This weekend was wonderful, but I'm afraid it was just a teaser.

Here is 'Diane' - my favorite.

Ahhh....isn't that pretty! :-)

Hmm, I'm not feeling very spring-like today! The "rain, possibly a few flurries" we were supposed to get has turned into 2 to 3 inches of wet, heavy snow, and still going, alternating between more heavy snow and sleet.

Actually, it is very beautiful out there, but I just worry about my daughter driving home later tonight. I hate when the temps hover at freezing and cause icy conditions. I'd rather have it be 20 degres and just snow!

Gee, can't even wintersow today because I ran out of tape....

:)
Dee

Dee, I guess it is going to be like that all week. I didn't see more than a few drops of snow yesterday and this morning there is just a dusting on the ground. This year is moving along slower than last year.

This was taken on February 13th last year, none of that this year.......

Last year we had snow on March 3rd....

And we didn't see these crocus until March 20th, the first day of spring.....

I noticed that my snowdrops were not up until March 30th last year.

So it looks like I have a ways to go until spring comes to my house. I am going to have to get a witch hazel! :-)

Ah, PM2, those crocuses are just delightful! Can't wait to see them this year!

Just heard on the radio this morning we're due for another 6 to 12 inches of snow tomorrow....

I think I need me a witch hazel too, lol!

:)
Dee

P.S. But I did buy some tape today! Perhaps some wintersowing in the forecast for tomorrow!

By all means, get some witch hazels! Hamamellis x intermedia blooms really early in spring, or late in winter. For that reason I think it's preferable to the native variety, H. virginiana, which blooms in fall, although I'd otherwise want to go with the native (which, I've read, is also more fragrant).

Between those and winter heath, Erica carnea, I can (just barely) keep my spirits up at this time of year. I don't know how I'd survive without them.

We're having rain today - cold and windy; I'd almost prefer snow, although the rain did FINALLY take care of most of the snowbanks left by the plows. NE towns are going to be really strapped for cash after the plowing expenses this year.

I have to put in a vote for my favorite witch hazel, the one I have, 'Arnold Promise'. Bright yellow blooms start about the third week of February and go for six weeks. It has opened as early as Valentine's Day and as late as very early March but those were rare events.

This one is a hybrid of a Chinese species and was developed at the Arnold Arboretum; hence its name. Can't say enough good things about it. No matter the cold or snow after it opens, it keeps on keeping on.

I'd second the recommendation to get witch hazels (& winter heath.) I've had both, though they are borderline hardy here. It's really nice to have flowers while there is still snow on the ground! Since we had rain today after about 10 am, I think I'll need to take a trip down to the family wood shop which is where I planted my witch hazels (a H. x intermedia 'Diane' and a H. vernalis, which is native a bit south of here) to see if they are blooming yet. The earliest they've bloomed in the 3 years I've had them is the end of March, but I can always hope. ;>) My other really early bloomers are some Iris reticulata 'George.'

Hmm, heath... I've often considered heath and heather. Not too seriously or in depth, obviously, as not only do I not have any, but I'm not even sure if heath and heather is the same thing, lol.

Don't they get covered if there is enough snow? I should probably start a new thread to get some info on them. I just did a quick google search and on the first site I looked at it said they liked "a fertile and organically rich soil" and then three inches down the page it said they "prefer a poor soil". This may be why I never bought any, lol!

:)
Dee

Dee, I've passed over heaths and heather too. I don't have a hillside, or poor rocky soil or well drained soil or a lot of full sun. They do prefer acidic soil according to what I've read, which I do have slightly. Plus you did bring up an important consideration, if you have a lot of snow cover, I guess you wouldn't enjoy them in the winter as much as say someone on the Cape who might have more weeks of no snow cover than I would.

I have decided that when I have time, I am going to use these to add to a nice 'winter' container. That way they are high off the ground, and you can give them the soil they need.

With what little I do know about heaths and heathers, I do think I have a good spot for them. I have a slope fronting along the street, which gets full afternoon sun in the winter (and summer), and the soil is pretty rocky and poor. But it's also rather shallow... But, even when it snows, the snow always melts here first, even with the extra snow from the plows piled on. I'll have to look into this further, definitely!

The container idea is a good too...

:)
Dee

Coincidentally, I just got an e-mail from Broken Arrow. They are having a talk on witch hazels next month. Maybe I'll drive over and check it out!

:)
Dee

Heath and heather are different; heath is Erica and heather is Calluna. Winter heath, Erica carnea, looks more like tiny spruce or fir and heather (which may have winter foliage color, but not usually blooms around here in cold weather) is more scaled like cedar. My winter heath didn't bloom in the winter (nothing does in our usual 2-5 feet of snow at this time of year), but they do bloom as the snow melts. My winter heath was planted on a south-western ledge that I'd back-filled with gravelly acid organic soil that I find they seem to like and survived for about 5 years before a particularly cold, bare winter did it in. I'll probably replace it at some point when I have a good spot for it (and a supplier closer than the west coast.)