Typical March weather. Short sleeves one day, snow the next, though mild temperatures have been rare in this colder than average month.
The front garden, with a dogwood and Japanese maple. When trees are in leaf the front of the house can barely be seen. I dislike gardens with hedges that obscure the front of the house, but who can complain about dogwoods and Japanese maples?
Today’s snow is likely to come up short of worst case predictions, which is a good thing, and with a sunny (but cool) day forecast for tomorrow I’ll be happy if it’s gone by day’s end. Though most of the spring garden clean up is done, or at least as done as it’s going to get, I’m ready for spring, and that doesn’t include snow.
Looking into the rear garden with a pavilion beside the koi pond.
For a day, it’s okay. Photos of flowers in the snow are nice, and here they are. Okay, now it’s time to move into spring.
The farm pond and barn just up the road.Flowers of Okame cherry peek out from the snow.Needles of the gold Fernspray cypress covered in snow.Dorothy Wycoff pieris in peak bloom.The low growing February Gold narcissus barely peeks above the snow.Paperbush (Edgeworthia) began flowering in early March, and in cool recent weeks the blooms persist late into the month.Dr. Merrill and Royal Star magnolias often flower the first week of March, but both are tardy this year which is fortunate so that flowers have not been damaged by recent freezes.A cardinal waits for a bluejay to finish at the bird feeder.A bluejay at the feeder.The Cornelian cherry (a dogwood, Cornus mas) flowers in its newly transplanted location in the rear garden.Leatherleaf mahonia began flowering in early March. There have been few days that bees have been out, so flowers might not be pollinated. If not, there will be few of the grape-like fruits (and few seedlings).Low growing hellebores are buried beneath the snow so that flowers are barely seen. Scroll further down the page to see photos of hellebores take a few days earlier.
Even though I used to grow dogwoods and Japanese maples, they are some of my main complaints with landscape design in the Santa Clara Valley. Designers put the out in the open, which in that chaparral climate, gets them roasted if the weather gets warm during summer. Alternatively, they put them ‘under’ big oaks, and them water them so much that it kills oaks that had been there for centuries.
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 
Even though I used to grow dogwoods and Japanese maples, they are some of my main complaints with landscape design in the Santa Clara Valley. Designers put the out in the open, which in that chaparral climate, gets them roasted if the weather gets warm during summer. Alternatively, they put them ‘under’ big oaks, and them water them so much that it kills oaks that had been there for centuries.