A very cold Imbolc (Feb. 1st)

Spanish bluebell peeking through the ice and sleet

We had a fairly gentle winter until the end of January. I thought we were in the home stretch to Spring until the last two weeks. It started with an ice storm and about a week later Winter Storm Gianna visited. For the most part Durham was spared from power outages. The snowfall on Jan. 31st was a beautiful dry powdery snow. We only had about 2 - 3 inches which was just perfect in my opinion. My enjoyment of this second winter storm was tempered by the awareness of so many people in other parts of the country e.g. Louisiana and Tennessee still without power. I have experienced one full week without heat in frigid temperatures during the ice storm of Dec. 2002. It even has it's own Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_ice_storm_of_2002#:~:text=The%20North%20Carolina%20ice%20storm,without%20electricity%20on%20December%206.

One word springs to mind, Brutal.

I took this photo Jan. 31st around 11:00 p.m. The backyard was beautiful. I even saw a small owl land in the ligustrum by the garage to take shelter.

This year the Arctic Sun dogwoods have really shined. This photo was from the ice event.

Arctic Sun redtwig dogwoods by the bench and birdbath

Earlier in January we had a gorgeous sunset which cast a red hue in the backyard. I love when this happens. The low light and the setting sun makes the whole yard glow. It is not a regular occurrence to have this much red.

I'm so glad that I delayed cutting back the old foliage from the hellebores. The old foliage is protecting their buds from the snow and ice.

I am looking forward to getting out in the yard soon to cut back the old foliage from the hellebores. Ian will be doing a rejuvenation prune soon on the Yuletide camellia in the front yard. It was damaged by a polar vortex a few years ago and still hasn't filled in properly. I hope this is the right thing to do to encourage new growth. You tubers advise this method to restore growth. It should be done in late winter.

Happy gardening or day dreaming of gardening where ever you are!