The weather system that came through last night left us white with a combination of sleet and freezing rain. We don’t have it nearly so bad as our friends up north, but there are reported power outages (not in our neighborhood) and I haven’t seen a single automobile passing our house this morning (which means no newspaper).
I crunched my way around the garden to see what damage we might have experienced. I’m happy to report no broken limbs. The camellia buds seem well protected with a sheaf of ice, and the pansies will hibernate and then return.
The ‘Sky Pencil’ hollies are leaning over precariously with the weight of the ice, but I expect a warming sun will see them perk up. I may have to give them a bit of help. The ice on the muhly grass has formed a beautiful pattern.
The ten day forecast is predicting several more days of “frozen mix,” however that turns out. Thankfully, spring is just a month away.
A Walk in the Garden 
Freezing rain on branches looks eerily beautiful. I hope your luck holds out with no damage to tree limbs and no power outages. In Kentucky we have almost a foot of snow, fortunately the light, fluffy kind, which will at least provide a blanket for the sub zero temps forecast for later in the week.
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Thanks, Liz. So far, so good. Be careful out there…more is coming.
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Stay warm. I hope the garden has a protective hand over it until this weather passes.
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Thanks, Stepheny. We’re getting in a lot of fireplace time.
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Glad you had no broken limbs. I haven’t been out to investigate but we seem to have had more snow and sleet than ice. I’m very concerned about my camellia japonica. Last year the cold ruined it along with gardenias and hydrangeas. The rest of the week sounds brutally cold too. Stay safe.
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Thank you, Susie. My Gov Mouton camellia japonica has been loaded with buds for weeks and still shows no signs of opening. The other japonica has been devastated by the weather; I think the plant is okay, but no more blossoms this year. Be careful.
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I do hope there isn’t too much damage from the ice. Ice storms are the most brutal of winter’s weather….stay warm
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Thanks, Matt. I am a bit concerned for the Sky Pencil hollies, but will have to wait till things thaw to see that I can tie them up.
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We saw on our news that you were having another very cold spell, stay warm and safe.
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Thank you, Pauline. I’m staying close to the fireplace.
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That kind of ice can look pretty if the sun shines on it, but we had heavy wet snow freezing on the trees and shrubs a couple of weeks ago and it can do damage too. Hope your garden is spared the worst, and take care with all that ice about.
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Thanks, Cathy. I will indeed be careful.
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I’m glad to see you appear to be taking the weather in stride. Winter ice storms can often make for a horrible mess.
One more month right? That’s what I keep telling myself 🙂
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Right. One more month. Four more weeks. Twenty-nine more days………….
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