Wow you do have winter! I’m in Colorado and we SHOULD have snow, but just cold. And lots of hoar frost! I worry for my plants out there without any protection. Though I’m not sure I’d like it if they had quite so much protection as yours! Yikes! That rose is gorgeous. Is it two mixed? Or do the flowers change colors?

I feel your pain! :) I’ve been watching re-runs of Gardeners’ World on youtube, trying to ignore the amount of snow we still have.

Ugh, yea. It's March 1st tomorrow, so in my mind it's spring!

"It gives me some hope that what I am seeing right now is not a long long lasting winter as one might see in say in....The GAME of THRONES ;))"

I am in that "long long lasting winter". Unlike you (thankfully) rouge we had snow in Oct. that actually stayed on the ground for a few days before melting. I have never seen that happen before.

In early Nov. the snow returned and has stayed all winter. No Jan. thaw that we usually get. We actually broke records for snow in Jan.

The snow just keeps coming and we have well over 3 ft. everywhere, deeper where it has drifted. Several bouts of freezing rain too. Just a nasty looong winter. I just want (need) it to be over!

I just hope that Spring is earlier than last year’s, when snow had not yet melted in May. That sucked.

I am SO tired of winter! We were supposed to go to Toronto for an appointment yesterday morning but we canceled... We probably could have made the drive in without too much problem, but coming back would have been dreadful! There had been green grass starting to show on the warmer side of the street - it’s well buried now! *sigh* Bring on spring!

We are supposed to get snow and sleet tonight and tomorrow. Once we get to March, I am so ready for Spring! I am even dreaming about the garden, although last night the dream involved some very large trees in the woods behind us coming down. The property is going to be developed and the owner is refusing to do anything about the dead trees near/on our property line. aarrgghh

Rouge, your wintry photo is a copy and paste scene of here. November through to the end of January had been quite mild, though February being a brutally cold one for the record books! Though, at least now, the sun is higher and much stronger and the hours of daylight stretching out with the look of spring in the air! March will be the big game changer and I'm anxious as a kid for the snow to melt and get back outside scratching around in the dirt!

March 1st! For some reason I felt the winter just flew by. Here in New England, it was cold but every time we were supposed to get a little snow, it turned to rain. It was an odd winter that didn't really feel like winter most of the time. It was 65 in Boston a few weeks ago and next week it's supposed to be in the teens. Snow tonight, and again on Sunday night.

I keep reminding myself of the old saying ... 'In like a Lion, out like a Lamb.' I'll be happy if we get the snow over with in March and end up with a nice warm, perfect April for gardening. :-)

and end up with a nice warm, perfect April for gardening. :-)

And yet for last winter, April was the worst (in terms of snow and ice) of at least the two previous months. For my location I never feel confident about good weather until May.

I was looking out at the patio in the backyard as more snow is falling today.... While I'm tired of this winter, I was remembering previous winters when the snow around the patio was much higher than this year. (We keep the patio clear of snow to keep the porchlift functional in winter so it remains an functional emergency exit for me in winter if the need ever arose....) I went back through old pictures looking for the images I was thinking of in order to check the dates on them - March 2008! All month that year there was a lot of snow out there. On the one hand, that puts this year's snow in perspective (not very much snow this year....) but, on the other hand, it says there could be a lot more possible to come :-( Into April too as Rouge points out.... I think being 11 years older also makes the PITA chore aspect of snow more dominant than the winter wonderland aspect! :-)

All the dogs in the 2008 pictures below are now deceased....

March 9 2008:

March 15 2008:

March 29 2008:

Today:

I also looked for pictures of the early crocuses - they appear the end of March in good years:

March 29 2013 - front ditch - if you look closely, you can see patches along the ditch. I had hoped to eventually have a big show along there but DH can't restrain himself and mows the ditch too early.....!

'Cream Beauty' March 31 2011

So spring varies a lot from year to year here. *sigh* I just need to grit my teeth this year.... :-)

O Rouge...you have this little countdown every year. I so sympathise - I have many fantasies of hot climate living. The current climate of desire is Madeira, but Brazil, Hawaii, South India and anywhere near the equator would surely suit this cold-blooded winter sniveller.

I was shocked to read that palms could be grown in Canada - always assumed everyone played winter sports all year round apart from 6 weeks in the summer. At any rate, Canada, along with Iceland, Alaska, anywhere in Scandinavia, Tibet, Scotland (or even the north-west of England), the Falklands or south New Zealand is on my list of (cold) places I never want to live.

But Canada is so beautiful, you should visit at least. I think I could live there, despite my tropical tendencies. I imagine as I get a bit older, tropics will sound even better.

Um, people say this about the Scottish highlands ...but I have to disagree - bleak, grey, practically treeless (apart from manky rows of planted conifers)...and as for places like Shetland or Orkney- grimness knows no bounds.

Not keen on snow apart from on Christmas cards...with robins...and holly.

Mind, I am not keen on beaches either.

