Thud!

That's the sound of spring arriving in my St. Louis garden this year, in the form of several inches of heavy snow. Yes, it makes everything so beautiful, but what about the crocus that were blooming?

What about the daffodils that were just about to start opening? What about my coldframe? (What about my psyche, which was eager for the imminent greening?)

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It snowed all day yesterday, so the photos I posted earlier were just the start. By the afternoon, we had 6" (15cm) or so, and everything out the front windows looked amazing:

In the back though, the bamboo could testify that this was a wet, heavy snow:

click for much larger image

There's the bamboo and bench from yesterday's photo:

Here are my potted cactus and plastic jug seed starting greenhouses:

By evening, it was fairly evident that the gusty wind alone would not be knocking the snow from these plants:

We received a bit more snow overnight, but it's difficult to tell how much more fell. The total amount was about 10" (25cm):

This is the first time I've been able to see my pond from this window!

That's a great shelter formed by the bamboo leaning on the pergola:

If you're wondering, most of the bamboo will spring back upright after the snow load is removed. I don't see any cracked culms, but I haven't gotten out there to do an inspection yet. I'm not worried.


This stuff will hang around for a couple of days, with low temperatures each of the next two nights in the teens F. Later this week it warms up to 50ºF (10ºC) or more, and with the high sun angle melting may go quite quickly -- perhaps I'll be able to do some gardening this weekend?

By the way, this storm had a name: winter storm Virgil. I didn't know winter storms received names.


Is anybody else digging out this morning?

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