Thursday, January 12, 2017

Winter White

My apologies if you're getting tired of seeing snow and ice photos...I can tell you I am getting tired of seeing snow and ice. Late Tuesday evening we were supposed to start seeing snowflakes, which would result in an eventual 4" or so. Maybe less. It did start snowing, around 6:00, but that 4" was piled up before I even went to bed, and it snowed all night long and into Wednesday morning. Our eventual total snow = a foot. Twelve inches of this...

That round blob in the front and center is my biggest Agave ovatifolia, wrapped in frost cloth. "Hello in there! How are you doing???"
And to think, the Tetrapanax had real potential to bloom last fall...

The Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' buds have had a serious snow and ice workout this winter. They'll be extra worshiped when they bloom in a few weeks (fingers crossed — hey whadda ya know, I still have hope...).

The bamboo by the garage door is always a flopper, but this is taking it to a new level. I think there's gonna be a big cut back in its future.

Some of you are going to be able to see the beauty in all this. I just can't. There is too much potential destruction, it just brings me no joy. Oh sure...there are a couple of shots I worked in because I thought they were kinda pretty...but all-in-all my heart is heavy. But what can ya do?...

The fern dish planters live there, usually. They're currently buried under leaves for protection.

That palm frond!

It looks like a hand raised above the water as it's drowning. Save me, please, somebody please...save me...

The largest palm just looks sad.

Did I mention a foot of snow fell?

That's the Acacia that tipped over in our first ice storm. It's laying on the stock tank pond and the Agave ovatifolia PVC igloo.

The igloo is holding up just fine under all that snow.

The Maytenus boaria, Cryptomeria japonica 'Rasen' and Eriobotrya japonica are all sleepy. Sadly I can't get back there to knock the snow off of them.

Nolina microcarpa squiggles.

Sammy (the Yucca rostrata) is sporting a rather odd hairstyle.

The bamboo on the left (Sasa palmata f. nebulosa) is down for the count I'm afraid. After the last ice-storm it wasn't able to upright itself and this is just too much. Isn't the pattern on the trellis cool though?

Clifford (Magnolia macrophylla) stands proud with his bare branches and their snow-topping.

Even the little Yucca rostrata can work that strange top-poof hairstyle...

A better angle of Sammy's "top-poof"...

A branch from the neighbors conifer is leaning waaayyy into our garden (on the left). We just got the broken limbs from the first ice storm cut down, no more please!

Meanwhile some garden residents are living in heated luxury. Hardy seems fair does it?

Another cool trellis pattern.

Over the summer a passionflower grew around the metal wire loops, now there is snow.

Finally, the "tiny wonder" as she makes her way into the garden for potty time. Since the snow was as tall as she is (her tummy dragged) we made a path and cleaned a couple of spots in the lawn for her.

Weather Diary, January 11: Hi 32, Low 26/ Precip - I've lost track of the 24-hour total but there's a foot of snow on the ground here.

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

39 comments:

  1. Oh, your pictures make my heart heavy, I see no beauty in them. I don't quite share your enthusiasm for the heat of summer, but I do share your vehement dislike of snow and ice and cold weather, probably for different reasons. I lived with it for so long in Massachusetts, I'll be truly happy to never see it again. You have my sympathy. I hope your plants survive. We got a dusting yesterday that melted quickly. Now we just have cold temps in the low 20s.

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    1. For me it's primarily the garden which influences my dislike of cold, snow and ice. But also I find it incredibly uncomfortable and painful (my skin, my bones, hell even my nose, all ache) and then there's the inconvenience factor. You have to cancel your plans and everything takes longer to do.

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  2. I didn't realize Portland could get that much snow. Must be pretty rare. Hope things recover ok. Here in DC today supposed to be 65 (!), but a little snow and ice expected Sat. 😩

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    1. It is rare, but does happen. Thanks for the hopes, we shall see...

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  3. Believe me, I feel for you. I can too easily imagine myself being in your shoes. That photo of Lila is too cute although she probably didn't feel very cute trying to make her way through the snow.

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    1. She seems to have some fun, but tires easy from all the bunny hops necessary to move around.

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  4. My niece in Laramie, Wyoming, reported temps of -60 with windchill. I thought we must have misheard over the phone so googled it, and it was true, a record breaker. What a bizarre winter!

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    1. Doesn't your skin just freeze and fall from your bones at that temperature? Yee gads.

