It did actually snow

“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” 

                                                                                                      Douglas Adams

Colchicum hungaricum 'Valentine'
This one always seems to enjoy a good dusting of the white stuff. I have mentioned phenology before and perhaps this is where it comes in to play. I think I have more photo's of this flower partially covered by snow then any other. It's better than an almanac for my backyard, if Colchicum hungaricum 'Valentine' is coming up, there is a better than good chance you are gonna see snow.

Seed Flats covered by a white blanket.

I really just wanted to point out that it did actually snow, since I slept in enough yesterday to miss it and this morning a fresh coating forced me to get up  and drive to work in it.

I remember a story Jack Poff told me once, He said Mrs. Berry when she would have a particularly choice batch of Alpine seed come in from one of the collectors she funded, would flat them up and have Jack drive them up to a spot she had picked out off the road just past the small community of Rhododendron, Oregon. At about 1,600 feet in elevation, it reliably gets more snow then the Dunthorpe neighborhood where Berry made her garden. Jack would have to find a particular tree and make sure that the the old wooden flats she used weren't seen from the road and tuck them away for the winter. When spring would come he would make the journey back up Mt. Hood to find the flats and pack them back down to the garden. Jack remembered her insisting on this treatment for  her precious collections of Primula cusickiana from the Wallowa Mountains in particular.

I tell ya, ever since that story I have always welcomed a blanket of snow on the seed flats, I haven't taken the time myself to make a similar drive to Marion Forks in my neck of the woods to hide seed flats behind a tree near a road marker, but I have made always smiled a bit to myself every time I set out a seed flat only to have it covered by a welcoming blanket of snow.

Maybe it's a bit of the freeze thaw action that works the seed coat in it's bed of grit that makes the difference? Or the pressure of the snow on top of the flat that puts some hyraulic pressure on the seeds? Maybe it's just one of those old time tricks that you can't really explain but you just know it works.

I do need to apologize to the folks that have been dealing with these polar vortex issues, as I am about to state that our lowest predicted low for the year is about to it 23 degrees F, and folks have had to weather -56 degrees F.

But then again this is Oregon and the generally mild climate is what makes it such a good place to grow a wide variety of plants. And sometimes necessitates the wishing for snow or driving to find it.

Cheers to thinking like the dolphins,

Mark

Crocus goulimyi and shades of Autumn

“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Douglas Adams

Crocus goulimyi
I'm pretty sure this is subspecies goulimyi but I didn't have time last night to dig around for the label in the fading light. Daylight savings is coming and everyone knows how I feel about that. I'm really trying to cherish these last few days of Autumn where I can get home and take a few pictures of the fall bloomers before the sunset. In a week or so that won't be the case.

Said to grow in Olive groves in the Peloponnese region of Greece, this one is a strong grower here in Western Oregon, needing very little care other than a well drained soil and a dry summer rest period. I'll have to move some out to the rock garden as this patch has nicely filled it's spot in the raised bed and needs dividing. Interestingly enough there is the remnants of an olive orchard on my drive down to Keizer Rapids Park where I sometimes go for work related field trips. I don't know that it was ever a hugely profitable endeavor here in Oregon to grow Olives but I did notice they had some fruit hanging the last time I drove by. Anyway, it stands to be stated you can grow both Olives and Crocus goulimyi here in Oregon.

Crocus banaticus
So I've been getting home every evening and going straight to the raised beds trying to get a pic of the Crocus banaticus open, but lately I've been getting home when this portion of raised bed has gotten shaded out, they have mostly closed up. I'm hoping they stay up until this weekend so I can get some actual camera shots and not just the quick phone shots.

Probably one of the nicest fall weeks I can ever remember in recent memory, it's been in the high 60's every day this week, sometimes a thick fog is hanging around for the morning commute but it's been mostly gone by the time the sun starts earnestly cresting over the Cascade range. It's really showcased the fall colors well since often times by late October we have been hit by several pineapple express weather systems (fast moving pacific fronts that shoot up out of the mid Pacific carrying what the weatherman love to call "atmospheric rivers" of moisture and often accompanied by windfields strong enough to denude the fall foliage this time of year. But this year, despite a system or two over the last few weeks it's been so amazingly beautiful. Last night you could walk around in a t-shirt until well after dark. 

Cheers,

Mark