Cold Climate Gardening

The trouble with that platitude is that Spring is so erratic around here that we often don’t recognize it when it comes. For the next eight weeks or so, every time we hit a spell of bad weather, we will repeat to ourselves, and each other, “Well, spring is right around the corner.” But we’re never quite sure which corner is the corner.

We all think we recognize Spring when we encounter it.

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Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies

I grew up during the Beatles era and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” has always been a fave in my top five. From the start, there was speculation that psychedelic drugs influenced John Lennon when he wrote the dreamy, trippy imagery into his song. But couldn’t he have been inspired by a morning such as this?

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Not the Valentines Day love-in I was expecting, this was a storm for the record books. Under a state of emergency all day and through the night, my county was closed down and everyone was told to stay off the roads. When it was over the snow totals came in. My little, almost unknown, town of Roseboom “won” the snow total race with an “official” 38 inches.

“Yeah, right,” I thought while looking out the window. Maybe if you were lucky to only have that much. Many of my neighbors and myself had more and it depended on which side of the street you were living. It is days later and I’m still trying to clear away some areas and, of course, the daily wind blow. And don’t even ask about getting my truck stuck.

But I was fully informed for a storm of this size because I have a secret weapon: weather radio.

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By 9 a.m. this morning about 8 inches of snow had fallen, and the weather service predicts

Snow will continue right into this evening… heavy at times.

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Is there anyone in North America not having an atypical winter? These twigs were photographed by Justin in January. After I took the photos for the preceding post the first Saturday in February, I was able to spend a good two hours weeding before being chased inside by rain. For those of you who live in warmer climes and may not understand the significance of this, normally in February the ground is frozen solid. Attempting to pull weeds is usually akin to pulling plants out of stone, assuming the leaves themselves aren’t frozen to the earth, and your gloves provide enough dexterity to grasp the plant while still keeping warmth in your fingers. And rain? In February? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Surely you jest.

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As you may be aware, the Northeast has been getting rained on for most of October. The rainy, warmer-than-typical October coming after the unusually hot and dry summer has made for some unusual plant activity:
Many of the plants that went dormant or semi-dormant in the heat came back and produced another flush of bloom. Most notably, the tunic flower that I thought had died is regrowing. Yay!

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After the miserable snowy weather in the middle of March the month has made a dramatic turn for the better in these last few days. It started on Sunday the 28th which dawned clear and sunny. The day followed in the steps of the morning and Monday kept up the same and today as well. These have been days when the daytime temperature manages to climb up into the 60s (Fahrenheit).

Spring is here. The snowdrops and crocuses are here and soon they will be gone. The fields are full of dead grass but soon they will be turning green again. The daffodils are coming up, but turn around and they’ll be blooming. Around here spring is the shortest season with the longest list of chores. But with weather like these last three days it is impossible to be discouraged by the long list of things-that-must-be-done. After months of snow it feels like a privilege to be outside working, soaking up the sun and fresh air.

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