I am having a terrible time posting any photos! This is my third try and only one photo uploaded. Ugh!

I went for a walk in the woods a few days ago, down to the stream. Water is still flowing freely, but has gone down a couple of feet in the last week. Snow is shallow enough for walking, though we are predicted to get our first skiable snow this coming Monday night.

Very enticing pathway, NHBabs! No snow here - in fact it's raining (again). We get periodic cold nights, but they coincide with dry weather, and then it warms up and rains. Sooner or later winter will come. Later is fine with me.

I brought the snow shovels out of the tool shed and put them by the door. It's working, going by the theory of "carry an umbrella and it won't rain", or "forget your sunglasses and the sun will come out".

Claire

It rained here today as well, so there is less snow than on New Year’s Day when I took the photo. I had hoped for another walk today, but it was just too raw and wet. I will try to get my other photos posted early Sunday morning before most folks are awake to see if any more will load.

Today we are getting one of those sticky snows that happens when the temperature is right around freezing, so I went take some photos out around the house since I don’t expect it to last. I will see if posting is easier today. It is worth clicking on photos since on my computer Houzz has chosen to chop off the top of the tall ones.

Fothergilla catches snow nicely to emphasize the branch patterns.

I like the way that the branches I piled in rows for the brush hog catch the snow.

Thanks for posting these photos, NHBabs. Down here by Boston, we still haven’t had any snow that’s stuck around, so everything’s just brown and dull.

I figured that the weather would likely bring those of you farther south just damp rather than snow today. It was warm enough here and windy for a bit, so that now it is just sodden, not even slightly ornamental. I was hoping that between yesterday and today we would get skiable snow in at least the field, but the grass is still showing through.

Your snow pictures are really pretty, NHBabs!

We didn't even get much damp down here in Plymouth, MA - just about a tenth of an inch or so of rain. The bird baths weren't frozen this morning. The forecast says the next week or two will be cold with nighttime temperatures mostly well below freezing, but no precipitation for at least a week. I still have green ferns, green hardy geraniums and green foxgloves but they probably won't last much longer. That's foliage only, no flowers.

With no snow cover I'm glad I didn't do any fall cleanup besides moving some of the leaves off the lawn onto the beds. Of course, I always do this, snow or not, so everything has a good layer of mulch in lieu of snow.

If last year is a model, we'll get nasty weather in February and March. I remember the three nor'easters last March, one of which devastated pitch pines around here.

I want to fast-forward to April.

Claire

I haven’t been snapping many photos so far, but I have a couple. Monday I got to see one of my favorite winter effects, huge snow crystals visible to the naked eye. Every time this happens I am just amazed. These photos have the door code from my Ford. They’re taken against the trim, which is roughly 2” wide.

So far the snowstorm is missing us, just barely. Not too far north they’re getting it. But, we’re getting a strong layer of more of these ice crystals, although they are not quite a big. I can, however, scoop up some in my hand and see the snowflake shapes. When the crystals are this big they shine like diamonds in the porch light. I just love it!

I love photos of frost crystals, and here it hasn’t been a good year for them. Either the ice has been solid sheets or any crystals have been too small. I suppose how humid the air is and how quickly it cools influences crystal size.

We are getting at least several inches of snow which started last evening and is still coming down. At some point it may turn over to rain, so when it does that will effect how much we end up getting.

Beautiful photos, deannatoby! It's as if Mother Nature is tossing us a few pretty baubles to distract us from the winter weather.

We got some snow Saturday evening but it quickly turned to rain and it all got washed away. It's raining now. The rain is forecasted to wind down as the temperatures plunge way below freezing, so hopefully there won't be too much ice on the paths tonight and tomorrow.

Claire

As I was stumbling around when the sun came up this morning, I saw this color from the living room window through the big ferns.

So, of course, I grabbed the camera and went closer to a window.

This window was a bit fogged up but the sunlight reflected nicely on the water at low tide.

No snow on the ground.

Claire, who wasn't about to go outside in her nightclothes to get a clearer picture.

Lovely photos, Claire.

Rain on snow here is creating something of a Rorschach test out in the field. Since the ground is frozen, the water has nowhere to go other than the lowest surface point, so I may have some good ice skating out in the field this weekend once the temperatures drops.

Just a touch of pink on this gray morning, and it’s clear how much additional water ended up in the field compared to yesterday afternoon.

Second photo is to the left/east of the first.

