Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Winter Gardens

Mornings like this, I am reminded why I chose to live here. A heavy frost blankets my winter garden. Bright sunshine turns the scene into a field of sparkling diamonds. Micro-mini roses peer out the frosty window and thank their lucky stars that I brought them inside for the winter.

Poor little Kokopelli! (Garden art.)

He's freezing his arse off out there!

The lore of southern Utah paints Kokopelli as a little man who traveled to Native American villages carrying a bag of corn seed on his back, teaching the people how to plant as he traveled.

I imagine he was inside his cave dwelling, curled up in front of a crackling fire on sub-zero mornings, like this one.

Look close through my living room window:


You can probably spot my neighbor and his dog snowshoeing through the deep drifts of my backyard. This is the shortcut he and his son use to walk to school in the wintertime.

Eskimo Logic:
If you live in an area of deep snowfall, you can cheat planting zones by one and sometimes two. I'm zone 5 though I plant quite a few zone 7 perennials in areas of deepest snow.

This shimmering white carpet (about 5 feet deep in my backyard) creates a nice, warm blanket for tender perennials. The temperature difference beneath the snow can be as much as 20 degrees warmer.

Some beauties, however, are more appreciative of hibernating indoors. My first - ever - attempt at growing Calla Lilies in a sunny window appears to be working. :)

6 comments:

Iron Needles said...

Love those indoor blooms. I would dearly love a 40 degree day or two, myself. Where are my sunny Colorado days?

Thanks for your kind comment today. Just one beggar offering to share her bread...

Wunx~ said...

Very nice photos, especially the rose against the snow.

Looks like a good thing you are an experienced snowshoer yourself with the snow that deep.

Muum said...

HI, I live north of Ogden! I found you thru the botanicals website. I'd have to agree about the blanket of snow- it does protect the plants. I left my glads in the ground and I am fairly confident they will be ok, because we have about 3 feet of snow cover ing them.

Rob said...

I enjoy reading your blog, you always have great things on it. I did not know about the snow blanket. We don't get much snow in Memphis so I can't try it. our things always seem to bloom just in time for the deer to eat them. At least it brings the deer into the yard. Its not fenced so they can roam freely between the homes.

Robm

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thanks for the note, Robm. I lived in Memphis for a short but highly enjoyable time. I did my student teaching at Raleigh Egypt high school many moons ago. (And, they were such monsters I never did pursue a career in teaching! :) Anyway... 'tis a small world...

Anonymous said...

We do this in Colorado, too. It really works!