The snow and ice are gone but the temperature is in the teens. What an odd year we have had weather wise and the coming year appears to be setting up to be unusual, as well. Record breaking heat, record breaking cold, snow storms..... Riku, those are very interesting photo's. It's hard for me to see the fracture, I'm not sure what I am looking at but the implications are frightening. Ann, I wish you had my weather :-) Patricia, you got snow? Wow. My pansies that usually bloom all winter here have fallen over, frozen solid. Bet and Pandy, it's hard to know what to expect anymore! Florence, thank you dear. I was very careful. I just take it slow and hope no one runs into me :-) I agree it is pretty but I'm glad it is gone. Kayla, now that is a snow storm! Stay warm and stay safe. Hope your son shows up before spring :-) Carol

It's been below 55F for few days now and I just checked them and they look great. When you say "anything below 55 and they stop growing" does that mean they're still alive, just not actively growing? Will they die if left out all winter? They never looked this good indoors ever. They finally look like they are alive and thriving. I don't have any locals to seek help from so I'm asking here. I was thinking that by the end of november I should insulate them in some way...but not bring them back in the house with the dry heat. They really don't do well in my house.

Hello I think this is a new phase for some of us New Englanders... shoveling the roof! My husband went up on our roof Saturday and the snow was several inches over his knees (he's 6 feet tall). Today the CT news showed a store with incredibly long lines of people buying something called a roof rake to get the snow off without actually getting up on your roof, you rake it down (on you!) The store owner said he normally sells maybe 5 a year but couldn't keep them in stock. He's getting in 500 a day and can't stay ahead. Hope they are made local or at least in U.S. - so someone in our economy can benefit (beside the plow and shovel people). Can you believe my next purchase will be an ice chopper? I have actually taken a hammer to my Mom's steps because the ice is 3-4" thick. A neighbor of hers let me borrow his ice chopper - another item I didn't know existed. It worked pretty well on the driveway ice, but my shoulders are very sore. Its officially February...Spring will be here soon, right? Susan

Oh yikes, many people have bad experiences with landscape fabric. I tried using it many years ago - maybe they've improved the material - but it was awful, and this seems to be a common opinion. It isn't that easy to lay down, it bunches up, it gets punctured and weeds grow through anyway, AND last but not least, it doesn't break down for a long time. By that time, lots of roots have grown through and it ends up being difficult to remove. If you want to move your perennials around, then it's real fun dealing with that mess. It's better to use an organic mulch in the long run. Cardboard or newspaper along with mulch gives you pretty good weed control for about a year and you can smother sod or weeds or groundcovers underneath at the same time, all of which are quite the effort to weed or dig out. Breaks down eventually into a nice organic matter that enriches the soil. The worms actually love the paper. Not that I don't still dig garden beds, I just dug one last fall - wanted to plant it right away and I fuss and muss with placement so much. They say you can't be too thin or too rich, but I think you can't have too many flowers. :)