Lucky you! We still have until the middle of May or so for our last frost date. I'm so wanting spring to get here. I'm getting excited to see my tulips, daffs crocus and so forth that I planted last fall...but still have to wait a month to three months for those. We just had a ton of rain drop on us two nights ago, the entire back and front yard was underwater. The front yard is mostly back to normal, but half of the backyard (where the majority of my flower beds are) is still underwater, and now its going to be real cold again for the next week. Crappy winter weather!

Front yard (ya, our christmas tree is still on the patio!)
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Backyard (the chain-link fence is our property line)
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Karen

We had a foot of snow yesterday. It is my understanding we have 40+ more inches of snow than usual by this time of year. We are close to breaking the all time record for snowfall!

Spring only exists in seed catalogs and the basement where my first daylily babies are growing.

Enjoy your warm weather! Jodi

We've had hints of spring (warm spells, evergreen daylilies with a little stubborn foliage showing), but I KNOW that reality says that it will be April before I have daffodils, and June before I have daylilies in bloom. Still, I hope to see pictures of southern flowers to help me wait my turn. Spring is coming (amen!), just not soon enough. So I'm going to continue winter sowing, and dreaming of flowers.

Laurel

Someone who lives on my road has a whole row of daffodils blooming right now.
Jill

Yeap! I've got daffies with buds about to open. This is about normal for these early ones. In fact, I think they may be a week or so late. I bet if I got out and drove around, I would find many already blooming just a mile or so south of me. I tend to be in a micro enviroment that is about 5 degrees cooler than my neighbors. This is fantastic in July but a pain in February! I didn't manage to get all of my seedlings repotted last fall so I've got a job ahead of me in a week or two.

The daylily bug bit me last week so I'm chumping at the bit ready to get started. Unfortunatly I got some kind of virus this past Monday and I'm totally useless. I have fibromyalgia and 2 days of fever around 103 really hurt me. Maybe in 2 weeks I'll have some energy back. Sunshine sure does help. So far my DL are still dormant and they need to stay they way with our weather being so unpredictable. You folks in zone 8, have fun and don't over do it.

Blessings to all, Mona

I've been getting a seedling bed ready for planting today...got to get a new bed ready for some new Munsons I have coming also. Spring will be here before you know it.
Besides daffs, I've seen flowering quince and forsythia blooming today...it'll be time for me to start digging and dividing my dl's real soon now!! :)
Jan

OOOH,you guys are making me long for spring.
We have been dumped on for the last 2 days and no end in sight. There is snow in the forcast for the next 4 days here in Central Ontario. My spring exists in catalogues as well. I can't even start my seeds yet because we're heading to South Carolina for the March Break. I won't be able to start them till we get back. sigh.

I'll just enjoy seeing your pictures and I'll live vicariously thru all you southerners.

Snowed in.....Ange

Snowed in here too, in SE WI.
65.5" snowfall YTD, and as Jodi said above, we will probably break all snowfall records this year.
Even when Spring arrives on March 20th, the weather can still be fierce. Nothing will bloom in my garden until late April.

Haven't posted here much lately, but browse almost daily, and sure am enjoying all your beautiful photos!

Good grief Karen! I hope your basement wasn't flooded! The rain you got was probably from the same storm that dumped 24 hours worth of blizzarding snow on us.

What a nasty winter, esp. for those tornado victims.

Julie

Yes, It has been a nasty winter. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all the snow, especially because I have kids who love it. And when it stays it protects my gardens.
This year we've had several freeze thaw cycles. I'm afraid of what I might find in the spring. ( or rather....not find)

But I do have to count my blessings. We've not had any tornado's and my house is well insulated. So I guess I if I have a few things die, well I can replace them with daylilies!!

Ange

Wow!! Karen, you have a mess...What I have are tree roots and bare spots in my yard where the water washed the soil away. Since I live on a rise, it doesn't stand but takes my dirt with it when it runs off.

It is about 56 degress outside today but it is extremely wind so feels very cold. The only thing I have done is spend several days picking up debris from my yard. I am about half done. I am SO looking for to the daylilies. the new and old. I expect I will have my first bloom around mid may. That is, if they haven't washed away....Ellie

Most of the water has drained away, but still have some standing water in parts of the backyard. The house doesn't have a basement, it sits on a slab, so no worries in that regard, however if it were to get worse, the water wouldn't run into a basement but directly into the house! Only have been here for a year, so don't know how bad it can really get, but so far, that was icky! There were other places that got flooded worse around here, thankfully it didn't get as bad at our house. Now if the remaining water would go away...

