Views of the winter garden can be just as interesting as in other seasons - show us your winter scene.
The storm that brought heavy snow and blizzard conditions to much of the Midwest over Christmas has finally passed and now my garden is covered with a white blanket and all is quiet.
Post photos of your garden in winter - here's a start - the raised pond in my Kansas City garden on December 27, 2009.
The urns are empty, covered in snow and waiting for spring.
Winter here in coastal Northern CA is dreary compared to spring and early summer. There is much that is green, and some scattered blooms, but no big show.
However, winter is when some of the plants bloom. My callas are still a few weeks away, but today I picked half a dozen purple reblooming bearded iris (variety unknown, they were a freebie). The foliage in this shot is actually the star, though - the variegated starburst-like stem of an alstroemeria, along with the chartreuse leaves of an 'Occold Gold' pelargonium and the delicate needles of a climbing fern (Asparagus africanus).
Wonderful colors and contrasts! I have 'zone envy'!
Today it's cold and clear - 18 degrees, so the snow isn't melting, but it is beautiful. The garden is so peaceful in the winter.
view from my front porch
Looks as cold there as it is here!
I still have the Christmas lights going so I took this one earlier this evening. It's the little fenced garden in my side yard.
early_bloomer
Here's another angle. This one was taken before Christmas when there was less snow.
early_bloomer
Nice! We got an additional inch or two of snow last night and the temps are in the single digits (8 at the moment) - it looks like we're going to have a real winter this year!
The calm before the storm - it's sunny today but they say we'll get another 2-6" of snow tomorrow followed by below-zero temps (it's 13 degrees at 1:00 pm today). I think we've had more snow so far this winter than we usually receive in a whole season!
While the snow was falling last night, I took one last photo of the tree I decorated in the front yard.
The 'major storm' all the weather geeks predicted turned out to be an additional 2-3" of snow, with VERY cold temperatures (it's 7 degrees at 11:00 am today). Here's the view from my window, this morning.
LeawoodGardener, your garden looks much like mine. About the only thing I can see outside is white. We have had about 30" of snow during Dec and Jan and most of it is still on the ground. Was 12 below zero at 8 this morning. Pretty if you don't have to go out in it, but I am getting cabin fever. Here is the view out my front door yestereday. I just keep looking at photos from last summer and wishing Spring would get here.
Susan
I understand the cabin fever - I scraped the sidewalk and driveway after the snow on Thursday, but my car has not been out of the garage since Wednesday. Friends who have moved to Florida and Arizona give me a lot of grief this time of year, calling me with the weather report from their balmy outpost, but I truly believe I could not live in a climate where I didn't have the four seasons - for all the misery of winter, there is a certain refreshing quality that makes me even more appreciative of those first warm days in late February or March when the snow disappears and tiny sprouts start to emerge.
I agree that the changing seasons are something I'd miss. By fall each year I'm ready to put the garden to bed and love the look of everything starting over in the spring. Seems like the way things are meant to be. We are suppose to get up into the 20's for the next 3 days and it's amazing how warm that sounds. Wed high is to be 34, so we may even get some melting.
Susan
Here are a couple photos of the backyard. My flower beds are well insulated this winter.
early_bloomer
One more........
early_bloomer
beautiful shots everyone,The Christmas Lights are really pretty,Iam jealous i dont really have anywhere to decorate outside anymore,Lost the 3 blk hills pines,and the blue spruce is 25-ft tall now,I love lights on pines.Iam a winter Lover,so I think the snow is almost as pretty as a nice green lawn !!!! We have been in the deep freeze for quite a while now,I think I heard the cold stretch has broken a record .I will have to take some pics today spose to be sunny and maybe 30,its 15 now wind chill 0.Dress warm and have a great day : }
Early Bloomer, your winter shots are beautiful - so peaceful and serene.
I was out today picking up the many twigs & branches brought down by the
early & heavy snow this year. It was 50 deg F and just wonderful. Here's
a collage of the winter wonderland in mid Dec, a short month ago.
Tam
Tam,beautiful area where you live,nice collage.Tamara ; }
Tamara? Don't run into many Tammy/Tamara's. Nice to meet you
and thanks. Today is not so pretty - wet and grey.
Tam
My tree fern has been under this for three weeks, it has been minus 11C here.
They are not quite meant for this, coming from Southern Australia.
Regards Neil.
Beautiful pix Tam! I love to see the snow and frost on a bright, clear day.
