Winter, again

I took this picture at around 11am on Wednesday. Precipitation was falling, but still mainly as rain. I was happy to see the first orange blooms start to open on the Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’ but worried what the coming cold was going to do to them.Just around 12:30 in the afternoon I snapped this shot out the front door to encourage Andrew to consider leaving work early. Once snow starts sticking on the roadways Portland's commute becomes a crawl.
By 4pm things were starting to get serious. People who weren't already on the road—or better yet at home, like Andrew thankfully was—were facing a snarled lengthy drive, or worse. Wet, heavy, snow was coating everything and plants were beginning to bend.
I took this photo at 1pm...
By 4pm it looked very different.
Just before 5pm...
And on Thursday (the morning after) at 11am...that's a lot of snow. 
Back garden photos, taken between 4 and 5pm Wednesday. Black mondo grass under a callistemon...
Fascicularia pitcairnifolia that I neglected to pull and tuck in somewhere warmer.
Standing next to the shade pavilion greenhouse and looking NE across the back garden.
Out in the front garden now, same timeframe.
Agave 'Baccarat'
The branches and flowers of Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold'.


Agave ovatifolia
Yucca rostrata
The pair...
Austin's branches (Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' that is).
And looking into the over-planted middle section of the front garden.
Opuntia spikes! The snow covered version.
This next batch of photos is from around 9pm when I went out (once again) to clean the snow off the split bamboo poly tunnels, so they didn't collapse under the weight of the snow. Here's the view stepping out the back door. That's bamboo bent over in front of the garage.
I started this post with an image of an orange Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’ bloom just opening. Here's that same shrub laying on the ground, bent under the weight of the snow.
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) was also bent, the whole plant looking ready to snap.
Here's the fence line at the north end of the patio, I added a bit of orange to help you see the snow built up on top of the fence.
The same NE view that I shared a few photos up, about 4 hours later.
Snow on the wire trellis.
Cleaning the snow off the four split-bamboo poly tunnels is why I was out here, that's one of the tunnels below. The palm fronds are blurry because the wind was blowing.
The sidewalk to the front door.
Arctostaphylos bent over Dasylirion wheeleri, my last shot before going inside for the night.
Blue sky! What a difference a day makes. It's now Thursday morning and the snow has stopped falling but the temperatures are cold. Another day where we will not get above freezing.
There's still a little orange visible on the Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’. I very carefully knocked the snow off of the plant so it wasn't laying flat on the ground.
This tunnel is usually standing tall, at least 3 feet tall. Now it's almost level with the surrounding ground—not because it flattened, but becasue the "ground" has risen.
I had a hard time figuring out what this snow-covered foliage was at first, ah! Fatsia polycarpa 'Needham's Lace', which is usually about 8 ft tall. Instead it was at knee height.
After very carefully brushing the snow off some of the plants bent to almost breaking, it was time to head back inside and warm up. I looked down and realized why my feet were so cold. I guess a foot of snow calls for taller boots.
Inside we're enjoying the color of hellebore blooms I had the good sense to cut before the snow.
Temperatures remain cold thru the weekend. Who knows when I will see my garden plants again and what kind of horrors this latest round of winter will inflict upon them.

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