Defiant blooms

 Enough snow has finally melted to reveal a few determined little flowers. A patch of winter aconites has shouldered its way through fallen leaves.

And a couple of flowers on Skimmia 'Magic Marlot' have burst through their sugary crust.

In previous years, I've been able to enjoy flowers on hellebores,
snowdrops, snow crocus and the first narcissus by now. I'm hoping that the late start will only give them more energy for a good show when they too emerge.

Defiant blooms

 Enough snow has finally melted to reveal a few determined little flowers. A patch of winter aconites has shouldered its way through fallen leaves.

And a couple of flowers on Skimmia 'Magic Marlot' have burst through their sugary crust.

In previous years, I've been able to enjoy flowers on hellebores, snowdrops, snow crocus and the first narcissus by now. I'm hoping that the late start will only give them more energy for a good show when they too emerge.

February 2017: More Snow

We returned from two weeks in Peru and Ecuador to two lovely days of blue skies and sunshine. Then this morning...snow again, and the garden is once more a composition in black and white.

The only vestige of colour comes from a few green leaves on my potted golden bamboo.Yesterday, I thought I saw one little purple crocus flower and a spark of yellow on a clump of winter aconites, but they are buried this morning. Plump buds on my Corylopsis pauciflora looked close to opening too, but today they are just a frieze of warm brown against a white background.

February 2017: More Snow

We returned from two weeks in Peru and Ecuador to two lovely days of blue skies and sunshine. Then this morning...snow again, and the garden is once more a composition in black and white.

The only vestige of colour comes from a few green leaves on my potted golden bamboo.Yesterday, I thought I saw one little purple crocus flower and a spark of yellow on a clump of winter aconites, but they are buried this morning. Plump buds on my Corylopsis pauciflora looked close to opening too, but today they are just a frieze of warm brown against a white background.

1917 - Still snow

This winter has been the harshest in Vancouver for twenty years. A video of two guys playing ice hockey on an intersection two blocks from us is making the rounds, and my garden is collapsing in snow. I took this photo on Boxing Day but it's much the same now, two weeks later.

How much damage will there be? Already I know that one of my daphnes has split right down the trunk, and a couple of my more tender lavenders look black. On the bright side, a single narcissus (either 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' or 'Jack Snipe') has poked its snout through the icy blanket.

And there are a few green buds on Clematis 'Miss Bateman'.

Nevertheless, I suspect Nature has done more editing than I would like.

1917 - Still snow

This winter has been the harshest in Vancouver for twenty years. A video of two guys playing ice hockey on an intersection two blocks from us is making the rounds, and my garden is collapsing in snow. I took this photo on Boxing Day but it's much the same now, two weeks later.

How much damage will there be? Already I know that one of my daphnes has split right down the trunk, and a couple of my more tender lavenders look black. On the bright side, a single narcissus (either 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' or 'Jack Snipe') has poked its snout through the icy blanket.

And there are a few green buds on Clematis 'Miss Bateman'.

Nevertheless, I suspect Nature has done more editing than I would like.

Morning frost

With the garden under ice and snow, there's nothing to do but worry about the survival of my more tender plants, even as I admire the beauty of the street tree outside our windows.