Neil, is the -11 unusual for London? I wasn't aware that it got quite that cold there. I've been in London and Paris in late December, but don't remember it being that cold. This has been an unusual winter for many of us. Our temps (in the Midwest US) are often that cold, but it's the norm, not the exception.
Dear Leawood Gardener, yes it is unusual to be that cold for this long and has caused chaos everywhere.
The councils were not prepared for it and ran out of grit/salt for the roads, so everything was like a skating rink, no trains etc. Unfortunately they did not do the side roads, so if your car was in one of them, you were stuck and could not get to a main road. They could not do the pavements, so the elderly could not get out at all, and for those who could get out there was a lot of accidents and the Ambulances could not get to them on the pure ice. So they had to use the Army!
Just outside Oxford it went to minus 17.7C which is 0.14F, 32 F being frezing point. In the Border between England and Scotland it dipped to minus 22.2C which is -7.95F, so that is 39.95F below freezing point!
Which is a bit chilly!
Regards.
Neil.
Your pictures are so pretty with the snow, everything looks so quiet and pure. Although, I cannot say that I have zone envy, I do love the beauty of the snow draping over the trees and ground.
We got some temps down in the teens over the past couple of weeks but they are back up now in the 40's and 50's.
In this picture it was 18° F, the pond froze over except where the aerator is running. I wish it would have snowed instead of freezing rain. Yuck!
Hahaha! My two fish ponds (one is raised and rectangular, the other is a round, sunk in at ground level - in this photo) have been frozen over (to a depth of about 18" below ground) since December. The fish lay in the mud at the bottom and hibernate with just a few inches of unfrozen water above them.
it wa skind of ugly out ,when these beauties showed up .the neibors dog is getting old ,so the deer are showing up a lot more,Ive never had problems before I hope they dont start eating my stuff !!!
There were 11 this day,pic is taken through the window so its foggy
Wow. They are beautiful, but you'd be surprised how quickly they can strip a garden. It's one big salad bar to them. I have an occasional deer in my yard (they travel through the neighborhood in the creek bed), but so far, all I've lost is an urn full of tulips (5-6 years ago).
All our snow has melted (slowly - thank goodness - so it soaked in nicely with little runoff), but it's still cold. My boxwood got some winter-kill on the tips, but I hope the plants are OK.
Thats what Iam afraid of,I will shoo them off !!! Ive seen the neibors dog the last few days hope he is leaving his scent !!!! Our snow melted over the weekend we had 45 degrees and on monday cold and more lake effect snow,which is odd ,this year we have gotten the majority of our snow from LE,it normally doesnt make it this far. Its 9 degrees this am wind chill - 7 BRRR.Sunrise a few days ago.
The first day of Spring, and look at the scene when I got up this morning - yesterday was warm and sunny. The local weather guru says the majority of the snow is coming this afternoon. Oh well.
my back yard looks about the same... just the snow, not the beauty [gorgeous yard Leawood] and the snow is still coming down.
but by tomorrow the temps will be warming up... just hope there is sunshine... 50's all next week.
Oh my.... I was thinking of posting a picture of all the pretty iris reticulata & crocus
in bloom here to cap this thread. But obviously too soon!
Tam
Tammy,looks like we dodged the snow too,although much colder today.No photos from me either only because it just still looks Icky out there,some green, a lot of brown !! Tam too.
huggergirl - you are a "Tam" too? Its actually starting to green up a bit here.
My willow tree is yellow - loaded with buds. The forsythia are just starting to
push out the flowers. My first daffodils opened yesterday.
Take heart all you pour souls getting this latest snow storm - spring will get
to you too! And remember - don't you dare send that snow our way!!! lol
Tam
LOL Tam ... i just want the sun to come out!! then it will start melting.
we'll be 'wet' for a few days, but as long as it is sunny... and windy, the soil dries out quickly and i'll be back in the dirt in no time.
Yes, Iam Tam or Tamara,you are a bit ahead of us here in North Eastern Indiana,I do have 1 bunch of Daffs budding ,only beacuse they are in a warm protected area,all my others are just a few inches tall,tulips peeking ,I saw some trees blooming yesterady I have no Idea what they were ,It is still abit early,I just hope my Redbud does not get nipped this spring,last yr we had ICE , AARRGGG !!! We have sun today ,a bit cold,much better than what they had been predicting,no rain yet YES,
Here's the view of my pond this morning. It's not that cold out - the snow will melt quickly, I'm sure.
