Take shelter feathered friends. Move beneath evergreens to protect from chunks of ice falling from the garden’s many trees. Seeds and berries will still be here when the danger has passed.

I dare not venture into the garden until temperatures rise to melt the last of the icy coating. The sun will appear this afternoon, but even then, I’ll walk cautiously, eyeing the canopy for branches dangling, waiting for a breeze to send them crashing down.

With the garden nestled beside forest, a breeze brings down many branches, but ice storms have felled entire trees. Fortunately, the closest has only grazed the house, and miraculously, there’s been little damage to the garden.

Half of a huge maple split, fell, and brushed the house several years ago in a pre-Christmas storm. Fortuitously placed lower branches braced the tree from flattening a wide spreading oakleaf hydrangea that suffered only a few minor broken branches. I ended up in the emergency room to stitch a gash when the tree jumped as I cut it into pieces later in the day, more aware of the hydrangea than my personal safety, so I’m reminded to be cautious. I presume birds are trained to do the same.