How are all of our members along the East Coast fairing after the storm? Check in when you can. Looks like New Jersey got hit pretty good.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Checking in from Springfield, MA here...probably about a foot, as the storm is starting to wind down now. Temps are in the 20's, and the wind is howling.

I have the Wild Earth web cam going on my computer, thanks to Steve providing the link, and, I am pretending I am in Africa instead. I've really really had it with winter!!!

Here in NC, we got about half a foot or so, with more flurries predicted. A few saplings are bent over...my magnolia may be toast. Schools are canceled and life in general has been disrupted. We Southerners don't do so well with winter weather! But it does make the garden beautiful.

Hope the hummers are OK south of us!

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Spent the early morning on the wrong end of a shovel digging out a few hundred feet of driveway and then going 30 miles to work over in Pa. The road were snow covered in NJ but not too bad in Pa.

Here along the shoreline in CT we got around 8-10 inches and its still going. Expecting 2-4 more inches during the day. It's more of a coastline event than where my son is, farther inland - he got around 5 inches. Mocking bird and woodpeckers at the suet, doves seem disoriented fluttering here and there, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal at the feeders early dawn. Drifting soft snow, all schools closed throughout the state, parking bans in effect, secondary roads are not completely plowed. Grateful we don't have to go anywhere - shoveling later on with help from son. Its so tranquil and beautiful but am ready to say thats enough for this year!

Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

Hang in their people things are supposed to get better after the middle of the week. No snow here but it sure is windy and cold.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

I new the northern end of the east coast was going to get hammered but I thought the Carolinas and below would fair a bit better. How about Delaware? has anyone heard from Ron or Priya?



Ward and Carol it sounds like you all got what I usually get. This time only a light dusting bit temps will stay in the high teens today and maybe tomorrow too before it warms back up a bit. My chicadees and goldies are making real good use of the feeders and I did see my first junco about an hour ago. I thought I saw one the other day too but it took off too quickly before I could positively ID it. Haven't seen the czardinals in a few days now. For those that are stuck indoors today, it is a great day to do some seed sowing (except for Ward, who already has more seedlings and rooted cuttings than he can handle LOL).....make hay while the sun shines and think spring which is officially only 18 days away!

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

We'll be getting down into the lower teens tonight and tomorrow night which is cold for March here. This winter will be a real test for tender things, because it isn't only how cold it gets but how long it stays cold, and the latter is the storyline for this winter.

Penny, there are never enough cuttings and seedlings. Today was to be hardy Fuchsia cutting day. There thing needs trimming anyway and there is probably someone who could use them.

We have about 7-8 inches here. I just got done helping my son-in-law snow blow and shovel us out! All our school were cancelled so that was good. I've been enjoying all the action at my bird feeders!

Ward
I think we are going down to single digits tonight so it should be interesting plant wise. After tomorrow it should start to warm up quite a bit so I am hoping that the plants out in the south facing bed in front will survive these next couple of days. Of course we have had some single digits already this year and so far all seem to be ok but then we had snow cover also Only time will tell at this point.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

It barely made 50 over the weekend but will be 80 on Saturday. I sure am glad I don't have to shovel snow. I feel for y'all.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Penny,

We flew into the storm last night on our way back from Mexico! We arrived in Philly airport around 11:30 and didn't get out of there until nearly 12:30. We proceeded to crawl along the NJ turnpike in blizzard like conditions until we reached my sisters home in Jackson nj. My Brother in law was driving and didn't want to stay at a hotel for the night. It was very scary on the roads. We must have been creeping along for 3 hours passing many stranded motorists, truckers pulled over in the blinding storm. All I can say is that his "macho attitude" nearly got us stranded. At one point, here were FIRE TRUCKS on both sides of the highway with flood lights. We were trying to figure out what FIRE TRUCKS were doing in a snow storm when we saw a car in the gully in the snowy trees. He must have called from a cell phone in the car. That was one lucky driver. It really was a scary night. Jackson had over 10 inches as of 3am this morning, while Matawan only had about 6-7 as of 11 am. It's still snowing lightly. I guess south Jersey got hit alot harder. What a way to end a trip to Paradise!!

We stayed in Jackson overnight and my husband and I drove the rest of the way home this morning. It was an excellant 2 week trip, but am I ever glad o be home safe and sound. Even if it is 60 degrees colder here!!

I have lots of pictures of birding tours to share, but right now I am having sinus problems and am resting. TTYS!!



Pam NJ 6B

It is my impression that more plants die in a wet March than in any other month. Their crowns get wet and when it warms they start to grow and then things turn ugly. The season is particularly bad for Agastaches. The only thing that seems to help is a nice stiff drink - gardeners must keep their crowns wet when the weather turns ugly.

Ward Said
"The only thing that seems to help is a nice stiff drink - gardeners must keep their crowns wet when the weather turns ugly."

