Monday, March 24, 2008

I'm Dreaming of a White

Easter!!! Well, not really but it happened anyway.
This is the sight that greeted me this morning when I woke up. Snow on Second Easter Day, not something that happens very often around here. So I got out of bed, put on my wellies and went into the garden to snap some pics. We had not had any snow this winter but we're having some now. Not a very thick layer as you can see here, but snow nevertheless. Nowadays it's very rare that we have snow in the Netherlands, so for me this is a very special treat.
But it was not only snow that had fallen during the night, there had been some hail as well.
And some light frost too.
But when I was out and about in the garden earlier this morning I could hear the drip drip drip of melting snow and hail already. The sun was out
and the temperature had risen to plus 3.2 C, which is well above the freezing point of water at 0 C. So if I wanted to take some pics of my garden covered in snow I had to be quick about it as it was fast melting away.
The birdbath bed looks like this now but a few days ago it looked like this (pic below).
Quite a difference, wouldn't you say?
Remember this hellebore bloom extravaganza? Well take a good look at how it looks now.
And here's a close up.
My cheerful daffodowndillies where laughing their heads off only yesterday but look at how they are not laughing now, poor things.
Let's go into the kitchen garden to see how it is doing today.
It does look pretty like this, all covered in white, don't you think?
This is how the snow looks from the inside of the Victorian greenhouse. Outside it was 3.2 C but inside the unheated greenhouse it was 6 C and all my seedlings were fine.
My new poly tunnel was holding up alright too and so where the daffodils in the potager as they look only slightly the worse for wear.
My newly transplanted forget-me-nots, bravely blooming on
and the chives are OK as well, the snow doesn't seem to bother them at all. It's amazing how strong that frail looking herb actually is.
My rhubarb forcing pot looks pretty wearing its new white hat and the stems of rhubarb look very red against all that white.
My new weather station is telling me that snow has fallen, in case I missed it somehow.
And my namesakes, the lovely Violets, are doing fine as the snow is melting away and their cheerful faces are shining through.Where would we be without our friends the violets and pansies to cheer our gardens up at this time of year?
Before I sign off I want to wish all my Dutch garden blogger friends a Happy Second Easter Day! For the non-Dutch among you: in the Netherlands we usually have 2 of all good things such as 2 Christmas Days, 2 Easter Days and 2 Whitsun Days as well. It's a thing! :-)

While I'm writing this the sky has darkened, the sun has disappeared and it's starting to hail and snow again while a thunder storm is slowly heading this way. Wasn't it supposed to be Spring now?

copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Pasen in maart, is niks waard.

Wenn's am Ostertag auch regnet am wingsten, so regnet's alle Sonntag bis Pfingsten.

Help us to be the always hopeful
Gardeners of the Spirit
Who know that without darkness
Nothing comes to birth
As without light
Nothing flowers.
Mary Sarton, 'Invocation to Kali'.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like these 'Christmas' Easter photos!
The forecast for London today was cold and sunny but so far it's been grey and snowing!

Carol Michel said...

The good thing about spring snow, as you noted, is it melts quickly. Stay warm and dry and soon it will pass. But in the meantime, those are some very pretty pictures of your white garden today.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Ach herrje, das sieht ja nicht gerade nach Frühling aus! Gestern hat es bei uns auch leicht geschneit, aber es taute gleich wieder alles weg. Im Moment scheint hier die Sonne und in der Nacht war es bitterkalt! Sogar der Teich hatte eine Eisschicht drauf und die Osterglocken lassen ihre Köpfe bis zum Boden hängen. Hoffentlich wird es bald wieder wärmer, ich will jetzt endlich Frühling!
LG Lis

Piondröm said...

I see that you get your part of the winter.
Here in ssSweden we have around 15cm snow and cold.
I hope your flower dot get any damage.
We wish you a very nice ending on the Easter
Ken&Carina

Frances, said...

Yolanda, you are quick on the trigger with your camera, good work in the wellies! It was snowing here in TN this morning when we got up also!
Frances at Faire Garden

Libbys Blog said...

I love the header 'summer in 89 days'!!! I'm a bit concerned because after you had the spring header, we haven't had a spring ! Should we be worried !!! lol!!!

Anonymous said...