Karen

After seeing Karen's pictures of the small lake in her yard, I thought I'd share a couple pictures of our place during that same quick thaw, and lots of rain. We had MUD as far as the eye could see. Which is also how it will look during late March and April. Around May we will begin to see grass instead of muck. I wish it was late April already.

Linda

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OH YEAH!!! That looks sooooo familiar! Need those 15 inch over the shoe boots to navigate and pray your feet don't slide out from under you on the incline! Pray the tractor doesn't slide sideways going through the gates and take the long way around and up the hill! Otherwise you're in the holler.

A weekend of banshee winds had almost dried the pastures out enough to get the truck on them in the grassy spots but the places like beyond your gate we're still using the skid loader with tracs to get through. It seems to tear things up less than the tractor.

Janet

School got cancelled yesterday for snow. I will try to post a picture of my yard tonight if I get home before dark.

Edward

PS I saw a bald eagle today. It was being harrassed by crows.

Janet, AHHHHHH.....someone else that has to deal with the joys of farm life. LOL You know all about the high boots and the sliding tractors. I just love it when you're wearing your 15" boots and trying to trudge through 7" of mud while leading a horse in each hand.......and then you step out of your boot. Or your turning horses out and they decide to buck and full speed gallop away from the gate leaving you standing there covered head to toe in mud and muck. :-( Thinking about all that makes me ready for May.

Linda

One thing about living in the south at least my area we get warm weather for a few days then get down to the 20's.

One day I went to work with it being 80 degree's by mid-morning it started raining and temps dropping by about 2:00 pm it was snowing.
Old man winter is showing his ugly head this weekend. I'll have to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off to cover everything.

This past weekend I managed to start cleaning on my flower bed on the south side of the house. I still have to rake up the old mulch to lay news paper and more mulch down but with my back problems I'm only able to do a little at a time so it works out good that I can take my time.

The past two years I've been caring for my dad nearly fill time. He still lives in his home but I would go over 5 days out of the week and it got to be to much for me and I had to tell him that I could not keep it up. It was more if just having me there that he wants, he's able to do most thing's for himself. Plus two years ago when his brother past away it was the first time dad had been alone. Ya, see his parents lived next door and then my uncle moved in with them and stayed. When my grandparent past away my uncle got the house and he and my dad took care of each other.
You'd never deam those two would have gotten along cause they fought .... had words for as long as I can remember but in the end they realized they were the only ones they could count on. I felt better having the two of them close together.

Well, I got off subject LOL.

Barb

Barb, Bless you for taking the time to help your dad. I share duties with my sister in a similar situation. Sis and I are both into gardening, but we share little in common regarding our garden passions. I have a HUGE DL admiration and she does not understand why. Fortunately we both share a love for family and extended kin. And fortunately most all our kin have an appreciation for daylilies.

Yep, a five gallon bucket in each hand wading across to a feed bunk with 35 shameless Simmental hussies all thinking that they should be first in line shoving and knocking you around while the Australian Shepherd is sitting on the tractor barking because SHE doesn't do MUD!

I'll try to remember how wet it is right now when I'm dragging hoses to the daylily patch and garden in July and August.

I finished pruning the blackberries Saturday and moved some of the mulch on the fall planted daylilies just to take a look. I usually don't mulch but I figured since these were planted so late that I ought to help them along a little and throw some protection their way. Honestly things were looking pretty darned good, both mulched and unmulched plants.

Janet

I thought I would share some garden pics with all of you...

My 'mailbox' garden
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Sidewalk
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And finally, the front yard
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I thought all of you in the warmer climates might enjoy this! Jodi

Bless your heart Jodi....I feel for you with all that snow! My DH in working in NW PA, and sent me photos this morning of all their snow, but it's nothing compared to yours! Makes me appreciate living in south central AL. :) I've got daffs, creeping phlox, camelias, and flowering quince blooming right now, and my dormant dl's are beginning to show some green too. Hang in there, spring will come for you too. LOL
Jan

Another 3-5 inches of snow predicted for tonight and tomorrow just in time for Valentine's Day LOL

Could someone post a picture of their garden tools, green grass,DL beds, people or pets not wearing winter coats, anything that looks like spring?

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.

Well we had temps here yesterday around 65 but today had light snow hi at lunchtime today was 28. Alabama is a state you can have all 4 seasons in 1 week.
Jill

NE Mississippi weather is like Alabama's weather. Yesterday mirrored Jill's. I shall not complain after looking at all that snow. I guess in my 54 years of life, the most snow we ever had was when I was still a kid and we had about 14". Now we do good to even see a few flakes in one winter. I guess global warming is already fast at work here in the deep south.