Ward
you are just way too mulch err much



Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

...time to wet my crown...14 inches of snow later!!

Crown wetting is about all I can do tonight...Weather Channel says 9oF is the low and we have a good blanket of snow still on the ground and a black ice warning. Not your average start to March! Hope everyone fared OK.

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Haven't heard from Christine, Chis's mom Diane, Ron or Priya all from Delaware. I understand that Delaware got slammed pretty good so I hope all are well over there. Priya may have gone home for a visit.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

Did you see my post above? All checked in!!

Pam NJ 6B

"All checked in". (?) Hi! Chopped liver checking in, lol.






This was us yesterday. (It never snows here.)



















Maryjane

W Ga

Zone 8a

Pam,
Sorry I did miss your first post. Glad to hear you are home safe and sound. I drove through a snow storm like that a few years ago over the holidays going down to Indiana for Christmas and I said after that I would never drive home again from Buffalo. I was scared to death.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

It very cold in central ill down in the single degit at nights all I saw this afternoon was just flurries.Well,I am ready for green grass in my yard .We had too much ice in January and some very cold temps.

Thanks for asking Penny...I had about 8 to 9". But other then that all is good. Very cold tonight below zero with the wind chill.

Just looking forward to spring!!

My mom in Delaware had about 6" all good there too.

This is the first big snow in a long time I guess we were due.

Chris
Burlington County
NJ

Just thought I would post our temp right now at 6 am....can you unfreeze your lips and say 7 degrees with a wind chill of -9 degrees! We may get up to a whopping 19 or 20 degrees if we are lucky with only a dusting of snow. I think it is too darn cold to snow. Ny Thursday we should be back into a more normal range for this time of year...high 30'd yo loe 40's.

As cold as it is here, it is even colder in Madison, Wisconsin where Kathi and Michael Rock are....4 degrees

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,
Thanks for checking up on all of us.
I am in India now, having missed the storm by just a day. It is hot and humid here, 32 Celsius by day, and I'm not missing the cold one bit. My Alaskan Malamute back home is having a blast in the snow!

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

Priya,
I thought perhaps you had missed the storm but so glad that you were able to check in with us. Enjoy your visit and we will look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Hot and Humid sure sounds good to me right now.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Good here. The schools all called early the previous evening for a snowday, so no having to find out at 5 am. Light fluffy snow to shovel; the car doors did not freeze shut; the furnace kept working (loose electrical connection fixed with a staple for a wedge); the pines did not not drop any more branches, having let go of this year's goners in previous storms.

Made maple snow candy.

No complaints.

Lisa
Central NJ/ z6b
Heat zone 5/6

Lisa sounds like you made lemonade out of a lemon of a day or should I say maple snow ice cream out of the snow LOL!\

Chris thanks for letting us know all is well for you and your mom

Mary Jane those are beautiful pictures. Not too much to have to shovel but just enough to enjoy looking at for a day or so.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

It was down in the singles this morning. Unfortunately a cold spot formed on the back porch close to a window and froze 36 Agastache cana. It is a ordinarily a tough species, but seedlings are much more tender than mature plants - we'll see.

Good luck, Ward. That could be discouraging.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Hi Penny,
Thank you for asking about us guys here. We are in New Jersey and got 13". I had a feeder out just in case, but it got completely covered. I know I put it out early, but, I am so impatient. Just looking forward to seeing the little ones again. I hope I get them again. Last year was my first time so I am looking forward to getting the birdies back.
Have a great one.



Carolyne

Heat Zone-5
Sunset Zone-32

Well Carolyne this is one time the storm missed western NY. We only had a light dusting of snow but absolutely frigid temps. It should be up above freezing tomorrow and for the rest of the week at least.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Thanks Joan. There were probably too many anyway and several hundred are left. At least half I was hoping to sell in April and use the rest for testing patches. It is one of the reliable Agastaches here with a high survival percentage than many. It one drawback is it doesn't smell - strange for an Agastache.

Hi Penny & all!

Well, since we got our electric back today I haven't had a chance to check on the rest of the world, till I found this post! As I sat here without electricity for 3 days, I had no idea it was going on all over the east coast - silly me! Glad you made it home safe Pam and feel better soon! Yum, on the Maple syrup snowcone, Lisa! I remember having that when I was a kid growing up in Highland Park.

Sorry to hear about the Agastache loss Ward. But, a few hundred left - wow! Someday someone should teach me how to grow seeds!!! lol

Magi - we don't get it here often either. Global warming I guess











Diana
Upstate SC
Zone 7b

Diana,

Thanks for your well wishes. I saw on the news that Charlotte NC got some snow. The streets were blacktop with only a slight white coating on the grasses and the newscaster was warning all cars to be cautious!!! LOL

Than they split the screen and showed pics of NY State and mountains of snowfall and cars were travelling about as if it was normal. What do they say "Normal is relative"???

TTYS


Pam NJ 6B