Yesterday, February 2, in celebration of Groundhog day, Punxsutawny Phil came out of his burrow in Pennsylvania, saw his shadow, and darted back in. According to the Groundhog Day legend, that means six more weeks of winter. (Groundhog Day began as a Pennsylvania German tradition in the 18th and 19th centuries. “It has its origins,” says Wikipedia, “in ancient European weather lore.”)
Be that as it may, my goodness, what a winter it has been! Michigan, where Serendipity Gardens is, has had one of the coldest on record, with temperatures well below zero on many mornings. According to Michigan meteorologist Mark Torregrossa, in an article posted at MLive.com, it may have the most snow cover of any state, with as much as 40 to 60 inches on the ground near Lake Superior.
Serendipity Gardens has about a foot of snow cover and has had since just after Christmas. Looking out on the garden, I see a palette of white, gray, brown and black. It is a bit boring, actually, especially compared to what I will be seeing once the gardening season arrives. Fortunately, the deep snow cover has helped insulate the plants, so there is at least a chance that most of them will survive.
The pond has a heat stone and two small bubblers to keep it slightly warm and open, so this will in theory keep the frogs and fish alive. I have my fingers crossed on both counts. Given the groundhog’s prognostication that this arctic winter is not ready to go away just yet, what can a gardener do? Several things:
- Rejoice in the longer days: on December 21, the length of daylight was nine hours and five minutes; on February 3, it is ten hours and three minutes — nearly a whole extra hour of daylight. It may not seem like much, but it is definitely noticeable, from the human perspective and the plant perspective as well.
- Make a plan for the vegetable garden: A resource I have found that I like is on GrowVeg.com, a site that includes an electronic garden planner. It does require a subscription to get the planner, but it can really help you lay out your garden.
- Order those seeds: What fun it is to look at the catalogs and then purchase old favorites and at least a couple of new varieties, all the while imagining the harvest to come. My favorites are High Mowing Seeds and the Hudson Valley Seed Library.
- Go outside when a mild day comes and hunt for green — you are sure to find
it: I like to lift up the tops that I left for winter protection of plants such as lady’s mantle . Every year, I find fresh green below, like these pleated leaves I found last year. - Even on a cold but sunny day, watch the birds come out to enjoy the weather: A couple of days ago, on just such a day, I saw two woodpeckers, two robins, Canada geese flying over, and several other birds I could not identify. What fun!
So, yes, though we’d prefer spring to come, we can stand six more weeks of winter. In Michigan, that’s generally what we get, no matter what Punxsutawny Phil says. Like this post? Subscribe to my blog to learn more about Serendipity Gardens. (We will never loan, sell or rent your email address. That’s a promise!) And please, join the discussion and use the buttons below to share with others. Disclaimer: No business or website mentioned in this blog post is affiliated in any way with Serendipity Gardens.
