‘The most unusual weather event’

The only “season” I haven’t experienced in the past 2 ½ weeks is autumn. As I write this “Lessons Learned” wrap-up of the past winter, I feel like it has all been part of a strange dream.

Most of the winter was mild and light on snow.

Then on March 2, we had one of the biggest, prettiest snowstorms of the season (normal March weather), followed by a short stretch of drizzly, cold, windy yuck (normal early April weather). Next up was about two days of mild, perfect sunny weather (normal May weather).

And then summer hit with a blast of hot air. Madison sweated through five record-breaking highs in a row (and today is another record-breaker at 81 degrees). Kids were running through sprinklers on Sunday! And it wasn’t even spring yet!

I can’t even come up with words to describe this phenomenon. Jonathon Martin, chairman of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison, said it best: “This is to me the most unusual weather event I've witnessed in my lifetime.”

The parkas are off, the shorts are on, and everything is blooming all of a sudden and very early. And we’re just now starting the official season of spring. Wow!

So, to accompany our “Lessons Learned,” I’m posting photos I haven’t shared until now from the beautiful blizzard of March 2, along with photos of blooms that followed just two weeks later.

Lessons Learned from fellow bloggers:

1. Karin at Southern Meadows posts a combined “Seasonal Celebrations” and “Lessons Learned” post. She starts out describing and sharing photos of upcoming festivals in her community. She follows with excellent lessons learned about structural elements in her northeast Georgia garden, and about the unpredictability of the past winter.

2. Donna at Garden Walk, Garden Talk offers a thorough lesson in tree bark. She includes great shots of Sycamore, Tamarack, and Oak trees, among others, along with information on how to identify trees by their bark. Her post is a virtual “walk in the park,” complete with history and data about each tree species.

3. Lyn at The Amateur Weeder gardens “down under” in New South Wales, Australia. Her summer weather was rainier than usual, and she admits one can’t assume the weather will be normal in any season. A grouping of Coleus plants surprised her, thriving in the hot, wet conditions. She shares excellent shots of her garden, along with plans for next year.

4. Donna at Gardens Eye View has launched her wonderful “Seasonal Celebrations” meme as a partner to “Lessons Learned.” Donna shares several practical lessons that all gardeners can follow. Among them—capture shots when you can (before the critters eat your Crocuses) and plant more native fruit-bearing trees and shrubs for birds in winter.

5. TS at Casa Mariposa steps back in time and shares a December post about the previous growing season. These words of wisdom can be applied to any garden in any season: “The problem with mistakes is that we become so used to seeing them, we simply stop seeing them at all. They blend like leaves into the landscape until we only see the completed scene, not the individual leaf.”

6. Sheila at Green Place takes us on a walk through the woods near Chapel Hill, N.C. She’s fortunate to live in a place where spring ephemerals commonly make an appearance in February. Trout Lily, Hepatica, and Windflower brighten the path along the tree-lined creeks. Sheila reminds us to look closely at the ground for new life as we hike, and to take more walks in the woods.

7. Holley at Roses and Other Gardening Joys shares a secret. A garden magazine photographer once told her that every garden he ever photographed had weeds—every one! Holley admits to skimping on mulch, which means there’s always a lot of weeding to do in her Texas garden in late winter. But she finds joy in the weeding because it’s an excuse to get outside when the weather is pleasant.

8. Michelle at The Sage Butterfly offers the most comprehensive lesson on voles that I have ever read. She includes a picture of a cute vole and even lists the benefits of voles (I admit, it was hard for me to appreciate this part). Her post offers a very helpful list of vole deterrents, many of which I use and others I plan to try (for example, Rosemary, vitamin D3, and castor oil).

9. MO at Gardening Not Landscaping takes us along for a dinner with the Milwaukee Rosarian Society. The theme: Roses as herbs. On the menu, among other tasty treats: Rose Pavlova with fresh fruit and Rose hip mixed herbal tea. MO shares her notes about the event, including information about various Rose species and international destinations to visit for viewing Roses in their glory.

10. Diana at Elephant’s Eye also combined a “Seasonal Celebrations” post with her “Lessons Learned.” She learned that, because of the extreme heat in her Porterville, South Africa, garden, succulents are a better choice than shade plants—even under trees, because those trees and their leaves get hot when highs stretch beyond 100 degrees! She also admits to letting some of her garden beds become overgrown. It’s much easier to trim them a bit each season than to wait five years for a bigger project.

11. Christine at The Gardening Blog, also located in South Africa, lists eight practical lessons she plans to incorporate in her garden next year. I found myself nodding in agreement with each one. It’s hard to imagine from her photos that her garden is anything but gorgeous, but she assures us that she needs more flowers, wider spaces between plants, and blooms that attract beneficial insects.

All these gardeners put me to shame with their lessons this season. I didn’t want to look back at winter, and my lessons were rather blasé. I’d encourage anyone who wants good advice about gardening to check out these bloggers’ excellent posts. Thanks to all who participated!

But I must say, the verse I used at the start of my “Lessons Learned” post on March 1 was rather clairvoyant for the end of this strange winter in the Midwest:

'First a howling blizzard woke us,

Then the rain came down to soak us,

And now before the eye can focus—

Crocus.'

~Lija Rogers