You've just nudged a few memories for me. I had 4 horses when I was a teen. I do remember running out of my big old mud boots and stepping into the cold of 10" deep mud and horse pooh, cold horse pooh at that! I can just see your dog setting on the tractor barking his encouragement at you for being in the mud and muck!

I just heard that we could have lows in the teens tonight with highs tomorrow in 50 to 60. My poor daffies may freeze tonight.

I'm ready for Spring's warmth and the showing of green in our trees.

Blessings to all, Mona

Don't believe in GW just think it is weather changing as it did in I think 1819 when alot of the east coast I think got snow in the middle of June. It was on the Histor channel last week.
Jill

Don't believe in GW just think it is weather changing as it did in I think 1819 when alot of the east coast I think got snow in the middle of June. It was on the Histor channel last week.
Jill

Jodi, I sure do feel for you. Hope you don't have to shovel that canyon you depict as a sidewalk in your pix. My right arm feels the strain already. I haven't seen that kind of snow in our area since I was 6 - 7 years old. At that age I do remember it covering the parked cars on our street.

Mona, It's always nice to hear from someone who has had similar experiences. You have to have done the run out of the boot thing to fully appreciate how cold and yucky that feels. Then faced with the quandry of whether to put the boot back on, or just march away in your sock feet.

To date the funniest insident I ran into was to find one of my Banty chickens standing in water that was nearly frozen around it's feet. Had to chip it out of the ice. So much for the expression "Dumb Cluck". It's hard work, but I love being a farm gal. Every day is an adventure....and the joy of daylilies in the spring/summer. Checked mine beneath the mulch too.......so far things are looking pretty good. No heaving so far.

Linda

Jodi's garden and yard pictures could be mine. My snow might be slightly deeper.
I can empathy with the mud on the farm and the boot thing. Had that happen more than once as a kid. All the animals (except cats) are gone from the farm now. My sister and I put all the extra daylilies and all the seedlings there. We have been planting daylilies in the barnyard and the dirt is not so good--full of gravel that Dad hauled in trying to keep the mud away from the barns when he had cows and then horses. It does drain better now, though.
Beth

It has really been an exceptionally snowy winter. We actually had almost that much piled up in early January and then most of it melted down to the grass. So actually, you are seeing just HALF of the snow we have had this winter! (Four more inches tomorrow!)

Former horse farm girl myself. Nothing like trying to clean the inch-thick layer of dried mud off your horse because he found the best mucky spot to roll!

Have a great evening! Jodi

Still cold up here, and finally a bit of snow to insulate the garden. We just had several weeks of dry, exposed, bitter cold, so I'll be curious to see what plants didn't mind the exposure and what couldn't take it. Still dreaming of spring. (I've got daffodil and reticulated iris foliage! There is hope!) I'll post a spring picture from last year, to encourage avonlady and my fellow northerners.

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Laurel

Thank you, laurelin. Just the day brightener I needed today.

OT, but didn't you post a picture last summer of your back yard with a stone wall in it? I wondered if you knew the history on it or if you built it.

Here in Maine I didn't get a chance to mulch my new bulb/perennial beds, but because of the snow we got, I think it will be ok. Only got down to around 20 and there has been at least 6" of snow on the ground since...enough to keep things relatively well insulated, I hope.

Avonlady,

I might have been the one talking about rock walls - was this the pic you were thinking of? I did several walls/terraces over the past 10 years, but this one is original to the house, which was built around 1950. (I'm not too OT here - it's a nice summer pic!) Apparently the back yard was terraced at one time, and apparently there is still a larger rock wall buried under the slope. The people who owned the house around 1960 stopped by last summer, and later sent us pics of the original yard, including a "rock garden" with a large stone wall, steps, and patio where the slope is now in the back yard.
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Spring '07, planting in progress, but it shows the new beds/terrace/gravel path. The old "rock garden" would be buried in the slope to the left of the stairs.

Laurel

OOPS, lol, to the RIGHT of the stairs in this pic, looking downhill. Can't tell L/R today. . . .

Laurel

Looks like a really nice back yard. Love the privacy you have with all those big trees in back of your fence line.

Hi Barb,
My Hyacinth are already starting to bloom - pink pearl is up, the blues are starting to pop their little heads out... but still waiting for my whites....

