Winter finally arrived

While it won't be a major storm, in terms of snow depth, winter has finally arrived with a temperature drop, slick roads and a blustery, blowy snowy gray day. It's time. Celery on my deck that should have long since gone dormant was apparently growing quite nicely thank you. Ornamentals that bloom in spring near my front door were hardily big-leafed. I have been concerned that my 100s of bulbs of garlic, planted (in theory when the time was right) would be growing and then get snapped into senselessness when it did finally turn cold. I don't think the garlic broke the ground, but in all honesty, haven't looked for the last 10 days because I couldn't do anything about it if it had.

We've slipped into the time of year when seed catalogues give hope of the bounty to come. But more and more weather is less dependably cooperative than I remember it being in years past. There have always been droughts, floods, late summers and early winters. But the violence of the weather in the recent past is frightening. Gardeners who eschew chemicals fertilizers and weed control are regularly given lessons in humility by Mother Nature. I think we are heading into a future of graduate classes. I hope I pass.