Snow! February 26, 2011

Above, Ceanothus "Jula Phelps"


Above: South garden.

Above: Pool garden. Pots need redoing.


Above, Ceanothus "Dark Star." Front path.


An iconic daffodil.

Above: Pool garden, recent plantings.

The photos, taken just before and after sunrise Saturday morning, say it all.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Outside our bedroom window, everything was white! All the plants, the trees, the roofs, everything, except the concrete.

This is quite bizarre for us here, though not unheard of. I took my camera out and went around snapping the different views you see above. The snow has a monochromatic effect that I think helps me to see the shapes of things, the masses and lines. I'm trying to think about how to develop the gardens around the house, especially the south garden, where I think we could start now, building up a few mounds and defining beds with those red sonoma field rocks. And a water feature if I can figure out how to do one. It's not a new look, but I think it would look nice, and I need to keep the beds low and herbacious, for fire safety.

That being said, I saw a new coffeeberry volunteer in the south garden today, and my heart rejoiced.

I took a tour of the upper deck where my nursery graduates enjoy morning sun. From the crumpled soggy look of their foliage, I thought the Heuchera micrantha were frostbitten beyond recovery and maybe the Madia elegans and the thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus too.


But I was wrong! What a nice surprise. They are so healthy looking.

The snow has all gone now. I can see it a little bit on Loma Prieta, at 3,790 feet.

And the weekend held more garden activity in store for Wood Rat and me. of which more, anon.

Comments

Randy Emmitt said…
Hard to believe you are getting snow there and we are in mist of 2 80 degree+ days.
Carolyn ♥ said…
Oh! That's not so good for your gardens. For mine, it's just part of life. Usually the snow provides a warm blanket to protect from the frost. Stay warm!
ryan said…
There's something strange but very nice to see the ceanothus with snow on its flowers. We didn't get snow in our garden, but some of the gardens we've installed did. It's always reassuring to see how well the plants deal with it.
I expected you'd get snow, especially when we woke up to it too! Glad to see that the garden fared well though. We did cover a few frost tender items, and everything seems to have come through unscathed. What did Duncan think of all the white stuff? Our dogs were quite fascinated!

A water feature sounds lovely. We built ours from scratch in the Central Valley, so if we can help let us know.
Brad said…
Good to see somewhat got snow. We had none in the East Bay. And I was so excited to see some. I like the ceanothus and daffodil with snow on top.
Country Mouse said…
I find it so strange that we are all in different weather realities. That Randy is in 80 degree weather and we are shivering and the mid-west is digging out!
Our plants all did fine - we don't have fruit trees - I'm so happy I have the greenhouse to protect the young plants. Thanks for coming by y'all!
Jan said…
The weather has been so unpredictable around the country the last couple of years. I'm glad you had the chance to get some snow photos to add some white to your otherwise normally 'green' blog;-) We've already had weather in the high seventies but it's been chilly again lately and in the 20's this morning. I'm way past winter and so ready for mild temps. Spring is just around the corner.