Monday, January 23, 2012

A Winter Without Snow


The end of January is quickly approaching. And I’ve come to the realization that we’re going to have a winter without snow. What’s the point of cold, gray days if you don’t have snow? I realize that the city of Chattanooga has only one snow plow and two sanders, but still...

Instead, we’ve had day after night after day of rain. And the high today is 65. It’s like we hit the fast forward button to spring. Now don’t get me wrong, spring is my favorite time of year in the South. So that’s good. But there’s a problem. A big problem.

Without a heavy ground freeze, none of my late summer weeds died. I blew off weeding in the fall (while I worked on my novel) and cursed the weeds, “Die in the winter freeze.” Only it didn’t happen. And now those weeds are mocking me—they’re huge. They’re dropping seeds. If they had faces, they’d be laughing.

I try not to take stock of my yard and garden when I go outside. But wearing sunglasses doesn’t help much. The massive green patch of clover in the midst of dormant lawn is hard to miss. Strands of Bermuda grass poking out of my liriope borders mean hours of work. And those areas that I didn’t get around to mulching...well, at least there’s Round-up.

What I needed was a good dose of snow—nothing like a clean white blanket to make everything look tidy. Then, I could pretend that my only chore for the spring is enjoying the daffodils, tulips, and hellebores. But it’s not. I guess it’s time to buy a new pair of gardening gloves... Besides a new gardening catalogue came and there’s a gorgeous hardy orchid. And the daffs have buds. And the hyacinths are up. I love spring.

11 comments:

  1. Not to be a wet blanket, but if it freezes the daffodils and hyacinths are likely to die off.

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  2. Colorado has hardy weeds. Even if it does snow, they still come back like it didn't.

    As a girl who has spent most of her life on one coast or the other, I'd take weeding over driving on black ice any day.

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  3. Our winter has been sadly snow-less, too. My biggest concern right now is the sugaring season - it never really got cold enough for a good solid freeze, which means the sap will only be running sluggishly in March, which means a lousy, lousy year for maple syrup. OH THE HUMANITY.

    Plus I find winter much more tolerable with a blanket of snow covering the ground as opposed to wet, sloppy dead grass. Yay.

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  4. Tornado weather in January! Wha...? It we don't get a good, deep snow before winter's over, we'll knee-high with the skeeters and ticks here in the mid-west more than ever come spring!

    Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Besides, our family hasn't had one opportunity yet to get out for our annual Winter Stomp. I fear our oldest will take off for college without making one last angel in the snow before he goes and grows up!

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  5. Luke,

    Most likely the daffs and hyacinths will survive unless it gets down to single digits because the ground will radiate enough heat to help them survive. On the other hand, if we get an ice storm, they're toast.

    Scarlett,
    Ugh. Yeah, the mosquitoes are going to be horrendous this summer.

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  6. I have no spring where I am. I'm jealous!

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  7. In So Cal we simply drive 2 hours to play in the snow, then return to our cozy suburbia. Okay I do miss the seasons back east. In seminary we used wash machine lids for snow boards.

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  8. Your going to have to take a picture of your garden when its blooming and share it with us. It sounds lovely!

    Sorry about the weeds though. :P

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  9. I feel your pain. My daffodils are already in bloom. What happened to winter? For us, I don't care about a good spell of cold to kill weeds as much I want it to kill our bazillions of bugs. Especially the fleas.

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  10. It's been a weird winter for us, too (I live in Utah). We usually get a ton of snow in the December-January months, but so far, we haven't even been able to build a snowman. (Sad kids!)

    Yesterday was a combo of rain and snow all day, as if the weather couldn't make up its mind. Today we have less than an inch of snow on the grounds, which makes everything looks pretty and white, even if it's not enough for a snowman.

    Good luck with the spring weeding!

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  11. *looks outside the window* yup, still bright and sunny over here. I didn't even get the chance to break out a light sweater. Sigh. I miss having seasons. Jealous of your spring!

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