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  5. I dislike snow greatly so I can feel you pain: all your treasured babies covered up, fate unclear. You did manage to take some great pictures, in particular the "drowning" palm and the magnolia. I also saw the Before and After in yesterday's post: startling!

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    1. "Startling"...there's a good word for it all!

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  6. There is beauty in the snow but I sincerely feel your pain. I distinctly remember sobbing at our front door as golf ball sized hail was shredding and battering my gardens in late May our 2nd year in Denver. My heart was broken with the devastation.

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    1. Yesterday I was thinking back to December 2008, we'd just gotten Lila a month earlier and we had a similar snow event. She and I were in the back garden and I just started crying. It was all too much. Right about then she started doing silly puppy play (and she was already an "older" girl at 7) and made me laugh. She'd always been Andrew's dog, but we finally bonded that day.

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  7. That's an awful lot of snow & I hope it melts soon. I still get a bit excited when the white stuff flies as it often means that school will be closed the next day. Don't like making those days up in spring though. The tiny wonder looks especially cute in the snow!

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    1. Now they're saying Tuesday, for melting. We shall see.

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  8. If I was coming upon your blog for the first time, I'd think you were posting from Minnesota. It never would have occurred to me that Portland could get so much snow. I hope what I've heard about the insulating properties of snow is true and you lose less than you expect. In the meantime, I sympathize with the helplessness you feel as you wait things out.

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    1. Right? So much snow. And helplessness it is. I can't even get out of the house and drive somewhere to distract myself!

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  9. That snow would be beautiful if it were where it belonged: here in Ohio. Honestly, I'd trade our 66° today for that insulating blanket of snow. (Ok, it doesn't really belong here because we are outside of the snow belt and don't get much snow....) The freezing and thawing yo-yo here takes big toll, and bare ground freezes fairly deep without that nice snow blanket. Wishing your garden and plants an amazing recovery and gangbuster growth in spring to repair any snapped branches, etc! Remember, there's always, always something for a gardener to look forward to. (Couldn't get rid of the damn preposition at the end!)

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    1. Thanks Tim. Yesterday I discovered my Hamamelis snapped near the base...I fear that's just the first of many sad sights.

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    2. Your poor witch hazel. Here's hoping it acts like a coppiced shrub and sends up gorgeous, big new growth from that established root system...

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    3. I think it broke at the graft, which isn't great for new shoots...I don't know what I'll get!

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  10. I feel for you, Loree, truly. I hope nothing is seriously broken or deformed when the snow melts. I'm so sick of this winter. So many things have been beating us down, from the weather to politics. I just want winter to be over, so I can at least enjoy my garden again.

    You did give me a good laugh with the indignant marshmallow, I mean agave, though. I needed that.

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    1. Good, a laugh is always a good thing. I made myself laugh while making it. Gotta keep a little perspective.

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  11. Yikes, that is dreadful to see in your garden. Your temp isn't too bad but that is a lot of snow weight and there is so little one can do.

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    1. 14.9 here this morning on my thermometer, 12 at the airport. Good lord...

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  12. I didn't pray for this much snow, though it is gorgeous. Wishing you and your plants (all of our plants) a speedy recovery.

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    1. April...I just keep thinking that April will come...

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  13. Your snow photos are beautiful! Happy New Year and warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

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    1. Ah Montreal! We spent our honeymoon there. In December. What were we thinking? ;)

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  14. I hate to see your garden like this...and now these low temps. Ugh. And now they're predicting another ice storm for Monday or Tuesday. I hope that your garden recovers quickly.

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    1. I think that Monday and Tuesday stuff isn't going to happen. Or maybe that's just hopeful thinking. Thanks for the hopes! (I need all I can get)

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  15. As I said to Evan, let's weep together, then drink, then go plant shopping. Then cry again. Or drink.

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  16. Awwwww...tiny wonder! Adorable!

    Sorry though to think of your plants in danger from all the cold. Snow insulates a bit--maybe some plants will pull through?

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  17. Its surreal to see that much snow. Seattle didn't even get a flake, the Sound and lake Washington really are life savers. I hope your plants pull trough.

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  18. Cute, We had to do the same for our pug in Denver. I really enjoy your blog thanks and I really hope you have not had much damage from this unusual weather for you guys.

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  19. 16" here, no phone or internet until a moment ago, 3 days without power, no mail or newspaper delivery...I think I'm starting to come around to your way of thinking.

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