Finally the news services have a cookbook story to run, with traditional tips on how to drive in snow, how to shop for snow, what to do when you’re trapped indoors, and maybe even a little about how much snow we will actually get. I may be showing my age, but I don’t think it sounds like as much as they’re making it out to be but I guess that’s boring and boring doesn’t trend. Better to make it into a catastrophe, a weather system gone wild, unsafe weather to fear or the tip of a weather conspiracy which big media is hiding from you but some random TikTok has exposed. Or it’s just going to snow. In winter. Like it always used to do but we are quick to forget.
Another interesting winter thing, Pachysandra procumbens is the North American version of the common Japanese pachysandra. A friend gave me this nicely marked form and I only paid attention to it this winter because another friend showed off his even better colored version.
I like snow, so I’m thrilled there’s going to be some and I have every intention of shoveling it and walking through it and embracing it. Nothing changes the garden as abruptly as a good snowfall and outside of a few brave snowdrops there’s been nothing new to see in the garden for weeks, so a change like this will be nice… until it melts… quickly… since it’s supposed to be nearly 50F the day after and then we’ll be back to winter-drab. But we’re already heading into January, and the longer range forecast shows nothing in the way of real cold so I believe we’ll see more snowdrops, the first winter aconites, and witch hazel blooming before the end of the month. It’s still winter but not like it used to be. Mid January will be here and the ground isn’t even frozen.
Galanthus ‘Faringdon Double’ has been the latest snowdrop to join the parade of winter bloomers. It’s been a sturdy grower for me, and I don’t think a few inches of snow will bother him at all.
Sure, maybe February will be cold, but I don’t think it will be. 2023 was the warmest year globally on record, -although someone argued that they didn’t swim much last summer so that must mean it maybe wasn’t-, but I’m going to argue that I have flowers coming up weeks earlier than normal and that’s more like last year than it is like anything else I’ve seen before, so let me continue to enjoy winter flowers.
Even though I do miss snow. At least we’ll have a day or two of it, so be safe and all the best for the weekend!
sorta like suburbia 
Enjoy the snow! We’re getting some too, finally…
6 inches, not bad but it’s melting fast.
Thanks for the laugh, Frank. You are so right about the weather channels hyping ANY weather, regardless of what it is or that it is typical of the past few eons. Whatever sells!
Enjoy your snowdrops with their dollop of snow on them. 🙂
We got a bit of a mess but only because it was such a wet snow, and now we have to prep for two inches of rain on Wednesday. These 2-3 inch random weather systems are getting old, and on top of the snow there’s likely to be plenty of flooding. I can understand rain, but these downpour days used to be a once a year thing, not every few weeks!
IKR? The climate is definitely changing, and it ain’t so pretty. There will be a hefty price tag, too– of course, it will be the taxpayer (not the corporations) that will pay. Oh gosh, is that a rant? 😉
And there’s finally going to be a little snow in MN, too. And maybe some below 32F temperatures for at least a few days.
Did you every think you’d be relieved to get a little snow!? Maybe not relieved but at least it can tuck the plants in a bit for any colder weather on the way. I finally saw a couple nights forecast to go into the teens and hopefully that slows things down for the month, but once we get that cold, things will want to move even faster when it breaks. Gardeners are never happy lol
Lovely snowdrops Frank, hope you get your longed for snow! We have been very mild here with quite a lot flowering, but frost last night might have put an end to that, still too dark outside to see yet!
We did get some snow. It was nice for a few hours but quickly became sloppy due to the warm temperatures. Here it’s still too early for much flowering, but I’ll risk a few hardier things just to keep it interesting!
Snow is uncommon here in Ireland, a light fall in a year – say an inch of snow – would be more than one might expect. We are completely unprepared for snow and simply stay at home when it arrives – and rush out to take photographs as it is such a strange sight. We had frost last night and that’s the nearest to a “white-out” we get. Snowdrops doing well!
I’ve been enjoying your snowdrops, it’s so nice to see the season off to a good start even with a few cold spells here and there. There are plenty of people here who simply stay home when the snow arrives, even if it takes days to get through the cleanup! Just a little sun and salt can work miracles even with a low thermometer reading.
Hip hip Hooray for a nice snowfall. I do like me some snow. We got a couple of inches on Dec 28th. It didn’t stick around long. It was fun to have for that short time. We are to get rain Tuesday. We are right on the edge of a front that turns to snow just north of us.
I still have daylily foliage up. It is crazy here weather wise. Much too warm. We could tell even in the Christmas Bird Counts we do. The usual water fowl and some of the birds that come here during winter haven’t appeared. A lot of birds are pairing up.
Way too early for that normally.
Some of my shrubs lost most or all of their leaves and have started putting on some new leaf growth despite there being lots of frost. It all feels weird.
Winter weeds are taking advantage. UGH… I need me some sunshine to address that issue.
Enjoy your snow no matter how much you get. Cheers…
Haha, I did have daylily foliage up but the bunnies have mowed it all down. I guess it doesn’t taste all that bad as fresh greens during a brown season. With that in mind I have to remember to get out back and check some spruce seedlings I planted this fall. When snow covers the weeds the evergreens take a beating around here!
Last week I saw a few big flocks of geese heading South ahead of the storm. I guess they sensed it coming and thought just to be on the safe side we’ll head down a little further. Seeing them on the move motivated me to set up the bird feeder, but almost a week later no one has found it! I’ve seen plenty of birds in the yard but I guess none have ventured up onto the deck yet.
Winter weeds? I’ve got some excellent bitter cress coming up. Yay. Maybe all the rain we’re getting this week will wash them away…
It will be interesting to see if your predictions of early bloom and an insipid winter pan out. I do hope you get some skiing in.
A more motivated child got out on the slopes today, but a more cautious dad said no thanks. I’ll wait for something fluffier and lighter before I risk the almost-better knee.
I finally do see some teens in the longer range forecast, but even those will still only give us a zone 8 low for the winter so far. Here I was still wrapping my mind about moving from 5b to 6a to 6b…
I read a phrase about “the first winter aconites” and I have to smack my forehead again and say how could I forget. I never think about getting these for my garden until you or another fellow gardener mentions them. From July-Dec we saw very little rain here, but now it’s picking up. I hope you get a nice snow and a pause to really enjoy winter.
I hadn’t heard the term cookbook story before, I quite like it. They do want us in a state of panic at all times, I think. I yearn for Spring, I’ll admit it.
Hope you got a nice snow and the garden looks lovely and sparkly for a while! I don’t watch the news these days, but know how the weather apps go mad sending out weather warnings when a few snowflakes are due! It has finally turned very cold here… so you may get some wintry temperatures yet.😉