Snow - Day 5: Shoveling

The City of Atlanta is not prepared for a snow storm like the one that began last Sunday night and continued all day on Monday - and neither am !

Clearing the driveway -- or at least attempting to -- started with a rake, hacking through the ice layer on top of the snow. Then a broom and a shovel. Then pails of hot water. Ice chunks loosened on top "floated" down the ice sheet to the bottom of the driveway, into the gutter, where they eventually melted. I got the job done 2/3 of the way. Today's 40F should make clearing the rest easier. I want salmon and potatoes with dill for dinner tonight. The supermarket is two miles away . . . :-)



Snow, again!

Where's my driveway . . .?

All covered up!

Birds in Butterfly Bush.

Tea this afternoon?

Where are the Pansies and the Violas?

Snow on Christmas

I am so glad I left lots of plants "a mess" this fall, including this Solidago that has made friends with a Rosemary and contributed to excellent shelter for small birds that visit the feeders in my garden and then find a place to hide for a while.

The Holly looks as lovely in the snow today as it did two days ago in sunshine.

The Nandina was sheltered from the snow by shrubs and a pine tree.

The Pyracantha, by contrast, bore the full brunt of the storm.

Puny Tulips

All ten of the tulip bulbs I planted last November have come up (I had feared that the fall and winter rains might have done them in), but they are pretty puny looking. The blooms should be open soon. This photograph was taken March 28, when it was still cool. Today it's 81F/27C and tomorrow's forecast is for 84F/29C. It seems as if we've gone from winter to summer with nary a pause for spring.

Spring Approaches - day by day

My favorite Maple (right) is beginning to develop leaves. There is still a lot of garden work to be done. A butterfly bush still has to be cut down, and a rose pruned. Dead, woody branches of several lavenders have to be removed, and the lawn (Bermuda) has to be scalped. Sedums (top) are popping out of the ground everywhere, day lilies are getting taller by the day and if all goes well my garden will be full of Shasta daisies two months from now. Before then, though, I'd like to see the daffodils and tulips in bloom. Winter is still hanging on, it seems.

Winter in North Georgia

The bright red Dwarf Nandina is the only vibrant splash of color in today's dismal winter landscape; even the bird feeders are covered in snow and ice! The Helleborus is frozen, as are the Dwarf Indian Hawthorn and the Hollies. Those pathetic "jellyfish" things are Daisies. Anything with a cold-hardiness lower than 6 may not have survived last night's freeze and tonight it's supposed to get colder still. Now I know why Svetlana and Galina moved here from Siberia. It was not necessarily the business climate that attracted them; it must have just been the climate! They are probably feeling like they're back in their former home today. Brrrr!

In Winter’s Grip

The old-timers at the farmers’ market had it right last summer, when they said this was going to be an unusually cold winter; it was 24F (-4C) when I got up this morning (“Feels like 15”, the weather report said). Not good.

The best thing about early January in Georgia is that late February is not far away. That’s when the first signs of life emerge in gardens and parks and along the highways and country roads. If the copious rains of the past several weeks have not rotted the bulbs, daffodils will be the first to pop out of the ground. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I’ll just turn the thermostat up another notch and put on an extra pair of socks.