Happy New Year !

Our white Christmas arrived a few days late but a snowstorm blew in on Thursday night. It made the roads an absolute mess and we had no choice but to drive in for groceries. It was slow going but we made it safely and the reward for all the nasty weather was waking up to this on Friday morning! I ran outside in my pj's and boots to get these shots before the dogs went through and knocked it all off. The bird sanctuary was beautiful. I am looking forward to my 2012 garden and when the view turns into this it reminds me why. This year I am getting fencing around my kitchen garden so I have already pulled out the seeds to plan.

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a really great Christmas.

Winter Weather

Wile E.

Our snow dogs are not the only ones waiting for snow. My garden is waiting as well. Lack of snow cover on my garden means that when the temperature drops, the plants are unprotected. Snow cover acts as insulation for the perennial roots trying to survive cold, long winters in zone 3. I am not on their side though. Our weather has been wonderful with many days above zero and even the cold days are close to -20. No snow makes keeping the road open much less work. I would rather replace the plants that don't make it than have more snow and colder temperatures.

All Over Now...

Fresh vegetables have come out of my 'fridge and bulbs have gone in. Tulip planting is over for this year. I had a very late last planting date and will be interested to see what comes up next year that was planted in December. The temperature dropped a few days ago and we have been -20 or so since. I can no longer get my shovel through the top layer of soil. The ground in the Valley is officially frozen even with very little snow. I won't complain yet though. It will very likely get much colder for much longer before it gets better. The upside is that it is a late start to winter here so spring is already that much closer!

And it goes on...

Everyday is a new wonder. I have a new latest plant date! December 6. Today I planted tulips. It was beautiful weather with the temperature at +5. The tulips I planted are all mixed bulbs. The mix is made up of every tulip I had out in the garden this year and last. It should be interesting to see how they come up because when you are just looking at bulbs, there is no way to tell the flower colour. I am looking forward to what these patches might look like. There are a lot of them too. I planted about 100 of them today and if the weather holds through tomorrow, about that same amount will go in again. Then all my tulips will be in ground.