On one hand I'm loving the warmer weather...almost springlike. I am not a cold weather person. I dug several leeks out for dinner last night (the ground was completely thawed). Can't do that most Januaries! This has also been the type of winter when I manage to overwinter zone-borderline plants like rosemary and lemon verbena.

On the other hand it's been so warm and wet that some plants are looking like they'll break dormancy. I also worry about freeze/thaw on some of my younger perennials. I hate seeing plants pushed right out of the ground -drying out.

Plus, I still need to do my winter sowing!!!

The snow was gone here a couple weeks ago and thank goodness for this weather so far! After the past couple years (and even last month) where we've had below normal winter and spring temps, it's a nice break. You can thank a positive NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) and a neutral to slightly positive Pacific Oscillation for that. We had gotten so accustomed to teens and twenties for highs every winter for weeks at a time and being pushed to consider that "normal" (which it isn't, at least here in SE PA), that what we are experiencing now seems "mild" and in reality, it's closer to "normal" and what the temps should be (highs mid - upper 30s and lows in the mid 20s for the coldest month of January).

Since the beginning of December, I have watched below normal weather here in the east being idiotically cheered on by several commercial weather forecasters (some who finally admitted that they were "snow lovers" after weeks on end threatening that winter is coming... winter is coming.... look out.... And even concocting hypothetical graphical scenarios illustrating what would need to occur to theoretically produce even more severely below normal cold weather), while those same ones cheered on the above-normal temps elsewhere across the U.S. But god forbid, let us struggle to normal and slightly above and they get their panties in a twist. Meanwhile out west, temps are some 30 degrees above normal. :-\

Sorry for the weather rant...but I've been wanting to get that out. ;-)

beanmomma - if you can remember the winter of 2001 - 2002, you might be able to predict whether your plants will come out of dormancy too soon. I have a couple new potted shrubs and a new containered tree (a plum that only needs 250 chill hours which I'm sure has gotten that by now) that I am watching too. Right now it seems that the temp range has been perfect for "chill hour" accumulation. But I think as long as we do hit or go below freezing at night, I expect the plants will hang on in dormancy awhile longer.

Crossing fingers that we can make it through this month like this and squeak through February the same way, then we should be pretty much on our way to spring! :-)

Since I'm in Bucks too mine is the same as yours Carol.I need to order all my seeds and always pick a nice snowy day to do it..kind of a ritual but guess I'd better get started. Things are very muddy here and I did a walk around yesterday to see if anything has started to merge yet but not even the witch hazels are waking up.

Lynn,I tried something different with my leeks this year since some of mine usually rot in the ground if I leave them in all winter. A friend recommended digging them all up and putting them in buckets and then pour sand on top of them and leave them in the garage all winter. So far it's worked like a charm. I love leeks and can't imagine not growing them.

Looks like we're heading into the "January thaw" this week, I love it.

Jenny, I'm glad to hear evidence that this past December was colder than normal. It certainly felt that way! I use our farm pond to gauge the severity of a winter, and this year was the earliest I've had to break ice to provide open water for the ducks. Non-gardening friends shrugged off the cold as normal, but I always secretly (and grumpily) think that my perceptions are more accurate than theirs, since my farm and gardening chores are so weather-dependent.

Mwoods, my Pallida witch hazel is JUST started to break into bloom, there are tiny snippets of yellow on the lowest buds. Last year I went to the Christo Gates installation at Central Park in NY, and was distracted from the artwork by the gorgeous mature witch hazels that seemed to be all over the place. I had no idea they got so big. What variety do you have? I wish I'd gotten Arnold Promise instead of Pallida.

Unfortunately my husband put that one in almost 30 years ago and there was no name with it. I haven't a clue which one it is. The blossoms are not as dramatic as some I've seen but the fragrance knocks my socks off. I always force them throughout the winter and keep some in the kitchen.

Carol,

Funny, I've been thinking it's been milder than past winters. I use my bottom patio slab by the garage as a gauge...(Did you make it to my swap last spring?...the area we sheltered under from the rain.) In really cold winters the concrete slab gets frost heaved about an inch and blocks the patio door from swinging open. It hasn't moved yet this year. But then again, with little children in the house we've been keeping the thermostat higher so maybe it just seems warmer in general.

About witch hazels- I have a young witch hazel, H. vernalis. It's flowers aren't so showy and it's still too small for cuttings.:^( Anyone seen 'Jelena' or 'Diane' blooming? I'd love a coppery orange or red one. I looked at 'Jelena' in a nursery, but it was past bloom and one of the nurserymen suggested I'd prefer 'Arnold's Promise' over 'Jelena'... so I'm still looking.

Marda,

Thanks for the leek tip. I'm assuming you wash them first? Do you trim the leaves back? There is nothing that makes a soup quite like leeks. Just finished the last of the potato /leek soup tonight.

Wow. Thanks for all the heads-up on the witch hazel blooms! One of my sisters has two of them and next time I'm by there, I need to check to see what they are doing. I remember last year trudging through the snow to where they were to look at the blooms.

There's a cool link to check the overall climatology nationwide (whether monthly, seasonal, or annually) here. You can also set it to look at other years and to look at precipitation.

For example, the winter of 2005 (which would be Dec. 2004 - Feb. 2005) in PA was listed as "normal", the winter of 2004 was "below normal", the winter of 2003 was "much below normal", the winter of 2002 was "much above normal", the winter of 2001 was "below normal", etc. It's interesting to look at the patterns and see what it did that spring too (eg., confirms that last spring was "much below normal")!

Lynn,I just dug them up,shook off the dirt as best I could,crammed them into buckets and dumped sand on them. Then when I need some,I pull them out,shake off the sand and cut off the leaves. Then they come inside and I wash them. They still taste like they are fresh from the garden.

Thanks for all the great info Jenny! I know I tend to just have a feeling about how cold it is or should be.

I grew up in a drafty old victorian era home, coal furnace, no upstairs heat, and a very frugal father with a high internal furnace.:^) Bedrooms would be in the 40's as a kid. Ice on the inside of my bedroom window. We'd have to get up and take our bath before school and there'd be no fire in the furnace yet. Little bro. and I would huddle wet, under our towels next to the heat duct listening to Dad shoveling the coal and slowly feeling the heat creep out the register.

I decided that when I grew up I wouldn't be that cold again in my own home...and that my kids wouldn't be that cold.

After those winters almost everything seems warmer.:^)