A Four-Letter Word Beginning with "S" followed by the "F" word.

That's right, snow.  What were you thinking?   After our warm January and a cloudy  wet Candlemas we all thought that spring was arriving. 

If Candlemas day be dry and fair,  The half o' winter to come and mair. If Candlemas's day be wet and foul.  The half o' winter gane at Yule.  Seems that modern weather forecasters pay little attention to ancient Scottish wisdom.  Sunday morning brought big beautiful snowflakes.



Not a lot of snow but instead of melting off as usual, the mercury plummeted and brought that "F" word, freezing.  Again, where was your mind.



 


Truth be told, the other two "S" and "F" words may have been uttered by more than one gardener in the PNW.

Even the early-blooming "Tommies" (crocus tommasinianus) are closed against the cold and look a little frost-bitten around the edges.

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' doesn't seem to mind but the Camellia japonica flowers are frozen and will drop.  Fortunately, there are more buds to take their place.  Magnolia buds have started to fatten up and I worry that they might succumb as the temperatures get even lower over the next couple of days.



I keep throwing boiling water on top of the frozen bird baths so that our feathered friends can have a drink.  Interesting how fast it refreezes.


I was planning on bringing the dormant begonia tubers out of the basement and putting them into the stained glass room this weekend but why try to heat that space when it's so cold?