Thursday, March 5, 2015

Snow is pretty, but...

This morning, I opened the front door to this.

More frozen precipitation. This is our fourth round since last week. We have seen it all; freezing rain, freezing drizzle, sleet, and snow. In fact, we had all of those since last night. 

It is all very pretty, but I am ready for some warm days so the predominant color of my landscape will be green and not white or brown. I am also ready to dig in the dirt a little. I have a few plants that I want to move around and a few in pots of plants that need to go in the ground.

It is hard to do much gardening when the ground is covered in snow.

It looks like this yucca has been nibbled on by rabbits. I did not think rabbits would eat the tough leaves of yucca.


This is the parkway area between the sidewalk and the street. Bluebonnets are somewhere under that snow. Their blooming may be a little delayed this year because of this late seasons snow. I have a feeling a lot of spring growth will be delayed this year.





In the backyard vegetable garden, onions and garlic are holding their own under the snow. The cold weather is not a problem for them. The garlic was planted in November and the onions in February. In the background are a couple of plastic pots that I placed over the crowns of a couple of asparagus plants that pushed a few spears out of the ground. I picked two spears before the icy weather hit last week.
  
Somewhere at the base of this trellis are some English pea seedlings. They sprouted the week before last. I covered them with frost cloth before the ice hit last week and have not uncovered them since. I hope they are still alive. 

I have three rows of potatoes (marked by sticks) growing planted behind this Pine Muhly. They were planted two weeks ago. The ice and snow will not affect them since they have not sprouted yet.

The sky is clear for the first time in over a week. The warm sun is causing steam to rise off of the fence. Although the temperature will not rise much above freezing today, the radiant heat from the sun should help to melt some of the ice and snow away. Driving to work tomorrow could be tricky since the temperature will dip into the 20s again tonight and any water on the roads will refreeze. The temperature will be in the mid-50s for the weekend. Maybe I can do some gardening if the soil is not too muddy.

18 comments:

  1. Your photos are so pretty. I like the little flower frozen in snow.

    This will make it a challenge for you to prepare for the tour in April. With all the flowers and structural plants, it will still look great.

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    1. I am a little concerned as to how things will look for the tour at the end of April. The late snow may ensure that the bluebonnets are still blooming. There may not be much more in bloom.

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  2. I'm with Shirley. That little solitary bloom sticking up out of the snow is gorgeous to see, though I don't envy you the conditions that created the shot. You got everything we just avoided here south and west of Austin. Our spring seems determined to show up early and be loud. What a strange, strange year already!

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    1. I hope this is the last of the cold for us and we can get spring going in high gear like it is for you. Of course all of this ice and snow is nothing like they are seeing in other parts of the country.

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  3. The shot of that daisy is so precious. I didn't realize Plano had gotten that much snow. We missed out on any serious mayhem last night, but the lows for tonight have me worried. I've seen warnings of teens out in the hill country. It won't get quite that cold for us to the east, but I have potatoes up and lots of other tender vegetation that I'm worried about. I'm crossing my fingers that we stay close to freezing and don't dip too far down into the 20's.

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    1. Good luck with your cold spell, Ally. I took a peek at my peas today and they seemed fine.

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  4. DId you see any footprints in the snow. That is the one thing I look for when we have a rare snowfall In Austin. All we have here is bitter cold and we had to make our own blanket cover. Spring is surely n the way after this weekend.

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    1. I did see some bird and squirrel prints in the snow. Later in the day, I saw some child prints and dog prints that strayed from the sidewalk and into the middle of the front garden. It looked like somebody was trying to roll snowballs. Fortunately, it did not look like any plants were injured.

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  5. Thanks for sharing. Be safe and warm.

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  6. It definitely is pretty, especially the way the snow collects in the agaves' arms. But I'm sure you're ready for a warm-up.

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  7. Snow's a pretty novelty! At least it didn't turn into summer with March, though winter hanging on and not letting up is rough; 5+ winters of my last decade at the old house were that way. Rabbits think succulents are yummy, when it's winter or just too dry...yuccas, opuntias, dasylirions included.

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    1. I have noticed nibbles on my opuntias as well. Other people have deer problems. I have rabbit problems. At least they don't eat as much or as high up the plant as deer.

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  8. Honestly, I'm so envious! It's gorgeous and so are your pictures! Here, we've just cold drizzly damp that makes it no fun to get back out to there to do all those things we need to do. At least you've got a super good excuse! But I'm with you: time for some sun and back to work.

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    1. Hopefully, we have seen the last of winter now, Linda. It is time to get spring rolling.

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  9. I wish I could have made footprints in your snowy prairie.

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  10. How beautiful. Thank you for sharing the picture.

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