It hasn't been frigid here but has been very windy. Catalogs are so good for dreaming.

I am enjoying my last 2 days of beautiful weather in Puerto Vallarta - then back to below zero weather in WI.

I went to the Botanical Gardens here today - beautiful setting up in the mountains. I was hoping they would have native dahlias, but I couldn't find any. Not a lot was actually blooming, but it was beautiful all the same.

Ah. La Luna... yes. Arlene I cannot believe you had subzero temps. We are back down in the low teens day time then single digits at night. I saw something on the news that said you guys were going to get hit with really frigid weather so maybe it is starting.

Damien is still basking in Hawaii (left Monday) and I am just enjoying my knitting, taking kids and grandkids to dinner (I am soooo sick of cooking) which I will charge to the common funds as that is very little compared with the expense of me going to Hawaii with Damien. At least that is my logic.

We got a few inches of snow back on the ground thank heavens. I was really getting sick of the ice garden I had developed.

Hawaii must be delightful, especially when compared to snow. We haven't had even a single flake of snow and today I worked outside for hours at 43.5. That's ideal for me.

I can't recall any frigid days. My memory must be slipping.

Next week from Wednesday to Sunday will be the high 30's. I can deal with that if there's sunshine and no wind.

Very cold here. -13 last night and a HIGH of -3. Not unusual here,but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It is supposed to remain cold through midweek.

@hostasmore YOu should go to your profile and fill in your location. I always look to see where people live to gauge how usual or unusual their weather seems.

Done. Thanks Mary.

No, thank you Seeing your location adds a lot to you posts. Brhhhh.

Thanks for the location.A high of -3 is too cold for me! Our low for yesterday was 31.3. We have overcast skies today but I did get out for two hours to pick up sticks left behind by the tree removers. Not fun working with no sunshine and only 34.9 degrees.

I am in the same weather pattern as Gary - just across the state line - the sunny days in Puerto Vallarta already seem long ago, and I have only been back 48 hrs.

Botanical Gardens in PV

Vacations always go too fast.

Wow! I guess I should be happy about my balmy 7 degrees today! Almost tropical here in west central Illinois!

Well, I bit the bullet and crawled down into the (aptly named) crawl space. I have forty bags with one to several clumps or tubers that are either sprouting (not too many), not rotted, or while dry still show promise.

Hurry for healthy tubers!

Now we have snow! It's almost up to the top of the blades of grass. Good day to check tubers here.

Winter wonderland is here. There are white-outs all around the area. The wind is insane and making it impossible for the plows to keep the roads cleared. The National Weather Service has issued a lake effect snow warning with 1"-3" today and again tonight. One station was showing 5"-8" today and 6"-12" tonight. If they're giving us a choice, I think I'll opt for the 1"-3". That's plenty.

I just noticed yesterday that the area where I live, close to Lake Erie, is shown as 6A on the plant hardiness zone chart. Every chart I've ever seen had us as 5A , same as areas a few miles inland. We have an occasional late frost and I don't plant until after June 1st. I'd rather play it safe and regard this area as more like zone 4. No need to rush since plants don't seem to grow much until the soil warms up later in June.

We finally got some snow. It's almost to the tips of the grass. Winds earlier were the white-out type but it appears to be over and the sun is out. I'll resist going out to do a thing with a "real feel" of near zero.

Dan - enjoy your Winter Wonderland. Build a snow person for fun!

We always waited until the very end of May to put out the vegetables even though we're in zone 7 and I'm certain the garage wall must be warmer since we had tomatoes growing and ripening in December. I don't try to rush the season.

I tend to be a late planter also. a few years ago we had 6" of snow May6th, while sometimes we have no snow after the middle of April - you just never know.

I am out of school for the summer by mid May, and don't get much done before that, but the timing is usually about perfect. Time to plant cool weather stuff and prep beds, then most of the veg garden and the dahlias go in at the very end of May.

I am behind this year with planning. I need to inventory my seeds and see what I need to order this year, and clean up my grow room in preparation for seed starting in Feb and March.

One year I left dahlias in the ground since I didn't like them and figured they'd die over winter. That was the warm winter and all of the dahlias were a foot tall by mid-May.

I dont thin that would happen here...