I just checked the weather report for the whole country for today and tomorrow, and everywhere, except here in the southeast and over in the desert are getting rain and snow. Well, we got our rain over the last few weeks, and it got a little chilly, lows in the 20's, but we don't get much snow here. It was snowing the other week when I woke up and they delayed school that day and canceled it the next at all the local districts. The snow barely stuck in most places. It was gone at my house before I left for Wayside Gardens at 8:00 am. I passed three cars in the ditch on the way here, one truck was almost blocking the entrance to Wayside Gardens. Of course, all of the bread and milk was already gone from the supermarket.
This might sounds insane to someone who lives in a place where it actually snows. That's right, the snow didn't even stay on the ground. But, to be fair, we have problems of our own. This does not happen often, obviously, we are not prepared. Another issue, we do get freezing temperatures, and we have a very wet climate. We commonly have very dangerous alternatives to fluffy white snow in the form of sleet and freezing rain. When you wake up in the morning and everything looks like it's been laminated in glass, and your trees are either bowing to the winter gods or broken in the streets, you know there's been a classic South Carolina ice storm. If you try to drive anywhere without chains or an all-wheel drive vehicle, you will slide right out of your driveway and into someone else's (By the way, In South Carolina, lots of all-wheel drive, not so much on the ice chains). Not to mention you have thousands of high school drivers attacking those frozen rural roads and the school parking lots like nothing has changed. So, while you might think we are weird, we promise, it is for the best.
I say all of this to point out that while all of you who mock our winter habits are trudging through the rest of your winter, here in Greenwood South Carolina, at Wayside Gardens, the sun has come out. The temperature has been in the 70's this week and this weekend will be beautiful and sunny. My lawn is green and starting to get unruly. I will mow the lawn and lay the foundations for my outside projects this Saturday and Sunday. Good Luck with your own gardens this spring, which for some of us, may have already come.
John Durst
Wayside Gardens Voice
jdurst@parkseed.com
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