Winter Wonderland

It snowed and then it snowed some more today.  Just seems like we've had a lot of winter already.  I usually plant the tulips I chill in the refrigerator between Christmas and New Years but it's been so chilly this year I could have planted them back in early November.  Its been below freezing every night for over two weeks but a warming trend is forecasted so will get those tulips planted in a couple of days--after the snow melts.  Here is a view of the backyard today when the accumulation reached 11 inches--probably got one or two more after I took the picture.

While the weather this past month is within the pattern that can be expected in this area it doesn't fit the pattern I wanted--so much for my influence on Mother Nature.  I was planning to take advantage of warming trends so planted silver dollar eucalyptus and variegated pittosporum this past year.  I had tried these in the past and lost both due to hard freezes.  About a year ago I noticed a mature clump (3 or 4) eucalyptus in a landscape planting near here but on the other side of the James River which tends to be a little warmer--so I planted three last spring.  They grow fast as can be seen in the picture taken this fall.  I also planted pittosporum this fall.  Not sure they will make it through this winter. I was also planning to get an Oleander, which is tender too, but hadn't cleared the spot for it.  Maybe next year if these survive this winter.

It was a good day though to get things organized and spend a little time browsing seed catalogues.