My daughter almost moved to Salt Spring Island (I was horrified) but fortunately, it was one of those short term romances (apparently, the guy was a terrible dancer!). The previous year, it was Australia (where she phoned home to announce her 'engagement'). Thankfully, the prospect of living in Canberra finished the fledgling teenage crush'.

I have never been on a ski in my life (or a snowboard), GreenGo. Snow looks lovely when sitting indoors in front of a stove - if only it wasn't wet as well as cold, I could probably cope.

Having grown up in New England, we've had snow every single winter I've lived here. I think it makes a difference when no sooner than you can walk, your family is taking you out on the local hills for sledding. Our Mom would bundle us up in layer upon layer and you would be toasty warm. Come home hours later, exhausted, but a good exhausted, Your socks would be soaked in your boots, as well as your mittens. But you would barely notice it you were having so much fun. Your noses and cheeks would be rosy.

We'd come in the house and Mom would sit us in a kitchen chair and peel off the layers, as the snow on our hats and coats and boots melted all over the floor. All of us laughing through the process. Then hot baths and maybe some steaming soup or beef stew. You would barely make it to bed before you would fall asleep and sleep like the dead the whole night. A very satisfying and memorable way to spend a day.

It wasn't until my kids were in their teens that I managed to get to a ski lodge. I was more interested in the tubing down the hill, skiing was not for me at that age, but being up there at the top of the mountain, it's just absolutely gorgeous. The air is special and the views are amazing. On a sunny day the sun is warm on your face. I loved it.

It's all about being dressed for it.

Same with the beach. We can get to the beach or the mountains in about an hour here, so I love all seasons, really.

dbarron - I imagine British Columbia is gorgeous, never been. I have been to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and love it there.

Prairiemoon ...you bring back memories for me, just add in some hot chocolate :D

I am a 4 season gal like PM2. I like that I can slap on XC skins or snowshoes and head out into the woods in winter. It is far more appealing than in any season except fall since in spring and summer there are biting flies and mosquitoes and ticks and poison ivy. In winter it’s easy to see who else has been there and I love trying to read tracks to figure out what they were doing. In winter I often see our fellow residents: woodpeckers, owls, and hawks, a whole range of little tweety birds, deer, fox, coyotes and smaller mammals. I like most of the other seasons as well, but I can’t imagine living somewhere that I didn’t have snow to enjoy. As PM2 said, it is about dressing for the activity, with water resistant clothing and layers, My least favorite season here in rural NH is early spring with the kind of mud that grabs vehicles and boots and doesn’t want to let them loose followed by tiny biting black flies and disease carrying ticks. It’s the only place I have lived where spring, especially May, is miserable.

Yes, for sure there is no such thing as 'bad weather', just 'bad clothes'...but O, I am so impatient with layers and layers of them...although, as a knitter, it is an obvious truth that all the best knitwear emanated from chilly climes. I manage to avoid wearing coats as long as I have a fine wool base layer and a tightly knitted, stranded (therefore double layered) top.

And hand knitted socks and gloves (I think we have been here before with Christin's cold hands thread).

I would like to think of myself as a 4 season gardener...but suspect it would be even better if all 4 of them never dropped below 60F. True, I would be losing out on some iconic fruits and flowers (goodbye apples)...but hello cherimoya and rosella.

I grew up where people dressed for Halloween in tank tops, and those cute furry store-bought lion costumes were certain heat stroke. I remember sweat pouring from what felt like every orifice of my body. Spring meant the blooming of millions of stunning azaleas, but it also meant that just around the corner was a huge blanket of oppressive humidity ready to fall and stay. For that reason, I do love winter. Never had such a beautiful winter morning where I grew up! I love gardening and winter. Winter makes the first explosion of vibrant forsythia with new green grass a welcome jolt. (We can start a thread about how icky spring mud season is and I’ll chime in.)

NHBabs, you are so lucky to have access to space and land in the winter. Snowshoes sounds great and good exercise I'm sure. I forget that though you are probably no more than an hour away from me, you have to deal with the black flies in the spring. Ugh~! that would really test anyone's appreciation of spring.

And I don't have half as interesting tracks in my backyard. [g] Although I did look out the window last night at midnight and thought I saw a rabbit in the snow, it was motionless on it's hind legs about 40 feet away, and I thought I was seeing things. Then it moved and it was a rabbit! I didn't realize they were out romping around the yard at night. I thought I had seen tracks in the yard of a rabbit. Now I know what they look like.

Campanula - If we were all the same, what kind of world would it be? :-) I can certainly see the appeal of warmer climates too. I just don't do well with heat. The one time my family thought about moving south, we tried it and lasted 6 months before we moved back to New England. In that 6 months, we spent a lot of time indoors, in the air conditioning. Even by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were still in the air conditioning. You'd go from an a/c house to an a/c car to an a/c store. [g] That was more than 40 years ago. And the bugs! OMGosh, they were huge and required monthly pest control visits to keep them under control. And since over the years, I've become sensitive to issues of toxicity, that is something I'd really not be able to tolerate.

And I'm happy that where I garden, I don't have killer bees, or fire ants, or poisonous snakes or spiders to deal with. The further south we go here, sometimes those become issues when you are gardening.

