Well we certainly have more snow now, probably about 6"-8". Terry, I used to have about 75 to 100 Hybrid Teas and each year, I would plant them with the bulb union about 6" deep and then in the fall, cut them back to about a foot, cover with peat moss, about 8-10 bales, then cover with pieces of old carpet. Then in the spring, take the carpet off, and slowly remove the peat moss. Took hours of work in the fall and in the spring. The roses were absolutley beautiful and each year, no matter how careful, I would lose 6-8 roses anyway. One year, about 12 years ago when we had a particularly bad winter, I lost half of the roses and that was it. It was hearbreaking, not to mention very expensive. Every once in a while, I still do buy some plants that are borderline, like I bought 2 shrubs at $35.00 each, can't remember their exact name but they were some Japanese name I think with lovely pink and green leaves, protected them over the winter but they died. And then, I did it again the next summer! Dumb! Anyway, I still have some Oriental and Trumpet Lilies that I buy but they are all planted on the south side of the house where the wind piles up the snow in the winter. However, I can certainly understand why we as gardeners do what we do. It's cause we love it! I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate at this time of year and all the best to all in the New Year.

The snow was gone here a couple weeks ago and thank goodness for this weather so far! After the past couple years (and even last month) where we've had below normal winter and spring temps, it's a nice break. You can thank a positive NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) and a neutral to slightly positive Pacific Oscillation for that. We had gotten so accustomed to teens and twenties for highs every winter for weeks at a time and being pushed to consider that "normal" (which it isn't, at least here in SE PA), that what we are experiencing now seems "mild" and in reality, it's closer to "normal" and what the temps should be (highs mid - upper 30s and lows in the mid 20s for the coldest month of January). Since the beginning of December, I have watched below normal weather here in the east being idiotically cheered on by several commercial weather forecasters (some who finally admitted that they were "snow lovers" after weeks on end threatening that winter is coming... winter is coming.... look out.... And even concocting hypothetical graphical scenarios illustrating what would need to occur to theoretically produce even more severely below normal cold weather), while those same ones cheered on the above-normal temps elsewhere across the U.S. But god forbid, let us struggle to normal and slightly above and they get their panties in a twist. Meanwhile out west, temps are some 30 degrees above normal. :-\ Sorry for the weather rant...but I've been wanting to get that out. ;-) beanmomma - if you can remember the winter of 2001 - 2002, you might be able to predict whether your plants will come out of dormancy too soon. I have a couple new potted shrubs and a new containered tree (a plum that only needs 250 chill hours which I'm sure has gotten that by now) that I am watching too. Right now it seems that the temp range has been perfect for "chill hour" accumulation. But I think as long as we do hit or go below freezing at night, I expect the plants will hang on in dormancy awhile longer. Crossing fingers that we can make it through this month like this and squeak through February the same way, then we should be pretty much on our way to spring! :-)

Both of the main weather guys on my local station were on vacation. The sub that was on last evening gave as detailed a report as he possibly could. The thing that he brought up twice was that we'd probably not get much snow, but the water that was on the roads and sidewalks were very likely to freeze in spots, and become very slippery, making it very dangerous to drive/walk. The he added "I'm not trying to use scare tactics on you, it's just you might not think to be as careful as you should". I said hooray for the young guy. I just watched the weather at noon, and there were several people who apparently didn't listen, as several slick/black ice accidents were on the news. Shirley/Ohio

I have a plant called Duranta repens, sometimes called Brazilian Skyflower, Maryl. It has been in my garden for several years and dies to the ground each winter here. It emerges in late spring and is up and blooming all summer until the hard freezes start. It would make a small tree in Florida, but here it just has the one year's growth on it. Of course, Amaryllis are also very good to grow in the ground and bloom every year, and I have one potted plant, Russelia Equisetiformis (Firecracker Plant) that is in my greenhouse. That is all I have though. Come to think of it, I went through a bit more of a tropical plant phase at one time. I had several coffee plants and a beautiful Stephanotis that I has raised from a twig. It had grown to about eight feet and was in bloom when a gardening disaster struck. We had a freaky cold storm to blow in. It blew out the window in the greenhouse and the heater chose that time to quit working. everything in the greenhouse that the cold would kill died. It severely hurt a huge Aloe plant I had and killed the coffee plants and the Stephanotis. What can you do? That is gardening. kay