Verdict for January: cold and snowy

One of the great things about a garden blog is that it serves as a kind of diary. I've never been one to keep an official garden record on paper, so this helps.

We've had a colder-than-normal January. The average temperature was -9.5 C (that's 14.5 F). The normal average temperature for January in Hamilton hovers at -6 C.

We've also had a lot more snow, 62 centimetres of the white stuff (more than 2 feet), and about 20 cm more than normal for January. In fact, the snow is so deep that it's hard to get around even on snowshoes, but I manage. I just make the outings a bit shorter. The dogs are up to their bellies in the snow - they have to bound and jump to get around. Must get a picture of them in the snow tomorrow.

At the golf course today while it was snowing

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Winter just won't let up...

Today's snowdrift in front of our hoophouse
We tend to get our hopes up for an early spring when the calendar hits March, and the past few winters have lulled us into thinking that the "real" winters of yesteryear were no more.

No so this year: we're getting record amounts of snow. Today's headline in the Toronto Globe and Mail says it all: "Old Man Winter pumps up the volume." We've had snowstorm after snowstorm, and the current one is about the biggest of the season. Some are calling it "the winter from hell."

It certainly is that for snow removal budgets, and there is now so much snow that a quick thaw could bring serious flooding to parts of Ontario.

The snow removed from Toronto streets
Photo by Boris Spremo, The Globe and Mail
However, I'm happy. This snow pack is a god-send for our poor parched landscape, not to mention the water levels in the Great Lakes. If you recall, last summer, we had the worst drought in almost 50 years, so all this preciptation is manna from heaven, as far as I'm concerned.

Fortunately, there's a breath of spring in the air: the Canada Blooms garden show starts in Toronto next Wednesday. I'll be there to see what's new.

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Somebody's enjoying the snow

The boys of winter: my Toby, the white one, and our neighbor's dog, Buddy, are so joyful on snow-days, it's infectious.
The closer we get to spring, the more it seems to snow. I don't mind. I live in country and welcome every opportunity to go snowshoeing with my "boys," but anyone who lives in town or the city with mountains of snow blocking sidewalks is well and truly finished with winter.

The trouble is that winter isn't nearly finished with us.

Snowy willow tree
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Chill factor - to the bone

Predictably, the mild winter I wrote about in early January didn't last and we are now enduring daytime arctic cold with wind chill factors around minus 24 degrees C. For you Fahrenheit folks, that's minus 11 degrees.

Keeping warm when walking the dogs - now on snowshoes - means layering like crazy. I wear two pairs of socks, flannel-lined jeans under outdoor protective pants, a turtleneck with fleece sweater over top, my usual dog-walking winter coat, plus heavy mitts, face mask, hat and hood.

The dogs (my Toby, the white one, and his Buddy, who belongs to my neighbor) are happy, but I've shortened their outings, as they're dressed the same as always.

There's not a ton of snow, but with all the blowing what there is has drifted deep in many spots. The snowshoes make walking a lot easier. I'm a convert to Mountain Pro snowshoeswhich are really easy to use. You slip them on over your boots, fasten the clips and start walking.

It remains bitterly cold, about 10 degrees below normal, but is expected to warm up a bit by the weekend. That's good: the most worrisome scene I saw yesterday was half a dozen robins scrambling for food at the side of the road. What are they doing here already? Perhaps they were fooled by the mild January and never bothered leaving.