April Snow

A 2 a.m. photo during the snow…

The forecasters were correct for once, although we really didn’t get much rain at all before it turned into snow as the temperatures fell. By evening, even the tiny, tiny flakes were beginning to form a thin blanket. I’d been out mid-afternoon to cover the things I could: blooming gooseberries, black currants strawberries. All the flats of young seedlings were moved back into the greenhouse. Frost protection was put on the 2″ peas in both beds.

At 2 a.m. I woke and slipped on a jacket and boots, grabbed the camera and went out to get a photo of the Deck Garden. There’s a “security” light on a pole above the elder which provided enough light to take the picture above. The snow fell so softly, with no wind at all. I measured 4″ on the deck rails.

There are over 300 tulips under there!

This morning, the snow still hasn’t moved a bit because it is perfectly still. Every tiny branch, fence wire and leaf is coated. The Front Garden (above) certainly looks different than it did in the photos taken earlier this week for the “Spring is Surging/Tulip Evaluation” post! It’s 23 degrees F at the moment, so the snow won’t be melting for a bit, but maybe that’s a good thing to provide some insulation from the cold. A few tulips couldn’t bear the load, bent and dumped their coating of snow. It will be interesting to see if some varieties survive in better shape than others. And here’s the Deck Garden in daylight.

It’s a pretty photo, in an odd sort of way…

The Deck Garden tulips were beginning to drop petals, so I don’t have high hopes for there being much left once the snow is gone. The “Tang Dynasty” are an earlier flowering collection, but they’ve been gorgeous. And here’s the potager viewed from the deck.

I’ll trudge out there later to see how things look.

I’m wishing now that I’d covered the sweet peas in the potager. Hopefully they will be okay. The forecasters say it will be mid-40’s today, so the snow will melt, then drop to 23 again tonight. Next week, it will hit 80 degrees!!! The fava beans won’t like that, and the kale will probably bolt. That’s Indiana weather.

Now I’m wishing I’d picked them all!

It may be the end of the tulips, so I’m savoring the bouquet I picked before the snow began. The “Geranium” narcissus smell heavenly, and the tulips are lovely. I’m glad I had a chance to see all the redbuds, crab apples, magnolias, and other fruit trees in blossom on Monday when I drove to my mother’s, about an hour away. Spring is fleeting, and we must remember to capture some of its beauty in our memories.

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