We hebben zo te lezen vanmorgen hetzelfde gedaan..;-)) Toch wel een mooi gezicht zo de tuin (en wie weet is het de enige sneeuw die we krijgen in 2008...)
Nog maar 89 dagen.....en dan is het zomer...:-))

garden girl said...

Yolanda, your garden is beautiful with or without snow. I'm glad you enjoyed your Easter snow.

Snow was predicted yesterday for Chicago, and I'm glad to say it didn't happen! We have had enough of the stuff this winter.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

No snow all winter and now that it is spring you get it. The weather is pretty crazy sometimes.

Your garden is lovely with the blanket of white.

Anonymous said...

Gads!!! And here I was *so* grateful to return from vacation to my Pennsylvania garden and find no snow!

Anonymous said...

Love your pictures! My family is from the Netherlands...I hear that your climate is similar to ours in Oregon. I think we can grow similar plants.

Gail said...

Hello,
What whiteand chilly weather! The before and after photos tell a story!. Hopefully spring will be back and all will be beautiful and blossoming happily.
Gail

Unknown said...

Two of every holiday? You have the right idea, I think. It seems that the weather has gone awry in many locales around the world; some of our British gardening pals have reported cold, wet, dreary weekend weather--worse than usual--and of course here spring got lost somewhere between Texas and the Canada/US border. But eventually...At any rate, happy 2nd Easter to you and the Bliss team and family.

Connie said...

Ah, spring....it can be so fickle!
I hope none of your plants suffer damage from the snow.

Anonymous said...

Niet echt Paas weer he!
Gisteren een stralend zonnetje en vandaag eerst sneeuw, later was alles wit van de hagel.Voor de planten maakt het niet uit,die kunnen er wel tegen.Alleen wij tuinliefhebbers, dachten toch echt dat de lente al begonnen was!!!

Anonymous said...

YE: How quickly things can change in the garden! I hope you are now back to green and I also hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday.

Rusty in Miami said...

I hope your plants are OK, the pictures, the pictures are beautiful.
Stay warm

Priscilla George said...

Hope your plants aren't too damaged from the snow. The weather can be very unpredictable. It doesn't care if it's easter or spring.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh Yolanda, Ole Man Winter just doesn't want to give in to Mz Spring. I hope all recovers. We had snow and hail on Easter too. Just seems odd.

Cheryl said...

You are having the same weather as us Yolanda. Spring does not want to come easily.....but the flowers do not seem to agree. Everything is still blooming here, but the blossom has been damaged (sigh)
It is good to see your garden and how it is coping with the changeable weather.

Viooltje said...

I watched the news a few hours ago, and in the end there's always the 'no comment' part with beautiful little videos from all around the world. Today the theme was snow in Holland and the fact that you didn't have that kind of weather since the 1960s. Neither did most of us. It was an idyllic video, a mixture of different places, streets, highways, airport runways, quiet little villages and people's gardens. It was so white and so serene, it almost felt like Christmas. Just beautiful. However, as long as there's no snow galore, we don't want our plants switching back to winter, especially as so many of them are more than ready for springtime and the renewal of life.

Anonymous said...

Jij was vanmorgen dus ook al vroeg buiten :-) Sneeuw in maart is niet zo uitzonderlijk, denk aan 2005 met dat hele dikke pak. Maar omdat Pasen dit jaar heel vroeg valt is het wel een gekke combinatie.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Garden Girl's part of Chicagoland may not have gotten any snow, but here in the Fox Valley part, we got dumped on big time! There was so much wet,heavy snow I couldn't get the driveway cleared enough to go to Good Friday services. At least you could enjoy your snow. Mine's almost gone now too. I hope you had a good Easter.

Betty said...

Yolanda,
What a surprise! Your gardens are beautiful whatever the temperature....

Two of everything...what a fantastic idea.....maybe not two birthdays though...we age fast enough with one a year....

Blessings.....Betty

Karin said...

It more or less looks like Sweden. We have snow as well now, and a lot. :) But I must say your garden looks really beautiful with snow and the garden is definitly a "winter garden" with green bushes and so on.

Yes, we celebrate second Easter day too! :)

Have a nice week! Kram Karin

Anonymous said...

Yolanda, I wonder how your flowers will recover from this snow - especially those beautiful hellebores!

Ruth Welter said...

