Had a Dose of Winter; Now I Have Spring Fever!

In my part of the world I can garden year-round, though in winter I have to seize the opportunity between bouts of bitter freezes and equally miserable, sloppy days of cold rain.

We have had enough polar-inspired temps and snow this year to make it feel like we have had a real winter. A few weeks ago I visited Tennessee with friends during a particularly frosty spell. I borrowed some furry UGG boots and padded myself with multiple layers to accommodate below-zero wind chills.

Could you guess how cold it was by this view of the winter sky?Our group of ladies has a decades-long friendship, and a bit of cold air wasn't going to keep our warm spirits down! On the way home we were still enjoying our camaraderie and even stopped several times to take photos of frozen waterfalls and icicles along the road. We piled out of the car into the teeth of arctic winds and gripped our cameras with determination. Had my husband or someone else with common sense been with us, we would never have done this, but we would not have had nearly as much fun.

Here are a few images taken outside of Gatlinburg, including a selfie of myself with an icy waterfall and stream in the background. I am not very good at taking selfies. A friend said I should delete that shot because I wasn't smiling. Ha! It is the only photo I have of myself with the frozen waterfall. And it was my best attempt at a smile with my shivery, congealed lips.

So I have had my dose of winter; enough of that! Forgetting that I still have a chunk of January and all of February to go, I am ready for spring. Temps warmed up briefly into the sixties over the weekend. A true gardening addict, I spent Saturday outside, planting new shrubs that I purchased off-season cheap at my favorite nursery. It felt so good! This is the perfect time to plant shrubs in Alabama. The ground is not frozen here, and roots can settle into the soil before spring growth.

I even found some hellebores blooming. These fantastic plants will bloom for months:

I have a long list of things I want to accomplish in the garden before March, including (but not limited to!) some pruning, transplanting, clean-up, and spraying of horticultural oil. I am hoping for more beautiful days so that I can get out there and treat my spring fever.

When Snow Fell on Alabama

It has all melted now, but I am still remembering our unexpected snowfall that occurred on December 8. Today was rainy and cold, a bit too warm for snow. Later this week we should have spring-like temps around 70 degrees F, so our typical see-saw winter weather has begun. Meanwhile, I have more snowy images to show you. I must take advantage of the opportunity, as the rest of our winter is likely to feature muddy tones of brown and gray. So here they are, as close to a white Christmas as I am likely to get!

Finally, I found this character (a decorative metal bug who has forgotten it is winter) happily playing in the snow in front of the house:

A joyous holiday season and Merry Christmas to you all!  Deb