Such a beautiful scene, NHBabs - that's going to be a good skating rink when it freezes up. I hope the tree can handle all that water.

Claire

The woody plants down there include 2 red maples and a pussy willow, all tolerant of having wet feet, but it has been so soggy this season that I don’t have a feel for how well the maples will survive the deluge. We haven’t seen a season this wet since we arrived at this place a bit over 20 years ago. All three plants are self-seeded along the edge of what was created as a small pond for watering livestock, but has largely slumped back in over the intervening 80 years. Mostly it ranges from a spring pond for frogs and ducks to late summer being mowable, but it never dried out at all this year and for much of the season the tree trunk was in standing water. It only drains slowly due to a clay layer just below the surface there. I guess we will know in the next couple of seasons whether the largest tree survived or not. It makes me glad that we have a sump pump in the cellar!

For those of you who have Hamamelis 'Arnold Promise', do the buds on your trees look like this at this time of year? It is my first year with these new trees and I think I remember someone saying that the trees bloom in Feb-March.

The Spirit Garden and all new trees survived the ice storm. :)

Thanks, Jane

Glad to hear that the garden survived the ice coating, Jane.

I don’t have Arnold Promise, but I have a Diane with hazel that has been struggling for years because we are too cold. Those buds in your photo are almost all flower buds, and when it blooms varies depending on temperature. The only one I see with any regularity here in NH is at the Manchester airport. I will rummage around through photos to see if I can find when it blooms here, but I am sure it will be earlier for you.

I have photos of various witch hazels ranging from one of the native H. vernalis in late February in one unusually warm winter to a more average of various ones around April 10.

H. Diane

H. Arnold Promise (I assume based on appearance) April 11

This one of my H vernalis from 2016 was in full bloom on February 27!

Oh, don't bother, Barb - thank you. As long as they bloom, I will be happy. These were almost full-sized trees when transplanted, so I'm glad they are adapting to their new home.

Oh well, they are up now. This is one type of plant I really like, and I just wish the Asian hybrids were happy here. If I ever move to somewhere a titch warmer I will plant one. The one is Manchester is only about 30 miles away, but Manchester has the city heat island effect to help it along I think.

Regardless, yours looks happy there and well ready to burst into bloom whenever the weather warms a bit. My memory is that they have he ability to bloom but then with a sudden cold snap will curl up and wait for warm weather again. Some are lightly scented, but I don’t find the scent on any I have sniffed particularly appealing; they smell sort of soapy to me.

Many thanks! Now I want a red one, lol.

I like Diane which is shorter and wider than many. I am fascinated by anything that blooms in February in New England!

My Arnold Promise is in too much shade but usually blooms in mid-February. Because it's out of the way I tend to forget to check it so I'm not sure how early it starts. It's too dark to look at the buds now but I'll look tomorrow.

Your flower buds look very happy - you should have a great show.

Claire

I saw a photo of an unnamed witch hazel blooming at Arnold Arboretum today, posted by someone in a native plants group, even though it wasn’t one of the native types. The petals weren’t fully unfurled, but it was clearly yellow.

OK, I trotted over this morning and took a look at my Arnold Promise. The weather has been weird here - warm, then cold, then warm, then arctic, then warm. More arctic coming next Thursday.

The witch hazel is considering blooming. Note the red bows in the background. I have red bows all over the place for winter cheer.

There are even a few petals peeking out from one bud:

Most of the buds are being sensible and staying closed but if we get a warmer stretch they'll probably burst into bloom. Thanks, Jane, for nudging me to check the buds early.

Claire

Rare Find Nursery in NJ has an amazing selection of witch hazels, 51 total.

Claire

Such an enabler, Claire.

Some other resources:

Leaf retention and fragrance:

https://www.scottarboretum.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/HamamelisReport.pdf

Arnold Arboretum witch hazels:

http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2014-72-2-hamamelidaceae-part-1-exploring-the-witch-hazels-of-the-arnold-arboretum.pdf

and both Song Sparrow nursery and Broken Arrow nursery have some witch hazels.

Thanks for that link, Claire. Good resource. Too good. :) There is one closer to home that looks interesting. Just don't want to deal with suckering, so I'll have to be careful when choosing.Hamamelis japonica ‘Tsukubana Kurreani' ('Shibamichi Red')

If I had the room, but I don't, I'd spring for the Winter Champagne witch hazel.