Hi Yolanda, ow, I know you may not have wanted snow on Easter Sunday but your blooms outside, covered in that dusting, do look so pretty.

Kylee Baumle said...

How pretty! We who are used to snow know that hellebores and daffodils do fine with snow, especially the hellebores, so I would be surprised if your flowers suffer any.
We didn't have any snow for Easter, but we did have it the day before, probably just like yours: snow, sleet, and even a little freezing rain. On Friday night, we had thunder and lightning like crazy - while it was snowing and doing all that other stuff!
I hope you had nice Easter days!

Barbara said...

One of the good virtues of a gardener is to be patient ;-) !! It IS already Spring, it is actually just a bit hidden....under this thin layer of snow!
Have a sunny week! Barbara

Naturegirl said...

Yolanda I am giggling at your sheer delight in getting the little bit of snow for Easter! I am enjoying the lack of snow and the 90F temps here in the desert of Arizona!
Your photos are wonderful as always ..poor daffodils..hope you revived them by cutting and bringing indoors!
I have met LUNA!!Come see!
sunkissed NG

kjohnson said...

Oh Yolanda, I am so sorry for the snow. Perhaps now spring will settle in. BTW I Love May Sarton's poetry (Mary Oliver too). Thanks for reminding me of "the gardener of the spirit".

The Diva said...

Oh, poor Bliss, poor Yolanda. I hope it melted quickly.~~Dee

Anonymous said...

Wat je zegt "Lente"!?!
Nou, het lijkt er niet echt op hè,
We hadden een prachtige eerste paasdag, de hele dag zon, maar tweede paasdag begon wit, wat snel wegsmolt en vanmorgen was het weer bingo!
de temperatuur loopt gelukkig zoveel op dat het snel weer weg is, maar de hele middag vallen er nieuwe sneeuw/hagelbuien :-(
Tóch beloven ze na donderdag warmer weer, zou de lente dan toch èindelijk beginnen (laten we het hopen)
Onze vroegbloeiers trekken zich niet zo veel aan van het witte dekentje gelukkig!
groetjes, Marian

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

Beautiful pictures. As much as I get tired of the snow and winter, there is something special about seeing colorful flowers peeking through a light snowfall.

Anonymous said...

Yolanda..
I am so sorry to see your beautiful flowers covered with snow. A sad picture indeed.
But here is our forecast for the
City of Toronto.
Today..Cloudy. Snow at times heavy mixed with rain beginning this
afternoon. Snowfall amount 5 cm except 2 cm near Lake Ontario. Wind south 20 km/h increasing to 40gusting to 60 this afternoon.
Warmer temperatures are to expect in May!!

I am keeping my snow shovel next to our front door..
cheers Gisela

Anonymous said...

ik ben ook de tuin in gegaan hoor ..was hier vanmorgen weer wit ;) volgende week lente ..beloofd !!!!!!
al de sneeuw heb ik al gemist omdat ik ziek was .....maar op alle loggies kwam ik het tegen ..dus vanmorgen was ik niet te houden hoor ;)))
meis maak er een fijne avond van ;))
groetjes Lenie

Annie in Austin said...

Blogging is such a benefit to us gardeners, isn't it Yolanda? Instead of sitting inside going "Oh, woe! Woe!", we grab the wellies and the camera and immediately start snapping pictures of what befalls our blossoms.

Thanks for sharing this weather oddity with us ;-]

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Ach, Ihr seid also auch nicht von dem Schnee verschont geblieben! Bei uns sieht es noch weißer aus. Allerdings als Traum mag ich das jetzt nicht mehr bezeichnen. ICH WILL FRÜHLING!
Und unsere Katzen auch, sie sind schon ganz ärgerlich und mögen gar nicht so recht hinaus.
LG, Birgit

Kerri said...

I'm giggling at how the weather fascinates us so much. I'm always curious to find out what's going on weatherwise in other parts of the world.
Imagine getting the first snow at Easter! I can't! I'm glad you enjoyed Mother Nature's little surprise :) Thanks for sharing these lovely photos with us.
We still have an arctic wind here and very weak sunshine today.

Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree said...

Your comment on the weather station had me giggling. What a cool looking little contraption though..
Everything looks pretty dusted in white.

lostlandscape said...

Definitely a season of transition...enjoy the blooms and warm days ahead!