Damn groundhog. After all the work we put into the Days of Plantness the stupid groundhog has to go see his shadow and bring six more weeks of winter onto us all. Everything here is trying to sprout, but it’s just one cold night after another and I can only imagine the mess that would be if we didn’t do Plantness in January. It could be colder. We haven’t had much snow. I bet that extra orchid I bought stopped a blizzard or something so you’re welcome.
Of course this is the year that I was hoping for a mild winter and early spring so that I could do a few really important things in February, mainly get a bunch of snowdrops ready to bring to a certain Galathus Gala for a sales table. Yeah, a sales table. Long story short, last November I was convinced by someone that I’m capable of selling snowdrops at this year’s Galanthus Gala in Downingtown Pa, so we will see… and perhaps you will see it as well if you make it down there in two weeks! I think the in-person talks and early entry are all sold out (click >here< for ticket info) but from ten through the afternoon anyone can stop by just to look and browse, and even if you’re outside the area, virtual tickets for all the talks are also available. I’m anxiously excited yet a little nervous. Anonymity is so much easier when you’re not lined up against a wall at a table, and I am a big fan of being anonymous at these things 😉
I potted up a bunch of snowdrops in December “just in case” and so far so good. Here they are open to the elements for a breather. I’m not crazy about a frosting of ice, but they seem to like it.
So. The cold. Maybe that’s got me a little nervous as well. Hopefully all the goodies which are, and are yet-to-be, potted up will not be locked up in ice the day I need to load the car, but of course that couldn’t happen and I’m positive everything will be fine. Surely this cold can’t last forever… unless it does… and this week it feels like it could.
An icy frosting to the garden
In spite of the cold and frequent snow and ice, the snowdrops at least are anxious to grow! It’s absolutely amazing when a frozen earth with air temperatures barely above freezing can produce sprouts from one day to the next! The plants have spoken, and are rising up in spite of that fat little groundhog’s prediction to bring a little springtime vibe to an icy garden. I may be biased, but snowdrops are pretty amazing for what they do.
Under the shelter of an evergreen, ‘Castle Plum’ is ready to go. Our one warm day tomorrow will open these blooms right up.
So in defiance of the cold I was supposed to visit my friend Paula today for a few more sales table snowdrops, but more predicted snow and an observation of frozen earth, and her “if you really insist on coming maybe you can pickaxe up a chunk of frozen muddy sprouts to take home” suggestion, pushed me over to the side of better sense and the visit is rescheduled for Monday. Tomorrow the snow is to change over to rain alongside a rise in temperatures, and perhaps slimy mud is better than hacking out chunks of ice.
Winter interest is starting to get old around here. I can’t wait to trim the hellebores and clear things out for the coming show!
In the meantime I’m trying to avoid spending too much time staring out windows and imagining the perfect year to come. I haven’t been distracted by skiing this year in spite of the excellent conditions (and I blame kids with their own drivers licenses and friends who are “aging out” for this), and to be honest I was almost bored a few days ago when weather kept me inside and I just didn’t care enough to finish fixing a burst water line or carry water to the basement plants. I think I’m suffering garden withdrawl.
A primrose purchased “for a friend” but then I just couldn’t be home any of the times she offered to stop by to pick it up. Hmmm. I feel terrible about that.
We will carry on. I’m somewhat excited but can feel myself on the edge of that manic snowdrop fever and it’s scary. There’s not even a thought of going back to the days when I’d pretend they were no big deal, and of course it will be fun seeing it all return. Just one more cold week and then snowdrops, witch hazel, winter aconite, willows… and all will start bursting out with every new sunny day to fill the garden again.
Hang in there and have a great weekend!
sorta like suburbia 
I’m so envious of the fact that you get to go to the Gala. But it’s nice to “sorta know” someone who’s actually going, and now selling. Totally cool. Plus I have met Kathy Purdy in person, so I can picture the two of you in the middle of the action. I held off buying any Galanthus from Carolyn’s this year. Instead I want to put some of my snowdrops near my Arums and Cyclamen, so they have some attractive neighbors like all the pix I see on the snowdrop FB page. We have had a terribly cold winter and finally got our first measurable snow this week. Have bad feelings about the death toll from the garden this spring. At least the snow has the garden looking gorgeous.
