Snow - Nature's Blanket

Snow resting on an Aster plant

It's Friday night here in Alabaster, and the expected snow is slowly creeping from Mississippi into Alabama. Will we get 1 inch, 2 inches, 4...none? The consensus is that we'll get at least 2 inches from Birminghan southward to Montgomery. Snow is a big event in Alabama!
From a gardening standpoint, can we get some kind of benefit from snowfall? Well, aside from the beauty it provides, I can think of two other benefits. One, it is a great way to water our plants. As the snow melts, the soil gets a nice thorough soaking, providing there is a healthy amount of snow. It can take anywhere from 4 to 15 inches of snow, depending on how wet the snow is, to make 1 inch of rain.



Two, snow acts as an insulator for our plants; a blanket if you will. The snow we are expecting today is part of a weather system that includes an artic blast that will reach Alabama in a day or two. We may see low temps in the teens, both Sunday and Monday mornings. Those kinds of temperatures can cause damage to plants like gardenia, camellia, or indian hawthorne. But if there is snow covering the plants, they will be better off for it. There is no reason to worry about snow on your plants. Go ahead and enjoy this rare Alabama delight and know your plants are having an extra good winter!

UPDATE: Saturday night, 8:39PM...The snowfall was fun to watch for about 2 hours, resulting in far less accumulation that predicted. I'd say we got an inch of wet snow that was just about all melted after four or five hours. In the end, we don't have a blanket of snow to protect our plants from the upper teen temperatures we will get tonight. The precipitation was welcomed, though, and it was a treat to touch, taste, and gaze at the rarified white stuff.




The largest known snowman to be built, courtesy of some good friends, in Central Alabama during this recent snow event!