It is not so noteworthy for us to have a snow the beginning of March. Though every gardener in Michigan is winter weary, we know March is not a spring month. It is the last of the winter blast month. So a forecast for snow did not get my attention. What did get my attention was an early day snow with golf ball sized flakes that stuck to every surface outdoors. Those sticky dripping wet flakes kept coming for hours. That wet snow clung to and described every tree trunk and twig in its path. I could not keep my eyes off the transformation of the landscape.
Eight inches worth of snow later, every element of the landscape was draped in the most gorgeous blanket of snow. I have long been a proponent of landscape design that features the weather. I also like a landscape with clearly defined bones that represent the design idea, no matter the weather. This winter weather provided ample evidence of that idea.
To follow are too many photographs of this snow event. I have never ever ever ever seen snow as beautiful as this. Nor have I ever seen my landscape look quite this. It is easy to understand the fascination with nature. There is always something new to experience, even in the most familiar places.
picea mucrunata
magnolias and parrotia overhead
winter pots, still beautiful in March
wall untouched by snow
hydrangea flower heads
view to the street
snow struck flame willow
landscape composition
It was easy to tell the snow was coming out of the northwest.
second story terrace railing
The dogwood tree out the kitchen window was dressed to the nines. Last of all, a short video of our early March weather. What a special and unprecedented experience.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing about the beauty of this snowfall in my gardening spaces.
Even the morning drive south on 23 from Flint was glorious.
Kicking myself for not taking pictures….
Dear Christa, every where I looked, this snow created astonishing beauty. My drive was probably shorter than yours, but just as glorious. best regards, Deborah
Snow comes in so many guises! This was a wet one I can tell and it “clotted” on everything. So beautiful.
Very stunning! Just beautiful to show your gardens frosty bones
Dear Laura T, frosty bones indeed! Thanks for writing. best, Deborah
Thank you for sharing!
Very beautiful Deborah. Here in Delaware, our recent blustery snowfall was nasty-downed power lines and trees. So sad to see the damage, but the remains of snow was pretty, yet not as soft and beautiful as your pic describe. March certainly has come in roaring.
Dear Trish, I know that the east coast got slammed with destructive weather. I regret that. Nature can be beautifully brilliant and terribly destructive. My heart goes out to those people on the east coast for whom this weather event was a disaster.
My favorite type of snow is this freshly fallen, pristine snow.
Dear Cara, this freshly fallen pristine snow was spectacular, wasn’t it? best Deborah
Your garden/landscape outlined in white is quite spectacular. Love all the garden arcs and lines (great bones) displayed beautifully. Your movie showed strong gales, yet, despite the gales, the snow stayed in place swaying in the wind with the branches. Isn’t nature fantastic.
Dear Susan,the wind and the snow was extraordinary. Yes, nature is awesome.
So romantic! Reminded me of Dr. Zhivago for some reason. Absolutely enchanting and the lit up containers are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your Winter Wonderland!
Spectacularly spectacular! Mother Nature is still, and always will be, the best landscaper. That being said, you gave her the canvas.
Stunning photos; I hope you print some for your portfolio to show to prospective clients. Not everyone understands the “bones” of design.
I planted my tulip bulbs in pots & overwintered in unheated garage just as you recommended and the foliage is now about 2 inches tall. Do I move pots outdoors now, if not now, then when?? Note, I live in Northville, Michigan in the same zone as you. Thanks in advance for your expert advise!
Dear Lynn, I moved all of mine outdoors a week ago. best, Deborah
Yes the snow was magnificently gorgeous, perhaps the loveliest of a lifetime. However, it wasn’t without its price. Many large branches of a beautiful 50 year old arbovite hedge were decimated by the heavy snow underpinned with ice. Unfortunately, sometimes beauty doesn’t come without a price.
I would have been totally facinated by that snow, and would probably have frostbite from being outside so long with my camera. How very, very beautiful! I am in South Carolina and the only thing we ever have to match that kind of beautiful is an ice storm, and then we lose all power, and that kind of beauty has a price!!! I was enthralled by your pictures!!!
Wasn’t it spectacular? I was outside that night, filling my bird feeders, and heard a ‘whump!’ – a leaning lilac next to my house had completely toppled from the weight of the snow. Ah, well – an opportunity for something new this spring…Thanks for letting me see that beautiful snow all over again…
Beautiful pictures of this week’s snowfall…..I also enjoyed the spring photo on the cover of March’s “Midwest Living” magazine featuring MILO front and center. Good luck on a busy spring season.
What a joy to see your garden again, this time under a beautiful blanket of snow. Thanks for sharing Deborah.