I have given up hope that my outside rosemary plants have survived. After the New Year's cold snap, I held out hope for one plant. It still had green leaves at the bottom and the inside of the plant. But after the second round of cold temperatures, it looks completely brown and dead. I've had outside rosemary plants survive two winters fairly regularly, but never had one make it through three winters. I'll just keep trying. Last year, my creeping rosemary made it through the winter and that was a first.

But I have seen some signs of spring when I was out. I saw a few tiny springs of green lemon balm in the garden. Salad burnet still has green foliage. And check out the witch hazel flowers. I know they're small, but you have to love any plant that can bloom in the middle of winter!

I can watch our progression towards spring inside, too. The first batch of seedlings is growing on nicely under lights. The second batch has just germinated. Now, I've reached the point where I start seeds every week. Not a lot at first, but each week the numbers grow. Happiness is seeing seedlings growing in winter!

With the extremely cold weather, I'm glad there's some snow to provide insulation to the plants in the gardens and the stock plants that are buried in what serves as our vegetable garden in the summer. Cold temperatures and high winds without any type of protection are very hard on plants, particularly those that hold their foliage in the winter.

I'm preparing myself to lose my large outside rosemary plant. It has survived two winters, but I'm afraid this cold snap will do it in. The larger the plant, the larger the root systems, which gives it a better chance of survival. But an extended period of cold, like this one, usually means the end of the plant.

On a springy note, my first batch of pansy seeds have germinated. So spring is just around the corner!

Due to the extremely cold weather, we have delayed the opening of the shop. Beginning January 11, the shop will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9am to 5pm.