Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Wake me up when Winter ends


Hardy geranium is still poking through the snow here and there in this patch of boulevard garden, but it's about to be buried under snow for three or four months. The blackberry lily in the foreground is 2 or 3 years old. Back left is a a heuchera or heuchurella I transplanted early in the fall. I like how its seed heads look against the snow.

High winds and low temps delivered a light, powdery six inches of snow Saturday, the first day of December.

This blanket of snow should last for a while. The forecast calls for continued cold temperatures and two more snowfalls this week. That's good news for the garden.

Snow offers a nice insulating blanket to the garden. The goal is not to try to keep the garden warm, but to prevent the soil from repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. Snow cover also prevents the drying effects of wind and sun.

The city plows added to the snow cover along the street.

3 comments:

Trooper York said...

Merry Christmas Peter. Thanks for your comments on Althouse. I always enjoy hearing your point of view. I don't often agree with your take, but I enjoy hearing what a reasonable person on the other side has to say. Happy New Year!

Peter Hoh said...

Thanks, Trooper. Merry Christmas to you, too.

The Althouse blend -- civil discourse (mostly) and a wide range of opinion -- is a good thing. Too bad it's also a rare thing.

Randy said...

Happy New Year, Peter!