If you compare this winter to last winter, it would appear that we had it easier this season, but our plants don't seem to look a whole lot better. I will admit, I don't think we have as much death and destruction this season, but there will be a little winter damage.
The mild weather leading up to the cold will have caused some problems. Last week I saw quite a few open blooms on tulip and saucer magnolias,
along with Camellia japonica blooms.
Any open blooms are now brown. Hopefully, the open flowers were just the tip of the iceberg, and we should still have more to follow. I think we all hope this is the last round of bitter cold. It was interesting that this time the ice lasted on trees and shrubs for several days,
while the roads (at least in central and southern Arkansas) stayed clear. When the sun came out, the ice in the trees was dazzling. The plants were probably not as dazzled as we were. I hope my olive and bay trees came through unscathed.
My garden is pretty bleak this winter, with a few spotty blooms on pansies. My hellebores were blooming nicely and they had a lot of frozen buds,
but I bet they will be fine. I am ready to get planting my early winter vegetables, since I only have one kale plant left in the winter vegetable garden. I did not cover anything this year and the cold took it all.
Since I haven't been doing any gardening, I found other things to occupy my time with this month. Of course, I continue to walk with a friend three times a week, I read, and I still entertain and visit with friends.
I swapped out my valentine's decorations for St. Patrick's Day.
I have found a couple of new hobbies. I started learning Mahjong this month, and I am hooked.
It is so fun. I continue to organize and clean out, and I finally broke down and bought a picture scanner. I am enamored with my Epson FF-680W!
I hooked it up Saturday and I have already scanned almost 1000 pictures. I am editing, labeling and storing them in numerous folders. Then I am tossing a lot of the old photos. I even deconstructed several dilapidated photo albums and threw those away--after scanning pictures. I come from a long line of picture takers, and I have a LOT of pictures to scan. What a walk down memory lane this is. I might be finished in 10 years, but I am loving it! I am sure once the weather improves, that my efforts will move outdoors, but there is always something to do! Retirement is grand!