Some purple colour/color from my 'Hebe' shrubs makes up for the weather we are having,..with very bad weather heading this way,..thunder and lightning with heavy winds added by 15 cm of snow,..temperatures remaining -15 for a few days,..i have all the emergency gear ready for burst water pipes or power failure,..should prove interesting.
Lovely to see a bit of colour Philip. We have more than our share of the white stuff at the moment with more on the horizon. My snowdrops, cyclamen, daffs and crocus can no longer be seen.
Well Eileen my flash of colour didn't last very long,..it began snowing last night so when i woke this morning we had 15 cm of snow and just now its 30 cm outside my door and still snowing,..just like you in Scotland we are also on Red Alert,..our first ever Red Alert,..in the past hour it went Nationwide Red,..its going to be interesting within the next week. Same image location as the two above but no colour left just snow getting deeper. Latest image tonight.
oh dear! that is a lot of snow... not for us but for those who don't usually have that much. I don't enjoy it when it comes. it is a lot of work to clean up so everyone can get around. Sometimes you get to the point of no where to put it...
Hi Carolyn,..i was thinking likewise as when in Indiana one Christmas the snowfall was high,..far worse on a visit to Sweden on another Christmas everything carried along as normal,..here everything is closed down as of 4.30 this evening,..the entire country. We are expecting 60 cm of snow with freezing conditions,..plus storm Emma is coming tonight with blizzard conditions and winds up to 100 km,..the Government has declared an unofficial curfew from 4.30 today and up the next 24 hours. Last time we had heavy snow was back in 1982 and again in 2010,..but this combination is very unusual coming in from beyond Russia.
Wow Philip! You have been inundated. That is a storm worthy of New England, not Ireland! I hope you don't lose any plants due to this freak weather.
Cayuga Morning it is a freak combination,..the cold spell is Siberian,..just now the storm is howling outside,..i cleared the 30 cm of snow off the car roof while it was powdery snow as it would be more difficult when frozen solid,..visibility was then down to about 30 feet with the strong wind blowing snow and it freezing very quickly. I imagine i will have a few plant losses,..anything tall is bent over with the weight of snow,..still fingers crossed not too much damage when the week is over,..i am as snug as a bug in a rug inside with the heat up high and lots of food to last the week,..i have to admit i am enjoying it all as you never know what next
I can see that you're having a tough time too Philip. We have around 18 inches of snow here with drifting from the strong winds. Boy is it cold!! We can no longer see where our pond is and it's a constant battle just to keep some sort of path cleared to let me get to the bird feeders. Even saw a Mistle thrush in the garden which is quite a rare sight here. Keep warm and let's hope spring comes for us all soon.
Eileen,..looking at the weather reports on Scotland it looks as bad as here,..we had freezing rain in places and black frost,..no wonder traffic has stopped ,..in the States i see New England area is having a storm and all along that coast,..high tides and high winds make it dangerous. Its very hard for the birds to get any food with this snow and like you i had to put my rubber boots on to walk up the path to put out food,..apart from suet balls i placed a tray of goodies for the birds that don't eat from anything hanging above ground,..i wouldn't know a Mistle Thrush from the Thrushes i see in the garden so i must look up the difference.
Despite the weird weather conditions everything in the garden looks healthy,..which surprised me. In bloom today,..Hellebore 'Double Ellen Picotee'. Because lots of the land along the river was flooded since last September and with the bad weather of late,..many birds were forced to come into town areas for food,..three types of Thrush seen in the garden this week,..i do know the first is a 'Red Wing Thrush',..not sure of the name for the remaining two. Pictures taken through glass door,..poor quality
I'm still waiting for all the snow to thaw before seeing what plants are surviving here. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I see my garden again. Like you Philip I've had birds visiting that are rarely, if ever, seen in gardens. You are right - the first bird is a Redwing and you also have two Mistle thrushes in your photographs. Mistles have spots that blend into one another whilst Song thrushes have separated spots on their chests. It can be quite difficult to tell them apart unless you see them side by side. I have been putting out apples and pears for the ones that are visiting here and they going through them at quite a rate.
Gosh Eileen i presumed your snow would be gone like ours,..there are a few drifts against banks but that's it,..here's hoping you have a complete thaw soon to let Spring come in. Thanks for the info on the Thrushes,..i was totally at a loss until you mentioned ' Mistle Thrushes ' earlier in this Thread then the Redwing appeared,..i put the names under the pictures in my album A white Hellebore in bloom now,..i don't have a name for this one.
I still can't see my Hellebore but the snow is slowly melting. I just hope I don't have to wait until next year to see mine.
Eileen its tough not seeing those plants that should be ready to bloom but they will catch up,..just checking mine today and noticed that the Delphiniums are just peeping above the soil,..time to spray the liquid slug killer,..last year i left it late and lost two Delphiniums,..the roots may be still there but the slugs had eaten enough to prevent them growing enough to bloom in time,..so fingers crossed this year. I have a 'Single Stem Yucca' growing in my Sitting Room,..its grown too big to be left in the window so i decided to purchase a stand for it but couldn't find anything i really liked,..then i remembered i had an old Bedside Locker in the shed,..i sprayed it with furniture paint and i think it looks fine as it blends in with the TV area.
Just curious Philip, do you suppose what you call a 'bedside locker' might be what folks over here would call a 'night table'?