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I have an Iris in bloom that did not bloom last year:

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AND... can you believe that some of my daylilies are ALREADY putting up scapes? Palace Garden Beauty, Mildred Mitchell, and Navy Blues

Fairysoapgirl, You are SOOOOO lucky to already be enjoying some spring blooms. I keep checking the ground here. A few daffodils are poking out of the soil and some crocus too, but it will be another 5 - 6 weeks before they start to bloom. Some of my EV and SEV daylilies that are planted by the house keep putting up a little green every time the temperature rises into the high 30's or low 40's. So at least I know that God Save the Queen, Purple Maze, I Wanna Piranha, and Holy Guacamole have survived winter so far. They were planted much later than I usually plant DL's, so I've had my fingers crossed. If they make it through the next 6 weeks they'll have done well considering how much freezing and thawing we have had so far this winter. The 4 inches of mulch around them has probably been beneficial. I had to throw some extra dirt around a few of my newer clematis vines that had started to heave. I can't wait for spring to get here.

opnjmprs, where in PA are you? What are your growing conditions like? I've gardened in a small town that's a few minutes from Trenton, NJ, in Bucks County. We've bought a place about 35 minutes north, and at a higher elevation. It's amazing how that seems to change the growing conditions....

anyway, IMHO, we're approaching the tricky time of winter/early spring. I've had plants sail through the nastiest of cold winters, only to get done in by the freeze/thaw and grey, chilly and wet days of March and early April.

Like you, I have my fingers crossed. Because I needed to get plants to the new place, I planted some things late, including some I'd HATE to lose.

When did you plant yours? You said much later than usual....

lynxe, I live about 16 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA. It has been freezing and thawing most of the winter here. I agree with you that March is often the most trying month for plants, because the temperature swings become more extreme. The DL's near the house are somewhat protected from the awful winter wind we get here. GSTQ, HG, and IWP were all planted between the 10th and 14th of October. Fortunately for me October and November were fairly mild last year. I usually have all my planting finished no later than mid September. I plan on removing most of the mulch from around these DL's in April, so the soil doesn't retain excess water.

Linda

Linda, perhaps we were channelling each other last fall. You've taken some risks with pricy southern beauties....I moved the likes of BASS GIBSON to the new garden in early October. I think all will be fine, as I dug up the whole thing, with a nice, big blob of soil around the roots.

That's an excellent thought on removing mulch to reduce water retention. I've discovered that the new place has a very high water table. The whole area's full of creeks & ponds; all the roads have drainage ditches on both sides. When there was an overnight freeze earlier this winter, the app. 1/2 mile from the main road down our lane, drainage ditches and fields were a solid sheet of ice, one that continued straight on to cover our entire driveway. Gonna be great in high summer, but I don't know what the plants will think about all that cold water on chilly, early spring days.

lynxe aka Laura

Jodi,

I was thinking today how lucky you are with all that glorious snow protecting your garden from winter weeds. You see, this morning I was crawling on all fours up and down the rows of my DL bed loosening up soil. I must have wrenched a million weeds from the ground today, and spring isn't even here yet. Snow has to be better than this! (We haven't seen snow here in over 25 years.)

The DLs were all weed-free and the beds were mulched this past fall, but that did not deter the wind-blown seeds of weeds and native grasses. So, when you look out your window and all you see is snow, think of me wallowing in the mud like a hog while I root up these vigorous green invaders.

With the help of a very good friend, we finished up the month-long weeding project this morning, barely ahead of the rain.

Nancy

Hi there Michelle, I was thinking of you just the other day. Haven't heard from you in a while. Wow your lucky to have something blooming. Only thing that bloomed this winter was paper whites.

My tulips have buds, this is my first year growing them. I managed to get out this week to trim some roses and moved to climbers, got to finish and get them fed. I've also been cleaning the beds, laying down newspaper and mulch so by spring I won't be trying to do it all at once.
I'm so bad my memory is slipping right now cause I can't remember the names of the other bulbs I planted nor can I find the package they came in.
We have been busy redoing the main bathroom, all that's left to do is some painting.
Great pictures everyone, that meadow looks like a great place to have wildflowers :)
All that snow would be fun to play in if I was young again.
The flood looks like what we had last spring, hope your all dried out now.
Well, Spring is holding off a little longer, poor plants are coming up and we keep dipping down into the mid to low 30's.

Nancy.

I laughed as I read your post. You see, we just tied a record low for today set in 1873. It was -15 (yes 15 below zero) this morning, and now it has warmed to a balmy -12. I would give anything to pull some weeds right now!!

You are correct, the snow is not so bad, but I really prefer it when it is in the 20s or 30s!

Thank goodness for seed starting!

Sending wishes that your weeds stay at bay for awhile!

Jodi

opnjmprs - Here are some more pics to tide you over... although it is 38 here today... burr.... (I am a Cali girl, so I get cold easy!) :o)

The White Hyacinth finally popped his head out. All that wild looking foliage belongs to Muscari, and Awsome Artist is the DL in between.

