This has certainly been a winter full of interesting weather! After a fairly balmy fall, the last two weeks of December hit us with temperatures that dropped like a boulder.  The air fell ‘way below zero for two weeks.  My roses weren’t prepared for that and most of the canes have since turned black in response.  Sometimes, Mother Nature can be cruel to our gardens…it would have been helpful if there had been three feet of snow on the ground to act as an insulator!

February Surprise

Our hardy group of rosarians put on a great show again at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in February. We set our display in Bavaria this year with a beautiful backdrop to build from.  After being so cold through January and the beginning of February, the week of the show the temperature soared into the mid 70’s for the whole week!  For 2018 so far, our temp range is 75 to -9.  Weird, I think, but there isn’t anything we can do about the weather.  I went out to the gardens the day after the show was over, and sure enough, my roses were starting to stir.

Spring Comes In March

…sometimes! We have had three big Nor’Easters in the last 12 days, and they’re predicting one for next week, as well, maybe on the first day of spring!  Not good news for us, as we are closing on our new home next Wednesday, March 21.  I have been dreaming about the garden for weeks now.  It is going to be a really interesting season for us as part of our offer from the prep school is to move my gardens from Windsor to our new home in Suffield.  Just when I think the ground is thawing and the weather is finally in our favor, we get another blast of winter!

Garrison Keillor is one of my favorite humorists, and I remember when I heard him say that God created the month of March to show people who don’t drink what a hangover feels like! I’ve been thinking about that these last two weeks in which winter’s been swirling around to deliver another punch.

I’ll keep packing up the house for another week and pray for the best. My roses are patiently waiting under a fresh blanket of snow after yesterday, but each time the snow melts, the grass underneath gets greener and greener.  Late winter snow is full of nitrogen that is so good for all our plants…in the olden days, the folks called it ‘Poor Man’s Fertilizer.’  I’m just going to have to be patient, myself.  But, oh!  I long to be back in the garden!