I'm sure though, that not everyone would struggle with adapting to a hot climate the way we did. And my impression over the years, has been that a portion of the population in England, struggles with a climate that is often too gray and rainy and damp. That's my impression mostly from books and movies, no actual experience with it, so I could be way off. I just thought that was the reason for many people from England relocating to warmer climates. Or maybe that was the case and it's changed with climate change?

We are having the first winter cold front where I had to drip the pipes and leave the heat lamp shining in my pump house. No snow just about 23ºF tonight. I was looking on W.underground and a weather station was reporting 114ºF. I wondered if it was burning down. Weird to see that pink temperature balloon amongst all the other blue balloons in the mid 20's. Texans are very weather obsessed . There are a lot of private weather stations around me on the W.underground network.

Campanula, I think we should be thankful for our lack of bugs. We don't get very hot weather but we also aren't driven indoors by biting insects. Nor are we cooped up inside for days on end in winter. I like a day or two of snow. I live on a hill. Cars can't negotiate it in snow so we have a toboggan run instead. But after the second day I want to be able to walk normally and not like a nervous penguin. On the other hand I don't do well in heat. My skin revolts and I have no energy. A perfect English late May Day is about my optimal weather. Shirtsleeve weather but not too hot to be active.

I definitely like a 4-season climate and, in my younger years, enjoyed the snowy season. However, once I became disabled, enjoying snowy-season activities ended! Now snowy-season is hazard-season and cabin-fever-season :-( A friend with the same medical condition as I have had a fall on black ice earlier in the winter - she broke one knee-cap and damaged the other! Another friend fell on ice around the community mailbox while walking her dog in one of the recent storms. Luckily she was wearing several layers of bulky winter clothes that gave her some protection when she fell flat on her back and hit her head! She didn't have a cell phone with her and there was no one else around. It took her awhile to find an ice-free area where she could safely get up. I never walk alone in winter - but I also never go out unless the road is bare. I've spent far too much time indoors this winter and am very bored! :-) Like floral_uk, I don't do well in heat either so late May/early June and September/early October are perfect weather condition times for me. I'd be happy if the snowy part of winter started a week or so before Christmas and wound up around the end of January - enough to give a white Christmas and satisfy any 'winter wonderland' viewing cravings without the drawbacks of months of restrictions on activity!

Apart from no rain, I loved last summer. All the rest of the family (apart from Gdd) were wilting and flopping but I honestly couldn't get enough. I don't turn red either...after days and days of sunning, I start to turn a faint curry colour. Must be the family Armenian influence...my ethnic mix puts me firmly in the 'hairbelt' (memories of enduring Jolen facial bleach ..including sweetheart getting a shock viewing of my enormous white Zapata moustache- shudder). He didn't so much as smirk - instantly besotted.

Not sure I would be feeling quite so thrilled if the humidity was up in the stratosphere...and I would seriously miss too many temperate plants but yep, it is the cold which reduces me to a pathetic whiner.

True, our insects are generally benign (apart from ticks and horseflies)...although I did get a nasty hornet sting last year...and we have some ferocious wood ants.

I don't do well in heat either so late May/early June and September/early October are perfect weather condition times for me.

This sounds like me 'woody'.

Ticks and horseflies we have but they're not that common. I've never seen a tick. I've seen horse flies but never been bitten. Worst insects I've ever experienced were in Florida. We soon learned that spraying the bug spray as soon as you got out of the car was too late. Eyes were already puffing up. You had to do it in the car with the doors shut.

I am referred to as the tick magnet in my family. I routinely strip off when I come inside and it isn’t unusual for me to find a dozen ticks on my clothing. Because I don’t leave them many openings to my skin, and I do use some repellent on clothing, and I check religiously every area of skin and hair carefully, I almost never get bitten. But it does take some of the joy out of spring to be bundled up so completely.

Thetford and much of Norfolk (and the New Forest) are tick central. All of us in my household have had to remove ticks from parts of our bodies (a horrid business) and our dog has monthly tick treatments because Lymes is really prevalent here. Both my neighbouring farmer and his dog had Lymes and are still, 3 years on, somewhat debilitated. In fairness, even in the height of summer, I am not a T shirt and shorts wearer - taking a trick from said farmer, I wear an old pair of John Deere overalls for any delving about in the wood.

And being next door to a cattle farm and watermeadows, we surely see our share of horseflies. mozzies, midges (but have gradually gotten a degree of immunity, no longer reacting with furious itching and scabby bites).

Today I did my bit to encourage the arrival of the spring gods as I purchased 5 large bags of potting mix at Costco today:

Was the potting soil a good price? Debating whether I will go there or just pick up what William Dam seeds has when I go there...

\yep, I picked up 6 bags of John Innes 3 and a bag of multi-purpose compost - definitely on it's way (spring)...plus my tomato seeds arrived (thrills).

Was the potting soil a good price?

As I recall it is $10.99 for a 60 L bag. The only problem is the bag is so huge and thus it is heavy and a bit awkward to empty into pots.