A Lull Before The Snow

The rains came in the night. At some point it must have been frozen. I listened to the sound of dried rice tinkling on the metal roof off and on while I slept.

By mid-afternoon it was over and the sun joked about coming out. It was enough to get me outside despite the persistent wind. A few of the baby helleborus are blooming. The blooms may not survive the coming cold.

All of my hellebores are gifted or pilfered seedlings. After seeing how readily they self sow, it is not a plant I would willingly pay good money for. When they do bloom the flower I get is a genetic roll of the bumbling bees.

The little Crocus sieberi atticus 'Firefly' blooms on in a meager sun in hopes of being impollinated before the snows come.

I have been watching this unknown since it first appeared in the roadside vegetable last summer. I have not seen any other plant with quite the same crinkled leaf shape and extraordinarily flat and compacted rosette growth pattern. I have no idea what it is or what the bloom will be. That means it can stay until I find out.

I first noticed it when it was about the size of a small egg. It has not grown one iota taller. It is now about the size of a cantaloupe. What will it be?

Maybe I forced the beasts to get up and go outside when they rains stopped. Maybe they don't like the idea of me going out there without them and followed. It's just good to get one day of exercise in before the snows come. Snow is still highly undesirable. The initial shock of it has worn off, but quality snow time is still of short duration.

AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY NEAR THE TENNESSEE
BORDER IS EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THE WEEKEND. LIGHT
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR EACH DAY...WITH THE
HIGHEST AMOUNTS EXPECTED IN THE HIGH ELEVATIONS ALONG THE
TENNESSEE BORDER.

That would mean me.