February 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Hoy]

Trond,

Brutally cold weather! 

What impact will this have on your garden? Or is too early to make an assessment? Anyway, I hope that your garden manages well this coming spring.

......

Robert,

It is to early to tally the losses! But I think some plants will die. Anyway, low temperature now is better than late frosts in April! So I hope for a nice spring when it arrives

[Hoy]

Sad to hear this Trond. It is usual to have sunny, clear days when it gets very cold, and yes there is a specific sound when one walks outdoors.
Some of the plants may need a heavy pruning in the spring, but remain optimistic! (and wait until late spring with the pruning, I noticed that after super cold winters some plants will be more slow to resume growth).

Polar vortex upon us here, and in other parts of Canada, woke up to -17C, and it will keep going with very cold nights for a long time. We have enjoyed 2 mild winters in a row, now is pay back time.

Gabriela,

I am always optimistic! And I never prune winter damage until it is quite clear what's dead wood. Sometimes this may take two years as the stem is healthy but the root is damaged.

Your climate is more like the inland continental climate here. They have had down to almost -40C some places now. It seems to continue another two weeks here also, a little less cold from next weekend.

[Hoy]

I find the sound of naturally falling hoarfrost crystals to be much more melodic.  Under foot, it is more of a cacophony.

You are right, Rick. But where the hoarfrost crystals have built up a kind of network which collapse it is a nice sound, much nicer than under the foot!

[Gail]

I was pleased to see evidence of social responsibility among our village residents;

[Gail]

But the ladybirds would appear to be corona-deniers;

[Mariette]

Thank You, Trond! Fortunately we do have snow and not bare frost, as usual. These Cylamen coum still look happy, whereas the snowdrops hide their heads in the snow.



Hamamelis ´Diana´



Canarina canariensis , flowering in the green house, of course.

[Véronique Macrelle]

Canarina canariensis is magnificent: is your greenhouse free of freezing?
 I sowed this years ago, but got 6 inch plants in the first year, and couldn't get them through the winter ...
 how do you cultivate it?

I'm afraid here for the little things that germinate in the greenhouse, it's -6 ° C in the greenhouse at night.

It's been a long time since we have had such low temperatures and little by little, I have adopted plants that are a little less hardy.

frost on the window

[Mariette]

That´s a beautiful pic, Véronique! Most of our windows are so well isolated nowadays that we see nomore what we called Eisblumen (iceflowers) in my childhood.
Canarina canariensis should be kept frostfree, though it tolerates -1 or -2 °C for some time. This plant is dormant in summer and starts to sprout in autumn, usually with the onset of rain in it´s homeland.

[cohan]

Lots of tough weather! Hope everyone comes out of it okay! We've finally been having serious winter after a mild season, though we've had snow since Oct, and temps as low as -25 occasionally, that is not cold for us. Now we've had a week or so with *daytime* to -25 to -30C and nights -30 to -40C or colder. Still not extraordinary for us, but cold nonetheless. A bit of fresh snow with it, nothing major-- 15-20cm total over a number of snowfalls, with a number of very light ones.
We have one more night of -34, a few -27, and gradually up-- supposed to be -2C by mid-week. Of course it is still very early for us, and we could have cold weather for many weeks yet.

Currently waiting, (and waiting, and waiting, since yesterday) for the plumber to come, hopefully to fix or replace our water pump-- it occasionally freezes on very cold nights with wind from a certain direction, but is normally thawed in minutes with a heater; this time, I think some electrical system died..  luckily I had pre-filled the (clothes) washing machine the day before, so we've had water for washing up, and melted snow to flush the toilet! Had to go to town for some bottled water when we found out they wouldn't be here till today..

Here is something I noticed in a mesic mixed woods on the acreage-- this spot has a sizeable and growing colony of Moneses uniflora (more than you see in the pics) and this probably their most visible time of the year--the seed pods sticking out above a couple of inches of snow...(this kind of mixed wood never gets very deep snow, probably ranging from a few inches to foot or so, at the moment; farther back in the lower and wetter section, it is deeper, and in the open mowed areas in front of this wood, maybe30-40cm, which is not deep for this time of year).

[Claire Cockcroft]

After almost-springlike temperatures and flowers popping out, it was bound to happen.  A foot of snow buried it all.

[Mariette]

Of course we cannot compete with Your winters, Claire & Cohan, but at least we do have some kind of winter after so many years!

Two views showing the other side of the street.





Snow & flowers in the garden. 

[Leena]

Flowers in the snow look so pretty! And your snow will melt in no time, and the flowers just keep on flowering:).

[Mike Ireland]

Yesterday we had a little sunshine & the crocus thought spring had arrived, grey & raining again today.
Crocus angustifolius & tommasinianus.

[Herman Mylemans]

Yesterday we had a little sunshine & the crocus thought spring had arrived, grey & raining again today.
Crocus angustifolius & tommasinianus.

Mike, great to see the large groups of Crocus. At the weekend and after that we will get temperatures above 17 ° C and sun. So I expect many new flowers.

[Leena]

Crocuses bring spring!
Here it was coldest night this winter, -24,5C, but a lot of snow so plants under it are ok.