all showing tiny flower buds now. Amazing! The floral buds on the hellebores have all survived, too.

 

 

New on the scene…the winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) all popped up and started to flower…while still under their snow blanket! Unreal, but so nice to see their bright yellow floral faces as the snow was receding. And the snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are poking their pointy, strap-like leaves up through the soil as well. You can just see a hint of the white flower buds lying in wait underneath the tightly furled leaves. It will not be long now before the leaves fan open to release their individual drooping flowers.

As much as winter may want to keep us in a strangle hold, spring is announcing it is on its way. The countdown has begun. I cannot wait!