St. Valentine's Day Ice-a-cree

The last two days have been an adventure. A lot of snow, rain, ice, wind. Miserably uncomfortable, especially when one works on an open tarmac.

We did have some damage. The tree herd has been thinned a bit, especially of Bradford pears, silver maples, and river birches, with the three-legged river birches seemingly hardest hit. I think 100,000 homes were without power last night; around 50,000 now.

But, oh, what a fierce beauty Mother Nature is! Everything has been transformed into a winter wonderland, which, actually, is fairly unusual here. Generally, southern Ohio gets plenty of cold, but very little snow or ice to go with it. So I took a bunch of pictures. I'll post the best of the lot here. This is the view across the street.

Scott

This is a Juncus, whose name escapes me.

Scott

This is a nifty maple I've collected. Is there enough detail here, VV, for correct identification?

Scott

A "Ruby Glow" witchhazel bloom fully encapsulated.

Scott

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 4:53 PM

A deciduous barberry. Offhand I can't remember which.

Scott

"Winter Flame" dogwood.

Scott

Acer davidii buds. (For mature audiences only)

Scott

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 5:07 PM

Chamaecypris nootkatensis. One of the pendulous forms.

Scott

And good ole Erica carnea "Kramer's Red," which ensures I have flowers in my garden all winter. We have been to -1F so far, and the flowers and foliage look great, even in ice.

Scott

This is a filthy animal called Basil.

Scott

Scott, Great photos, but with the exception of the last one, they remind of me why we retired in central Alabama after my first career. Hey, did my wife and I see Basil last night at Westminster? I was pulling for any competitor who could beat the poodles - they get too much luv and haircare. The springer spaniel was a beautiful animal - just like Basil. It was also a certified care dog, just like Basil seems to be. Maybe ice and snow are better than straight line winds.

We had this same treatment, Scott, about 3-4 weeks ago when the cold weather het. Ice is fairly unusual up here except in March. But we got a 1/2" of ice on everything, and it stuck around for 10 days because it never got above freezing.

Now it is 11 degrees, below zero tonight, 8" of snow last night, and we have not had a single day above freezing since Jan 25. UGH. Time to move somewhere warmer.

Kramer's Red. eh? I'll have to look for that one. Do you have good sources for heaths and heathers?

I'd rather get snow than ice any day, but the ice is so pretty! Does Basil like to eat the snow, or just fetch things from the snow?

We have some ice on everything but it's not thick. I have some drooping eastern white pines though. It's very cold. Low tonight near or at zero with a wind advisory between 3am and 9am Thursday morning. Wind chills between 15 and 20 below are expected. We have about 5 or 6 inches of snow with some drifting in spots.Nice winter pictures.Your dog Basil posed well for your camera too!

Cuckoo

We lucked out here. Only about 2 inches of snow / ice combo. Great shots Scott. Ice is beautiful. Is Basil named for the herb or for Mr. Fawlty??

We may not have the ice, but it's darned sure cold and blustery down here too. I just heard on the radio that this may be the coldest Mardi Gras in recent history. I guess that'll get the ole face numbed up before it gets smacked with a moon pie. LOL

Basil is indeed named for "Basil Fawlty," although he has yet to thrash a car with a tree branch. He is half Yorkie, half toy poodle, a Yorkiepoo, a name we have not yet quite consigned ourselves to. And he does love to stick his snout into the ground and smell for other animals, which is probably how he got his nose all snowy.

Believe it or not, David, I think I bought that Erica from a Lowes at least five years ago. Although I love it, I haven't really gotten interested in seeking out more. It seems to me that there ought to be a nursery or two in the country that specializes in heaths and heathers. There are so many cultivars in the books, and yet normal garden centers rarely have any at all.

The forecast called for 30 MPH winds to rush in today behind yesterday's storm. Luckily that never materialized, or there would have been many more trees falling.

Scott

Here's a Heath / Heather specialty nursery.

http://rockspray.com/

Scott: Enjoyed your ice pictures. Reminds me of the ice sculptures the frat boys used to do at Michigan Tech. To bad your photos don't capture the sound those ice-encapsulated twigs make after an ice storm---like giant chandeliers in the wind.

Well me and my dogs survived the tornadoes that swept across Alabama last night. Some folks didn't do as well.

glad you're still here gloria. Awesome pics Scott, not so good driving weather.

Thanks Scott for the spectacular image of beautiful Arbor peril. Hope all your children do well in your Arboretum. Basil is spectacular.

We've probably gotten around 10 inches of snow and sleet here, though it's hard to tell since the wind is tossing it all around. Thank heavens it wasn't ice because it's about 10 degrees right now, not a good time to lose power, and with the howling winds if we had ice, the birch and white pine would be crashing down.

I've gotten heaths and heather from Rockspray Nursery which victorgardener mentioned and been quite happy with them.

50 mile an hour wind gusts, single digits for a high today and about 3 feet of snow (not counting drifts). Ahhh...... winter in Vermont! Going to get those snowshoes out tomorrow.

I bought from Rockspray a number of times and was always happy. Forgot to mention that.