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Here is a Camillia that I have been waiting for two years to bloom:

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Barb - Sounds like you have been a busy lady! Wow. I like paperwhites, but have never planted them. This is my first year for bulbs... so far so good. They are blooming WAY earlier than I thought they would. Guess my Awesome Artist will not be blooming in the midst of the bulbs!

Here is my buddie that made a nest in my yard last year (well, his wife anyway):

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And, look at how well some of my daylilies are doing already (Seeing Blue):

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ED - Check out your baby (01BD47)!

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Last week I was thinking "yeah right" as it had just snowed and was somewhere between a balmy 0-8 degrees f. here. But I kept seeing flocks of birds heading north...and that made me wonder.

The day before yesterday hit 60 degrees and I about fell over. This is pretty typical of CO- spring comes all in one day. Yesterday was back in the 40s, today is 50s or 60s judging by the look of it. So starting into the spring season seesaw weather patterns here.

Our snowiest month tends to be Mar- I've endured 2 major blizzards with 6'+ drifts in Mar over the past 5 years. Just another part of spring weather here.

We're having a rain event here today....still badly needed as we're still in the "extreme" drought area. I've got clumps of daffs blooming all around the garden, and they sure do a lot to brighten up things this time of year. My camelias are blooming too. Thanks for sharing your spring blooms fairysoapgirl....pretty blooms are always a welcome sight, especially this time of year.
Jan

Beautiful camellia, fairysoapgirl - that's one plant I really wish I could grow. Did you grow that one, or just have to wait for a young purchased plant to bloom?

Berrytea4me, we usually get a blizzard in early March, too. I'm just waiting for it, it's almost a given for us. We had lots of snow before Christmas, but not much since then. We're getting a bit today (we'll be lucky if we get a couple inches, but at least it's a LITTLE insulation for the plants).

Jan, I'm glad to hear that you're getting some rain. I hope your part of the country gets some good rain this spring, you've been hammered the past year or so with the drought. Will you be selling any plants on the LA this spring? I've always got room for "just one more," and I'm developing a weak spot for Munsons. . . .

Mthorebgarden, BRRRRR! We had temps like that a month or so ago, but it hasn't been that cold since. Single digits, teens. We had a winter "thaw" that lasted all of one day, but that 50 degrees sure was fine while it lasted.

I'm just itching to get back out in the garden, but everything is frozen solid. Winter sowing helps with the urge to plant, but I'm good and ready for SPRING to arrive in the Northeast. Yesterday I found a tulip bulb some enterprising rodent dug up (he must have had a jackhammer, the ground is HARD). It was intact, with freshly growing roots, so I brought it indoors and planted it. Maybe I'll get a tulip bloom for Easter!

Laurel

Doh! I knew I spelled it wrong... camelia!

Laurel - It was a very small plant I had purchased (two of them actually) and last year a hard freeze took all the buds. Since the plants are so small, I usually only get about 4 buds per plant... but you can see why. Kabam! The flower is bigger than my fist! The plant is in a container on my back porch, and that red just jumps out at you... Nice to see blooms in 30 degree weather.

I have only been in minus weather once in my life. Thankfully, it was ONLY -2 in Manhattan and we were going from car to restaurant. :o) I feel for ya'll in -15, wholly molly.

As many of you in the north are probably aware we're in for another snow dump in the next 24 hrs or so.
I for one am happy to have the snow on the ground. Today it is about 2 degrees celcius, so some of the snow is melting off my yard. This year we seem to have huge dumps of snow followed by a deep freeze, then mild weather and then abother dump of snow. At least this way if we have enough snow in the first place it is protecting the gardens.
As far as I'm concerned the snow can keep on coming until about April 1. then the deep freezes should be over and the snow can go away. But those spring pictures do make me long for spring. :)

laurelin, that first picture of the stone wall was the one except I think it was from a different angle. I'm into split field stone and stone masonry so it caught my eye. Thanks for sharing the history and pictures.

Yep! It's official, won't be long now. Even my dl's have broken dormancy as have a number of other hardy perennials.

It was nice this afternoon so I started spring cleaning out my garden beds. I found DL, mums, poppies, french tarragon, tulips, crocus, daffodils, catnip, & lamium...all with new growth. I could see color down in the centers of the crocus.

I'm afraid one whole planting of daff's didn't make it. It was so warm with our Indian Summer last fall that they poked their heads up right away. Sure enough our single digit winter did them in.

Had to replant a bunch of other bulbs that a busy squirrel decided to dig up for me.

We're supposed to get snow again tomorrow but we should be out of range for those single digit days now and typical Mar snow melts quickly. We usually alternate between 60's and 30's throughout the spring.