The Gala is pretty crowded and when I finally find Sorta he’s usually behind a sales table chatting someone up. I have a rule that I won’t pay more for a snowdrop than I’ve paid for a colchicum so I’m usually on the sidelines, not the middle of the action.
Kathy- Who needs rules! Actually nevermind, being cheap keeps my lack of self-control in check 😉
Oh no, I hope the death toll isn’t as bad as you think. It’s not your first rodeo so I suspect things are settled in enough to weather most of it, but you do tend to add quite a few new goodies each year 😉 so there’s always a fresh plant or two to worry about!
Of course I would be the last person to condone not adding new snowdrops, but I do agree that moving them around a little is a good idea. I keep trying to make a nice combo or two, but the rabbits and cold keep mowing down the attractive companions. Do you have any winter aconite? The only snowdrop combos I have that are anywhere close to success are the aconite alongside, or a patch of cyclamen coum nearby. I love seeing them with the evergreen sedges but they’re very popular with the bunnies….
The Gala is fun. I wish I could just zap in a few of my favorite online friends to share in it all.
The Gala sounds like so much fun. I’d like to be there, except…..I dislike Winter. Since the time we moved to Coastal GA, my Northern friends always start with…”oh the first snow! It’s so pretty!” Or “A lovely dusting of snow this morning. I Love Winter” HA! I think every year, but hold my tongue….wait til February, when your tune changes. But for your sake, I hope the galanthus and winter cooperate for you. I have moved from WordPress to Substack…it’s free! Best, Jayne on Weed Street, now Let’s Grown On on Substack.
Jayne! So good to hear from you! I will have to check out this Substack thing, a few people have mentioned it and I hate missing out on some good garden reports.
Hmm… not the first person to mention a dislike for winter 😉 I don’t mind it entirely, but I do love when spring comes, even with that huge to-do list which builds up during hibernation. The only thing I dislike about winter is not having parks etc to walk around in, something which doesn’t bother me in the summer, but here in the woods it’s annoying when the snow makes any kind of hiking too much work.
The snowdrops are champs! They are looking good for your event, I’m sure it will all be a success. We’re all chomping at the bit for warmer days, and in the mood to buy plants.
Thanks Tracy. In the mood to buy plants? I cracked last night with my first online purchase. Five oriental poppies 🙂
I feel your pain. It warmed up here for the groundhogs to appear but spring has retreated and single digits are predicted next week. ARGH!
It does appear that your snowdrop starts are marshalling right along. All will be good for you and them.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks Lisa, I hope your cold is as short as our prediction. It’s not exactly warm, but only three really cold days and then back to more normal temperatures so I’m ok with that.
I will become a disaster when we get our first sunny, warm day, endless poking around and picking will begin and I won’t be able to focus on anything other than garden plans!
Loving your optimism, Frank. I don’t even dare to think about spring yet, the longing could kill me. 😉
Hahaha, I know what you mean! I was already out there in the sleet noticing that a few things grew overnight. The snowdrops are as anxious as I am and it will get unbearable as soon as we get one of those perfect spring days.
I’m okay with snow in February. It’s these one-off rainy days that turn to ice on top of snow that are bad news. Right now my driveway has an inch of ice with two inches of snow on top. Snow is still coming down as I write this, and freezing rain is predicted by morning. I’m glad I don’t have to go anywhere. A quick check of the photo files reveals that this time last year I had snowdrops and winter aconites blooming. This year they are still dormant under a generous quantity of snow–which is more typical.
Yeah. I looked at a few other years and this average winter seems so frigid and arctic in comparison. It hasn’t really been exceptionally cold, but it has been steady cold since December which is something I’m not used to anymore. Good for the plants but somewhat boring for the gardener since I became spoiled having witch hazels and aconite start blooming in January.
We had mostly ice yesterday and into today, but within the last two hours it’s noticeably melted and if it stops raining I’ll give things a look.
Congrats Frank on taking that next step into vendor-hood. Can’t wait to see your table! Next, I’m sure we’ll see posts about how you need more plants but it’s just because of your propagation work. lol
I am utterly tired of this winter. I’m tired of walking Derby and postholing down almost a foot on nearly every step. I’m tired of running the dishwasher and plugging in the car in the afternoon (instead of at night when the electric rate drops a tiny bit) and leaving old coffee in the pot and having 12 jugs and buckets of water sitting in the laundry room and making sure my devices are fully charged -all in case we lose power in the nth iteration of winter storms we’re getting.
