So pretty!

Beautiful,Bill.
~Tina

WOW. These are beautiful enough to be postcard pictures. It is gorgeous. You're a lucky man to be surrounded by all of that beauty.

Hummingbird House Feb. 11, 2006

What a difference a month makes!!!!

Are you now done with winter???????

Seems so wierd that it would be sooooo green
this time of year already??????

It has been unseasonably warm all Winter, but the temperature dropped below freezing the last few nights. Snow is not rare in February here, so I'm not counting on Winter being over yet! It's been nice to get a jump on my Spring chores though...

What will that do to alllllll that lush green growth on that vine????

*what kind was that vine again??*

That is an evergreen Clematis armandii so the foliage will be fine. However, there are hundreds of buds ready to open that will probably drop instead.

Will it re~bud up, if they freeze off,
or are they a one time shot, say like a tulip flower???

Last year there were several flushes of bloom starting in Spring and continuing into September, so I'm sure there will be plenty of flowers later.

Well, that's good ...
Always disappointing when they get them frozen off and you have to wait 'til next year...

It sure does look very pretty in all the seasons, I bet it changes weekly year around.

...THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES IN AT LEAST A DECADE EXPECTED THURSDAY
THROUGH THE WEEKEND...

A VERY COLD AIR MASS IS CURRENTLY FORMING OVER THE YUKON OF
NORTHERN CANADA. THE LATEST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMPUTER
MODELS DRIVE THIS COLD AIR MASS SOUTHWARD TO THE WASHINGTON AND
BRITISH COLUMBIA BORDER BY THURSDAY MORNING. A COLD FRONT WILL
THEN SWEEP FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH WASHINGTON DURING THE DAY
ON THURSDAY BRINGING A DRAMATIC DROP IN TEMPERATURES. HIGH
PRESSURE WILL PERSIST OVER THE AREA FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND
MAINTAINING THE COLD CONDITIONS. HIGH TEMPERATURES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
WILL LIKELY REMAIN IN THE UPPER 20S OVER MOST OF PUGET SOUND.
NIGHTTIME LOWS ARE EXPECTED TO FALL INTO TEENS BOTH FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY MORNING. A FEW WIND SHELTERED LOCATIONS SUCH AS OLYMPIA
COULD POSSIBLY FALL BELOW 10 DEGREES. AT THIS TIME...MOISTURE
APPEARS LIMITED WITH THIS SYSTEM. HOWEVER...FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW
SHOWERS ARE STILL POSSIBLE WITH THE FRONT THURSDAY AND WITH
A PASSING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. ACCUMULATIONS
APPEAR MINIMAL AT THIS TIME BUT ANY CHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE SYSTEM COULD PRODUCE MORE SNOW.

IN ADDITION...A STRONG BLAST OF NORTHERLY WIND WILL FOLLOW THE
FRONT ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL PRODUCE ESPECIALLY HAZARDOUS
CONDITIONS FOR MARINE INTERESTS IN ALL WATERS. OVER LAND...NORTH WINDS
OF 25 TO 35 MPH COMBINED WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 20S
WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS...AND POSSIBLY COLDER
THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING AS WINDY CONDITIONS PERSIST. IT
IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT WINDS COULD EXCEED HIGH WIND
CRITERIA...SUSTAINED 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH...BY LATE
THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY OVER THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND THE CASCADE
FOOTHILLS. CONTINUE TO MONITOR WEATHER FORECASTS IN THE EVENT
HIGH WIND WATCHES ARE NEEDED.
:p

We're expecting something like that too,
it's supposed to not get over 20's....
*I'll have to go dig out info on when it's due in*

That does NOT sound good!!!

Man, that sounds awful!!! Will your new trees you just planted be okay????? This is a crazy winter we are having..all over...

~V~

I know those willow's are at least hardy
to growing zone's 4..
And those are pretty cold temps..

I was wonderin' about that vine ON the hummingbird house..
Seems too big and green leafed to not get frozen..

That's not good news....

I hope you don't have trees down or lose power with the winds.....

And I hope you're stocked up on firewood....that sounds pretty darned cold!

I'll be out getting my sunburn tomorrow and Thursday by the way!!! We should be around 60 on Thursday..... BUT, it's going to get real cold again right after that. :p

So, Bill, how did your plants weather the extreme cold, or did it pass you by?

Hi Sandy! I apologize for taking so long to reply. On the day you asked about the freeze I wrote a long reply but my puter crashed and I lost it all. (even I am not immune from getting computer shafted...)

During the freeze, all of the flower buds on the Evergreen Clematis turned brown and dropped. Other than that, there was no other visible damage

As soon as the weather warmed a new set of buds began to develop. This second flush of flowers seems to be slightly smaller than usual, but there are about 100 flowers open now, and hundreds of buds that will open soon!

Several of my Primula are now blooming and the rest are producing nice foliage. The Columbines are growing like weeds. Bleeding Heart is up and ready to bloom. The Azalea in there is covered in pink. Almost everything else is showing strong new growth. We are all happy!

Wow - that's terrific - glad to hear you had minimal loss. The pictures look wonderful! I always forget that Washington is in a much more moderate zone than we are here in Michigan. I have a cousin in Issaquah. So far my sedum are breaking through, violas are happy, and my lone surviving helleborus may actually produce a flower! The really early spring things like snow drops have bloomed, and some unknown lilies are up about 3 inches. Other than that - things are pretty "dingy" around here. I am SUCH an impatient gardener!!

Sandy,
They sound like your common orange lilies are up..
*we call them roadside lilies.*
Mine are as well up about that much..
They bloom right around the second and third week of June here...

You're probably right, Weezie, and they really are along side the road! There will be HUNDREDS of them - I doubt they've been divided for decades! Next year I'll split them up and spread them out. It is such fun to see things coming up at our new house - like a mystery unfolding.

ooooooh, we like Mysteries here

****And Bill, that Hummingbird house and vines
looooooooook sooooooo pretty!!