Winterthur Garden Blog » snow

Winter Wonderland

Karen — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:05:24 +0000

After I slid to work this morning, I ran (well, walked gingerly) into the garden to catch the winter wonderland of white. We had about 2″ of light, perfectly placed snow that is clinging to empty branches and stone walls. The “place to see and be seen” is the bird feeder in Azalea Woods. It reminded me of Point-to-Point with the festive chattering of birds enjoying a full buffet of nourishing seeds.

Azalea Woods looks as if every azalea burst into white blossom this morning. I had the rare experience of being the first to walk on the March Bank path. Squeaking through the snow, I wished I could hover instead of leaving my messy boot-blunted tracks. At the Peony Garden, Azalea Woods and the March Bank, I admired the exquisite pruning work our horticulturists have done on the azaleas.

At the Box Scroll Garden, I noticed curious yellow flags. When I returned to the office, I asked Michele Christiano, the horticulturist for that area about them. She explained: ” They are marking where we have planted spring bulbs so we know where to plant annuals in the spring.”

Pull on your boots and gloves and experience the Winterthur Garden in the snow. It’s worth the chill on your nose!

Filed under: Garden

This Week in the Garden, March 7-13, 2010

Carol — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:09:50 +0000

Walking in the garden this week you would not know that we were snow covered for a full 4 weeks prior. Snowdrops, winter aconite, adonis, crocus and spring snowflake are in flower in the Glade Garden, March Bank, Azalea Woods, Quarry Garden, Icewell and East Terrace. Amongst some of the last remnants of snow, hellebores are awakening in the Winterhazel Walk.
All things considered, the garden faired well. Evergreens throughout the property saw the most damage with the hardest hit areas being the Pinetum and the white pine grove in the Visitors Parking Lot. Our greatest loss however was to a Japanese Umbrella Pine, Sciadopitys verticillata, in the Pinetum as a portion of another tree fell into it, completely sheering the umbrella pine of its branches. Cleanup of storm damage occurred while some snow pack was still on the ground as it made it a “less mucky” way of traipsing back in forth as we fetched brush.
Now that the snow—for the most part—is gone we have been busily raking some of the finer debris in preparation for spring. Lawns and woodland bulb display areas have seen an accumulation of twigs, branches, pine cones, and seed pods as well as pockets of leaves. Raking not only gives an instantly neater appearance but also, in the case of lawns, helps to “fluff up” the grass that was been weighed down under heavy snows. Late winter pruning has continued especially on our summer flowering shrubs and “haircuts” have been given to many of our Liriope beds.
The wonderful break in weather has allowed us to gain much headway in our accumulated gardening chores. The longevity of the snow cover however has changed some of our planned tasks—either by a few weeks or delaying it for a whole year but such is the nature of gardening. To complain about it is futile—nature always has the final word and try as you may, you can not argue with that!

Filed under: Garden, Garden Tips, Plants

Tomorrow’s Members’ Walk Cancelled

Chris Strand — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:39:33 +0000

I have just returned from a walk through the garden. Thanks to our garden staff, Garden Lane has been cleared with snowblowers and plows, leaving a six foot wide path through the drifts of snow. It is a beautiful but treacherous hike and, for that reason, I have decided to cancel the walk scheduled for tomorrow, February 13. The following are some of my snapshots from today.

Filed under: Garden

Cold Day for a Frog

Karen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:21:24 +0000

Talk about a photo op – this morning the Winterthur Garden is gorgeous with a light covering of snow. I strapped on my Yaktrax so I wouldn’t slip on an icy patch, grabbed my camera and spent about an hour focusing on the beauty of the winter garden. One stop was Enchanted Woods where I snapped this photo of a very cold frog statue.

If you’ve lived around rhododendrons, you will have noticed how their leaves serve as a kind of natural thermometer. The temperature was about 28 degrees F when I was out. This article, by KYW’s Phran Novelli, suggests that the leaves curl below 34 degrees F. “It varies a bit, but in general as the temperature drops below 34 degrees Fahrenheit or so, the leaves start to cup and curl under. Around 25 degrees, they’re curled up and drooping from their petiole (that’s the little leaf stem) and by the time it’s down in the teens, rhododendron leaves will be hanging almost perpendicular and curled so tightly, they look like string beans.” http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/5976197.php

Hope you will take time this winter to enjoy the Winterthur Garden!

Posted in Garden

Snowy Night Images

Chris Strand — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:47:57 +0000

The snowstorm a couple of weeks ago was very photogenic. I managed to catch some images of the snow as it was falling and made sure to get back out into the garden early the next morning. Several photographers were out in the landscape – if you were one of them, we would enjoy sharing your images on our blog. Contact me through a comment below and we can arrange to post your images.

Posted in Garden

A cold day for an outdoor bath!

Karen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:06:48 +0000

The arctic blew into Delaware this week bringing unusually cold weather. Then, lo and behold, a light covering of snow this morning! I rushed to work…not really…I drove like an old lady on ice…in order to get to my camera and catch some scenes before the snow melted. By the time I was done, my hands were cold but my heart was warm and happy. What a beautiful place this is!

I met a delightful woman from Sussex County, Delaware, this week. She hadn’t been to Winterthur in about ten years and made a point of telling me how much she had missed seeing this landscape. She exclaimed how beautiful the rolling hills are; how rare to have so much open space. What a gift she gave me that day! Fresh eyes, seeing things I am lucky enough to see almost every day. Hope you make your way to Winterthur soon to take in the majesty and peace of this rural landscape.

While you’re here, be sure to take in the Yuletide tour. I spent some of last week putting up Christmas trees in the house. Apparently, tree “wrassling” is my particular gift – the putting up and taking down of artificial trees. We can’t use real greens inside the house due to conservation concerns and the fire hazard, but they look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Come and see for yourself…I helped put up and light the big tree in the Port Royal Parlor.

Hope I’m not being too pushy, but you can purchase Yuletide tickets online this year at www.winterthur.org. I would love to hear about your experience at Yuletide at Winterthur. Enjoy!

Here are more photos from this morning in the Winterthur Garden:

Snow on 11.21.2008

Posted in Garden