Victor

Scott:

I don't know my Acers from a hole in the ground, but it looks like Basil might.

I'm glad we didn't connect through your neck of the woods; we might still be stuck on the ground.

Great pics. Just rain here, and 5ºC. If I can figure out how to hook up the camera, I'll show you.

Basil knows only his favorite Acers to water. Apart from that, very little interest in the plant kingdom.

Enjoy the old country, VV! I think south of here only got rain, so your viburnums are probably quite safe. Doubtful any big oaks dropped ice laden branches on them.

Less than a week in Europe and your using Celsius temperatures! I bet you're speaking with a German accent too.

Some may remember photos of the Bradford pear allee I posted last fall. I drove by that home today, expecting to see the allee laid to waste by ice. To my astonishment, the allee hadn't lost a single branch. I'm trying to work up the nerve to go up to the guy's door and ask what church they belong to! I need to join! Obviously, God watches over that family and their pears in a special way! (Note to Administrators: This isn't really about God or religion...just a joke alluding to the incredibly miniscule odds that twenty to thirty big BPs, all in a row, could get slathered in ice and not auto-destruct. I could have said something along the lines that the guy should buy a lottery ticket, but I don't think it would have been as funny.)

Scott

Over here, I don't know an umlaut from an einbahnstrasse, but can pick out a bratwurst and biere at ten paces (9.1 m).

Please forward central KY weather reports; apparently, NYC is the only community in the United States according to available television here.

Still looking for a teenager to help with camera-computer connection. Then, I'll be able to post a bunch of "what's this" pics.

BTW: posting while extended family is at work, and after taking a lot of plant pics during the extremely short daylight period here (though forecast is for sun through Sunday, which is blessed).

Scott,

Great pictures! I always look forward to an ice storm for nice pictures. I'm still scratching my head on the maple. A big fat bud looks sort of like a snake but the stems don't seem to match up. I'll probably think of it in the middle of the night, right after Vv ID's it since he's hours ahead of us.

Vv- Looking forward to the pictures!

Regards,
Ernie

I'll make it easy for you, Ernie. Acer miyabei. I value sleep way to much to deprive anyone of any.

Scott

Just wondering. Why is your name green in the author box while everyone else's is blue?

This message was edited Feb 16, 2007 7:31 PM

This message was edited Feb 16, 2007 7:31 PM

I love your pictures Scott!!!

Your 'student', Christie

Scott,
Sorry about your ice-a-cree but as usual your photos are beautiful. I am how ever a little worried that you bumped your noggen on your camera as the photo below is one of Basil. PS. if your up for a Basil trade I am ready willing and able.

Uh-oh, do I sense a problem Basil? I wouldn't last two minutes if I traded Basil for anything. First my wife would kill me and then my son would find some way to abuse my corpse. Your Basil looks like an angel in that picture.

Christie, thanks for the compliment! If I keep getting the occasional "Amen" from the choir, I'll probably keep preaching! I was just thinking this afternoon that spring is almost here and I can really get out with the camera and take some new pictures. I don't think I've taken one since that ice storm hit. I can't wait. I love that digital camera!

Scott

Can I trade Basil for an animal with a plant name? I have a noisy bird called Amaryllis. (he is looking for a girl, and there are no girls suitable for him here... thought he was a she when I bought him!)

Scott; your pictures are stunning, do give us some more. Thanks to your expertise and photographic talent I am now the proud slave of 'Jelena'
( btw; in the new 'Western Garden' they misspelled Jelenas's name! They made her Velena! I wrote them an email saying I take it personal, haha, but no response yet...)

Scott- Your photos are one of top highlights of this forum. Bring them on! I think you should freelance to support your habit.

I'm not discounting any of the other excellent photographers who contribute here BTW. I appreciate all of the photos. They are priceless to hobby gardeners who are researching what to plant and dreaming of creating their own little arboretums.

Here here and tally ho. Yah sure you betcha. Ya right Dude! I totally agree Scott. Thank you for your photo delights. Steve

Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I'll post this encore I just found in my files. Something to look forward to, a yellowwood blossom. In the meantime, I would like to say that my Nikon Koolpix 4800 rocks! It makes me look good, and, Ernie (Malusman) is the real photographer at this forum. His skills smoke mine!

Scott

Scott,
Spectacular photos (especially the Yellowwood flower - WOW, that's some Macro you have on that camera.) That yellowwood flower gives us all something to look forward to. I am really ready for winter to end.
Thanks,
Mike
p.s. if you have any other pics similar to the yellowwood flower, please post them - I need a little looking-forward-to-spring pick-me-up.

Is that Sofer articulate or what?

The best I've got are some unopened buds, but still....

Yes, the macro feature on this camera is a marvel! And the auto-exposure, too, has impressed me immensely.

Scott

Edited to add: Funny, but on this shot both the auto-exposure and the macro let me down! I can see that now that I'm not looking at a thumbnail. Doh! Oh well, one step forward, two steps back. Life is humbling.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2007 10:23 AM

And here's one of opening foliage. I love this shot. I think I've posted it before, but, what the heck.

Scott