Before It Gets Cold

A blast of real cold is coming. I was beginning to wonder if it might snow. As of this evening, a slight chance of snow has entered the diagnosis. I am fine with that. Now it needs to stay cool and cold. No more of this sixty five degree crap.

Today was gorgeous and I had an extra hour for a walk in the woods while it was still warm.
 

The beasts followed.

There are hundreds of the native Putty Root Orchid, Aplectrum hyemale in the forest. If I remember to look, I can find the leafless bloom spikes in June.

I found snowdrops and a lone crocus. There were no signs of the 10,000 daffodils and equal number of minor bulbs. That is good.  It is way to soon for bulbs to be coming up. Seeing snowdrops now is normal. It is rather common for me to have snowdrops in bloom in mid-January.

Cold in the mid twenties is just what all my baby shrubberies need to tell them to go dormant without being a severe shock to their systems. My elevation poses enough of an endurance test for the plants in my garden. I don't need wacky weather tacked on. Sadly, this is likely to be the new norm.

Cold in the mid twenties is going to be a shock to my system. My cold hardiness evaporates at the first hint of warm. I need sustained cold to get acclimated.

Properly layered it is quite nice to stroll through the garden when it is cold. There can't be any wind for this to happen. Wind is bad.

It is for winter walks that I have been planting so many low mounding evergreens and a few select evergreen trees and shrubs. I must have a garden year round.