"Yellow-orange fragrant flowers that bloom from October to December at least. The originator, Tim Brotzman, says this grows into a very large plant and is probably a virginiana x vernalis hybrid based on the flower color and non-hairy (glaucous) leaf undersides."

Claire

I also saw a photo today from Avant Gardens in Dartmouth, MA of forced witch hazel branches. I didn’t know that they forced well, but these were beautiful.

http://gardenforeplay.avantgardensne.com/?p=6793

NHBabs: I wondered about witch hazels being grafted since the Rare Find Nursery site emphasized that some of its plants were own-root. According to your link, grafting onto native vernalis or virginiana rootstock is a common commercial practice.

I'll look to see if there's a graft on my Arnold Promise.

Claire

I don't really have much going on outside in my garden but do have a little action inside -- the first photo with the snow is an Ornithogalum taken April 2, 2018. I saved the bulbs from the first plant purchased at HD in 2017. The second photo is now - I saved 5 bulbs from last year's plant and it looks like they are going to grow up again :-) Right now 3 stems showing promise and hoping for the other two.

Nice, PV Picotte. Indoor bulbs and overwintered tender perennials are a crucial part of winter gardening in New England IMO, so thanks for adding those. I’ve never seen orange Ornithogalum, and it looks as though you will have a good number of flowers to look forward to this year. Do you just grow them on a bright windowsill? Do they go outside in the summer?

Not rare, just a grocery store mini rose. There usually are 4-5 plants in one pot, so I separated them 2 weeks ago. (everybody should have their own pot) - hahaha, I guess if you can smoke somebody else's, good for you, lol. Anyway, I have had previous success with planting them outside, they lasted a couple of years.

Good grief, it's still January. Time to plan another garden.

Corunum-nice little roses. NHBabs-I do grow them in that windowsill which gets lots of good sun which they seem to like. The flowers last a long time whether cut or still on the plant. I love them - they are so bright in the dark winter. The bloom is pretty well done by summer so I let the foliage yellow off and then store the bulbs in net bags for air. I replant them in Nov - (I seem to have misplaced my notes but I think that's when I planted them). They are nice. Thanks for your comments.

Your pink roses are lovely, Jane. Do they bloom for long as houseplants?

My January roses are a bit different, blooming on the ice ponds out in the field from trappped air.

Babs, I was at Arnold Arboretum last weekend for the first time in about 15 years. [g]. I now have to go more often. I want to go after snow and then in the spring too. I saw a Fothergilla by the entry gate, that was planted in 1934 and it was in excellent shape. And an 'Elizabeth' Magnolia that was huge. I did not know how large they get. I hope I can get there to see it bloom.

I've been wanting a witch hazel for the longest time. I think I have a place for it, but it's not full sun. I think that has to go on my list for the spring. 'Arnold's Promise' seems to be the one i want, but I do like that 'Winter Champagne', Claire. I really want fragrance and big flowers.

OH, right - leaf retention. I really don't want leaf retention. Now I remember why I haven't bought one yet. [g]

The only thing I have blooming indoors right now, is Rosemary. I can't find my camera.

I should be finishing up my seed order right now, but I'm going around in circles, on what to order from who. Oh well, back at it.

PM2, the chart above (first link I added on Saturday) has info on leaf retention at the Swarthmore Arboretum, and they didn’t have a problem with that for AP. And I am fairly sure that the one at the Manchester, NH airport is AP, and as you can see from the photo, that year it had a few, but I have a photo from another year with none, so I doubt it’s a major issue. My Diane didn’t retain leaves either. My vernalis, however, often retains a large amount of foliage, though with this year’s wind it will be interesting to see whether it loses more. I haven’t checked it recently.

Arnold Arboretum is a wonderful resource. I have only been there once (many years ago) in the 35 years I have lived in New England, but I really loved it and learned a lot. For instance, I had never seen hardy bamboo before that. I need to check to see the best way to get there since last time I drove and finding parking nearby was a bear, so I may check out the public transportation possibilities.

Those roses are BEAUTIFUL, NHBabs! I'm going to have to watch for my own roses around here.

Someone on the landscape design forum posted photos of his witch hazels in the mountains of NC zone 6 if anyone is interested. His are small enough to not yet have massive landscape impact., but also the angle photographed from doesn’t have an evergreen backdrop which I like to increase the visibility of the flowers.

Edited to addmthe link:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5608360/witch-hazels-on-a-warm-february-day#n=1