And I’m sad about the six or eight inches of snow we’re getting tonight and the half inch of ice predicted on top of that, because I’m meant to be driving with friends tomorrow to the Berkshire Botanic Gardens winter lecture to hear Jacqueline van der Kloet. They are getting the same storm, so there’s no driving out of it. At this rate, who knows if we’ll make it out of here for the gala? Not the best of years. But stewing about this is better than agonizing about the terrible things happening in our government. Well, maybe.
Haha, my whole life up to this point has been ‘market research’ for this moment! I hope the table comes together, my vision always lags reality so right now I’m imagining something which won’t embarrass me but we will see. Hopefully people will only whisper behind my back and not be too blunt!
Yes I don’t envy your snowpack. I happen to love snow, but that’s only when it politely melts after a few days and doesn’t sit around dirty and icy for weeks on end. We have been lucky in that. There have been a few sunny days and the storms really haven’t left as much in our area compared to North or South of us. It’s just been a steady cold with few days where I feel any need to do anything outside. I didn’t even pick dead leaves off the witch hazel until just a few weeks ago and that’s usually a January job!
Good luck during these last few weeks. Snow in March is where I draw the line, and absolutely not in April. It melts fast, but once things start growing my ‘snow love’ is no longer a thing.
Well, good luck to you with the digging and potting and driving and selling, etc . . . ! I’ll be eager to hear about your experience as a seller.
I’m looking forward to seeing whether my first snowdrops (thank you Kathy) grow and bloom. And the winter aconite seeds I spread around (thank YOU); will they do anything? Do I even remember where I spread them? (I do. I think. I’m pretty sure.)
I heard from a reliable source that your friend finally just bought her own primula.
Happy Snowdropping!
Send me a message the minute you spot a snowdrop up there in the highlands! I think you need more, but that’s always been my opinion.
Is checking for them 3 or 4 times a day excessive?
Wow, your own stand at the ‘Galanthus Gala’! I hope you manage to get a good collection together and maybe have a chance to swap some or purchase a couple more. 😉 We haven’t had much snow, but it has been consistently just below freezing, so our ground is solid too, and like you – I can’t wait for it to warm up, just a little bit, so I can tidy up the garden for the spring flowers. Fingers crossed we both get some milder days this coming week!
Hi Cathy 🙂 As you may notice I’m a little behind in my blogging! I know you’ve warmed a little, and I hope you’ve started in on the cleanup as well as had some time to admire the crocus, but I just want to wish you all the best for the upcoming season!
I managed to get out yesterday and start the front yard. It’s terribly picky since the snowdrops are already up and I don’t want to destroy the show, but a slow, picky pace is probably best after that long winter rest. I’m only a bit sore this morning, but usually that doesn’t fully kick in until two days later, so Monday morning will be fun!
Oops, it does indeed look very cold over at your end. I think it’s been a rather cold winter all over, even here I fear I’ve lost some plants. At the same time they’re telling us it’s been the mildest ever 😅. Thankfully snowdrops are very tough and no doubt your stand will shine at the gala. Spring is definitely in the air here and I’m feeling the pressure already to get out and get the clean up done…
Hi Annette! Yes, I was out starting the cleanup and I suspect all the verbena bonariensis are back to their annual status. The last two years had me spoiled! Fortunately they reseed well here, so I’ll just have to wait later into the year for the show to start.
Overall we had a strangely average winter. No shocking highs or lows, in spite of all the hype just a normal winter. I was expecting much more snow after they declared a La Nina pattern, but it all went either north or south. Friends in Canada though kept yelling to give their cold back! Their Eastern coast was oddly warm and snowless nearly all winter.
Enjoy getting back out there! I love the first cleanup of the year, it’s all so neat and under control… for a week or two 😉
Have a wild and wonderful snowdrop time at the Gala. You’ll do great. Hope the weather cooperates.
We actually had snow (our second for the year) today. Pretty, but okay, let’s get on toward spring.
Take care, Frank.
Thanks! The snowdrop gala went off without a hitch and I’m back to the quiet of my own garden. Cleanup has commenced and I hope that’s it for the snow!