Sunshine! After weeks of overcast and rain. Winter usually brought deep blue February skies, but now, when we say “winter,” what are we referring to? Snowdrops and witch hazel, hellebores and species crocus are some of the bright spots within cultivated garden spaces, especially when sunlight lifts them and invites early pollinators. In our eagerness […]
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The Martha s Vineyard Times
Witch hazel, Hamamelis Jelena. Susan Safford
This is February: month of snowstorms, clearing blue skies, and bright sunshine! Deep and pristine, shadowed in exquisite blue, this snowfall was a pillowy duvet, a winter-wonderland all too scarce in recent times.
The picturesque decorations blanketing twigs and branches remained an unusually long while. Yes, there was damage. Overall though, snow evidence of so-called normal winter weather patterns is more preferable than a dreary succession of soggy brown days and weeks.
Buildings become snug and less drafty, and the snow-cover layers protectively insulate soil and plants from the sharp “freeze-thaw” extremes that some years plague Island gardens. Evergreens droop under snow their foliage has trapped, and provide shelter and warmth like little houses for birds and small mammals.