All week we've had lows in 20's & today got more heavy wet snow. These were taken 1:30 PM today. It is so dark & cloudy, you can't see the snow falling & blowing. Calling for more tonight.

Backyard where green Iris leaves are about 12 inches high along fence.

Front of house from porch. That is a park across street. Tree branches are drooping from weight of snow. Street very slippery & getting slushy. Looks ugly huh? No tulips & daffodils this year - they fell over.

I shouldn't complain as the snow is wetter here being few blocks from Lake Michigan...few miles west of here snow is much deeper & drifting. The lake keeps it warmer here in winter. Many accidents today. I am SOOOO sick (literally) of this crap & wish spring would come. Since Sun. night, I've never been sicker in my life. Fever, chills, aches, stomach cramps etc. I ate 3 saltines Mon & lots of 7UP. Had a piece of toast last night & threw up 3 times this AM. I CANNOT STANDS IT ANYMORE!
I got a BAD bug.

I need sunshine & warm weather big time. No energy to water plants.

Patty,
I feel for ya!!! We are supose to get snow showers again this Saturday..
OH MY!!! I've never seen sooo much dead new growth!!!
ALL the trees and plants around here!!
All the new growth on my new grafts.. froze.. I thought since I had put the trees against the house they would be protected on the south side of the house.. not so much.. all the new growth and fruit dead.. Hubby took me for a drive today.. tree after tree was limp new growth dead..
We have had 70s and 80s for about a month now.. so everything was growing great.. then it got down to 20*F and killed all the new growth..
Un real.. Dang weather any way.. I'm ready to pack it up and head south.. shall I come pick you up???? Find us some nice warm beach to sun ourselves on!!!
All the trees in my yard look so sorry.. I don't think I will be getting fruit from anything this yr..
I'm sure they aren't dead.. but I'm sure this probably knocked everything for a big loop here..
Hope this crazy weather smooths out soon..
won't be long and we will be complaining about the crazy heat again.. LOL

Gina *BabyBlue*

So sorry about all your grafts dying!!! I would be upset. At least tulips & daffodils will come back up next year. 2 1/2 weeks ago, we went from 50 to a record breaking high of 80 & all flowers came up. Then it dropped to 20's & they flopped before blooming. If it woulda snowed then, it would've been an insulater & they'd be fine.
FUN part of this crazy weather is, because Cleveland got blasted with a ton of snow & couldn't play baseball yesterday, & MKE Brewers are in Fl, the Indians & Angels are playing in our Miller Park with a retractable dome. With one day notice, they gathered 80% of crew to prepare ball park & 20,000 ppl showed yesterday & over 15,000 today!!! TV showed some PPL from Ohio drove thru this crap for 9 hours to get here.
Ooh, my hair hurts...going back to bed.
Oh yeah, Brewers got rained out in Fl LOL

Sorry you got the crud Patty, I had all my potted herbs and my potted rose bushes out and they were coming along famously and then this crap, so had to haul them all back inside. It is supposed to be almost 50 here tomorrow and mid 60's by next Tuesday, sure hope they are right. Bad accident on Hwy 169 here last night around 10 PM, 70 cars went for a roller coaster ride in the snow, not a pretty site! This morning at 5 AM still snowing a bit but as I got to work at 7 the sky was clearing and it is supposed to be 40 and sunny this afternoon so....Take care of you and get better, spring will be here soon!

Thanks Joan!
Gina, come & get me...I'll meet you half way. I'll bring batches of Mai Tai's & Pina Collada's while we bake in SUN!

We have been having crap weather too, thankfully it has stopped but it is still chilly but not as cold as you Patty. In Dec. my crocuses came up and almost flowered and then it got cold real fast and they died, but they came back up and flowered a couple weeks ago. My tulips are up and got pretty chilled but they have made a recovery so far. The plants I am more worried about is my Bueberries and Raspberries, the blueberries kinda open buds but I think they are ok now. My raspberries though had little shoots and they are black now, but if i don't my early july crop I will still get my augest one. my peach tree is still dormant (thank God) because I put it in a special spot. Hope the rest of you guys warm up soon and get some flowers opening and maybe you daffs and tulips will make a recovery you never know.

I am with you! It has been yo-yo temps here and most of the spring growth has been fried. The crocuses made it up at least. It is very rainy and windy here and will be through the weekend. My plants are itching to get outside and their growth is leggy. UGH! I better not miss out on any figs or tomatoes this year because of this!

I thought I had it bad. Just wish you shovel those snow over here. You hold on!

I feel for you Patty and Gina-- that's a real shame about your grafts. Hope you get them to come back like my Daisy bud did.

You can always regraft. Dang! I just threw away my excess budwoods (peaches, plums, apricots, pears, apples) just this morning and it was garbage collection time. It must be in the landfill by now.

I retained a few and can share with you. I still have Monark apples, a few pear scionwood, maybe a plum or two. Just holler if you're interested.

Patty and Gina:
Looking at those snow pictures makes me sad in April. I feel sorry for both of you. I know how you feel.
I thought with the arctic blast I had it bad but with that happened, you dolls got it worst.

Thanks all, I get very moody when I'm this sick.
Chops, I feel for ya..I see on news you are getting it - all that rain & wind & slush going East.
Gina's problem was not the snow...she had 70-80 weather for about a month & then a cold blast snuck up & killed all that nice new growth.
(Oooh, if I had a month of that, I would not be sick!) Too bad your weather didn't forecast it or you coulda saved those potted grafts!
The snow is not killing plants. It was that one day with record breaking 80 & perrenials sprouted like crazy. Then we got to sudden low 20's & with no snow to insulate, many tulips & daffodils died off for the yr.- first time for me.
Usually my plants are well on way to being acclimated to being outside by now, but not a chance yet.
Joan, hang in there. You're in same boat. What would all those stranded ppl do there without you!
I'll bet in a month we will be complaining of heat LOL

Yup that's just the way it goes too! Thinking about Gina and her area of the country brought to mind the first visit I had to her neck of the woods and how amazed I was to see, in the Chanute area, folks with Apricot trees loaded with Apricots and just letting them fall. Next to Limes, Apricots are my favorite and how awful I thought that was. Oh well, my I can rattle on! We are under construction here at work and I think the noise is getting to me. Hope you are better soon Patty!

Joan.. any time you are in my neck of the woods let me know.. I would got to Chanute to get to visit with you.. maybe exchange plants cuttings etc..

Joe.. I think I will take you up on that.. any thing you want to box up and send my way.. I have recently purchased a small folding saw to include in my grafting kit to do bark grafts and am egger to give it a go.. Need to make a post in the trade area for a few things I am looking for (apricot and nectarines to give more variation to the peach tree).. but any would be welcome..

The cold front started with a trace of snow and ended with a trace of snow.. just enough snow to annoy and make visibility a problem driving.. Hubby and I went to next town over at the beginning of all this and couldn't see 3 cars ahead of us.. but nothing was sticking to the ground.. we knew there was a semi ahead of us but could not see it.. We had 70s and 80s for a few weeks before the cold.. then the cold, 20s as lows.. and the temps are suppose to be back up in 70s by this Friday..
Welcome to Kansas.. if ya don't like the weather wait around a few minutes.. and trade in your parka for shorts or... shorts for parka.. LOL
Hope everyone bounces back nicely from all the nasty weather..
Gina *BabyBlue*

PM with shipping address. I'll send apples and perhaps other plums, I fear they might sprout along the way since it is getting warmer here, but who knows? I really regret that I have to dispose of 12 cultivars of apricot scionwoods!