last spring was early mild but this year is remarkable. just planted echinacea double pink delight that i stem propagated last nov. and pulled the bare root pelargoniums out of the crawl space. the hardest thing to keep in mind is that all those bare spots are pretty much full. nice pooch.

Much better than last year. We had a deep snowpack last year and March was miserable. Writing this post on the patio enjoying a beer with temps in the 60's. Should be this warm most of the week. Snow has been gone for couple of days now, though there wasn't much to melt.

Hmmmm - clearly we got the short end of the weather stick! :-) It'll probably be 4-6 weeks before our garden looks like daves10's or we get to sit comfortably outside! Relatively cold, late springs are characteristic of areas close to the north side of the lake, but this spring is looking like it's going to be colder than usual - UGH! (Yes, Cole is a very nice pooch....)

We count on seeing our first flowers (snowdrops), in a sunny snow-free location in our garden, by St Patrick's Day (March 17).

Last year it was even later, but we have high hopes for this year.

I'm out west in Alberta and we're having really mild weather too. There are a few days next week that are forecast to be in the double digits. But I'm not going to be sitting outside for a while yet though, and my flower bed is still buried under snow. The pussy willows are out though, and I saw a flock of Canada geese fly over this morning.

SB - a neighbour across the street usually has the first snowdrops in March - the other side of the street is warmer than here :-) as it faces more-or-less SW and we are NE! That means we are also oriented towards the lake while their property has its back towards the lake, so there are more sheltered places for snowdrops to appear in bloom relatively early.

aftermidnight - you live in fantasy-land; what can one say.... :-)

Jen - is aftermidnight sending Chinooks your way...?!

Woody, in October I went out and bought 'The Heft' an ergonomic handle for our snow shovel thinking this is going to make shoveling the white stuff easier, not so much as one flake of snow so far this winter. I wonder if you guys all went out and bought sleighs next fall :).
On the other hand it looks like we're heading for very severe water restrictions this summer :(, the snow pack in the mountains around here is almost nil. I've heard it said we are heading towards a Mediterranean type climate similar to Greece in the years to come.
Winters are so unpredictable here we never know what we might get, this year we had a very early freeze the beginning of November, lasted about a week and a bit, after that winter has been wet and milder than normal. I have about 5 50 gallon water barrels stored away, haven't used them for many years but it looks like we'll be using them this year. To think I almost gave them away the last time we did a big purge.

Annette

Woody good to see you and Cole! It is great that you have a photo record of the difference year to year. Often we (I mean I) do not specifically remember the amount of snow left on the ground from one year to the next on a particular date.

We have had several very nice days above zero. The snow level has dropped but we still have about a foot left and a bit will fall over the weekend. We are supposed to get more toward the end of this week as well.

I am hoping for a smooth transition with no surprises this year. Wishful thinking on my part?

glorious weather-day temps in the 70's and nights in the 40's.

Annette - a dry future in the long-term would sure be a change for much of B.C. - I assume you're not in the Okanagan where dry is currently fairly normal...? How hot and dry this summer will be here is now the big question.... Last summer was cooler than normal and a bit drier in our garden than 2013 (644 mm. Apr.-Oct. in 2014 vs. 674 mm. in 2013) but higher than the average here (563 mm. - 22.15") Rainfall here can vary a lot from month to month and year to yearbut, luckily so far at least, dry periods have been temporary, unlike what some of you have been suffering through! I'm not sure what long-term climate impacts are expected to be here. other than hotter! Precipitation forecasts seem to be more uncertain for here.

peren.all - we've now had a few days with highs above freezing and even some drizzle overnight last night. There is now grass and bare ground appearing around the neighbourhood finally. With warm temperatures and even some rain in the forecast for the next few days, I hope the snow will be gone soon! Then it's supposed to get cold again mid next week :-( Temperatures don't reliably warm up here until the jetstream retreats north of Hudson Bay - and stays there! That's usually mid-April or later. It's not uncommon for me to be gardening with a ski jacket on in the first half of May!

daves10 - are those magnolias? Ours bloom 2nd-3rd week of May (Picture below is May 22 2014). The neighbours' star magnolia is the first to bloom, in April.

We have lost a lot of snow, but I realized when I went out to the compost yesterday that there is still quite a lot that needs to melt. The fence that surrounds my lowest pile started out as 3', though it has been somewhat compressed, and there is currently only about 3" of the fence visible, so there must be at least 2 1/2' of snow still. It is really wonderful to see photos of green, growing plants and flowers. We had a lot of snow last year, with patches still visible on Easter, though lots of bare ground, so I think that this year is looking to be about the same so far. We never really know, though, since we occasionally get significant snow well into April.

woody that is m. stellata but liliiflora is all ready to go. both are a month to six weeks ahead. reno's drought has gone from exceptional to extraordinary- 2 in. of precip in the last 28 months. our water comes from the mtns. and deep wells. the last 2 summers have been the hottest on record and every month this year has been the warmest ever-millions of people living in the desert may turn out to not be so great an idea.

liliiflora in bloom last may

Woody, I'm in Nanaimo about 69 miles north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, a one hour, forty minute ferry ride across from Vancouver. Today it's overcast, damp and drizzly but here's an insipid looking pic of my Star Magnolia today, it would look nicer if there was a blue sky in the background. The other tree in the pic is a Robinia, it won't leaf out until April.

liliiflora blooming today 6 wks earlier than last year.

aftermidnight nice pulmonaria-this is my one and only