June 6th - SNOW!!!

This is what I woke up to this morning. It wasn't forcast for this area, and nothing was covered. By the time we woke up, we had nearly an inch. This is the tomato patch after we covered what we could. I don't hold much hope for their survival, but on the off chance the snow insulated them instead of freezing them, we did cover them.

It's still snowing and the trees were all leafed out. The branches are hanging pretty low.

I went all out this year and ordered lots of different types of tomato plants, bought a ton of annuals to fill in around the perennials, spent a small fortune on gorgeous potted planters full of flowers.

We spent all last weekend, then this Thursday evening and all day yesterday finishing up the planting. The yard was mowed and trimmed, and looking pretty awesome. Then this morning.....sigh...

Ah that's heart-wrenching! Hope it goes away quickly!

Oh, Joan, I know exactly how you fee. Not this year, but we've had it in the past. What a drag!!

Poor Joan's termaters!

I was thinking about you last bute while hearing the weather report.

We will be in the mid nineties today and they were menatining South
Dakota as getting into the forties.... but I never dreamed you would have snow !

Will you be starting all over now?

So sorry this happened to you.
I have been telling people this
is a colder than usual year,
even though colder is relative.

On the weather channel, they said that this is the 3rd time in 71 years that this has happened here. I measured the depth of the snow on the deck, and it's just shy of 2 inches and still snowing.

I don't know if I'll start over or not. It's already late in our very short growing season as it is. :( I might be doing all of my gardening via PlantFiles this summer.

Hi Joan,
Saw your post on tomatoes.
Living in Maine, I can relate to the snow. LOL. Last year, we were well into May before the snow went away. But, I can honestly say it has never snowed in June since I have been here.
I have some extra tomato plants that I will gladly send you! i can't imagine not having tomatoes in my garden.
Just let me know. I always keep extras for replacing the ones lost to cut worms, turkeys, etc. So, far, not any losses so I have waaay too many.
Cyndie

Thanks for the offer Cyndie, but I called around and managed to find one local grower that had a few hybrids left after everyone called in this morning reserving some more. Whether they will have enough time to mature, I don't know. I was mostly heartbroken about the Black Cherry plants I ordered from chileplants.com. I just got those last week and finished planting them Thursday night. They were all out of them, but I found a few from thetastefulgarden.com They aren't going to even ship them until June 15th, but they are a short season variety, so I think they will still have time to mature and produce a few. Had to pay a premium for them. By the time all was said and done with the shipping, they were nearly $6 per plant!

The snow has stopped and is starting to melt, but whether we will get more tonight is yet to be seen. I'm trying to convince DH that THIS is the reason I want to move, but he's still not convinced.

Well, the offer is still there if you change your mind.
I am in the same place, wishing for a warmer climate.
The last 2 years have been really hard and we are considering the big move, too. Not only do you battle the frequent snows, days without electricity, and when it does warm up, the road is too muddy to travel.

Now that summer is here, the lake is beautiful, the sun is warm....So we put off the decision for another year. LOL

OMG! that is surreal! 'm sorry! Hope you plants recover!

This message was edited Jun 6, 2009 8:31 PM

YIKES!
Joan that's terrible.
It sure puts the Hail storm we had into perspective.
It at least was a fast hard damage but no real lingering aftereffects.

Ric

We uncovered them this morning for the day. It warmed up and rained, which melted the snow. They actually didn't look as bad as I thought they would. They are pretty limp, but don't really look like they were froze. I'm starting to think they might survive. We covered them back up tonight, as they are saying possible freezing temps again tonight. I sure wish it would warm up!

Well that's sounding a bit better.
It looked like a total loss.
Hopefully they will spring back.

Fingers Crossed!
Ric

Joan, I also have a few each extras of several different tomato varieties, all well-started, strong, and tall. I'd be happy to send you some.

Oh, Joan, that is such a bummer! I hope they survive and everything works out okay. I agree that you should move south. Like maybe to Nebraska. Tell your DH I know how to make pancakes. ;-)

Thanks for the offer Russ. Amazingly, I don't think I lost any plants. I thought today would be the true test after they got some sunshine for the first time since they got their blanket of snow. None of them have the telltale blackened look that plants get when they freeze. Some of them are still pouting a bit, but I think they'll snap out of it. I think they might be tougher than we give them credit for. The peppers actually look better than the tomatoes, and some of them never got covered at all through the whole blizzard.

So...if they all survive, I've now got to find someplace to plant the 17 plants I reserved and ordered in a panic. :) I think I'll tuck them in the flowerbeds.

Lori, I asked Dave if we could move to Nebraska and told him that you said you'd make him pancakes. He just laughed. I took that as a no. :( He's figured out that his pecan syrup is good on frozen waffles too. LOL

We gotta get that pecan syrup away from him and down here! I guess Eggo wins again.

I'm so glad your plants are none the worse for snow wear. Good luck with finding a home for the panic buys.

No snow here; but over the weekend the temperature dropped to minus eight Celsius. Finnish Met Office says very unusual for this time of year. I'd covered my courgettes and cucs, which seem to have survived; but it wiped out a bed of nasturtiums which I'd just planted out. Luckily I haven't yet put out my runner beans or toms.

Joan,

I'm curious, why would your DH not want to move away from such a dastardly climate? I lived in Minnesota for one year and that was more than enough for one whole lifetime. That's why I'm as about as far south as I can get on the U. S. mainland now. I can't imagine trying to grow the plants I love in your climate - I'd have to be a millionaire with huge double-walled geodesic greenhouses, like giant diamonds in the snow.

LariAnn

Well, this is where his family is, and it's also where our kids are. He's a little more reluctant to leave that than I am. So, I gotta find good jobs for all of our kids in one general area someplace warmer. ^_^

For years we've had plans of moving farther south once we retire from our jobs. However, the closer we get to that point, the more he's backing off from the plan. Now he's mentioned that we could get a motor home and live in that for part of the winter someplace else, but still maintain our permanent home here. And I know me, I'll back down if that's what makes him happy, so I'm pretty sure we'll be part-time permanent North Dakota residents for the rest of our lives.

Joan the Snow Birds fly thru here every Autumn and returned just a few weeks ago.
Sounds like a plan!
I've lived in FL and AZ during the Summer not my cuppa......

Glad it appears everything is shaking off that snow.

Ric

Then, there is the old saying...
Bloom where you are planted!