With inches of snow and several nights of subzero temperatures forecast for this week, I am most concerned that the precious, silvery flower buds of my favorite paperbushes (Edgeworthia chrysantha, below) will be damaged. The snow should be of little consequence, and possibly could be beneficial insulating plants beneath its cover, but if the freezes drop to eight or nine below zero (Fahrenheit), as forecast, there is a probability that there will be considerable dieback of of the paperbushes’ branches.

The paperbushes are long established so I don’t expect any will perish in the cold, but I once had to prune dead wood to diminish six foot wide shrubs by half. Half of the reduced width was regained tbe first year, and today several are twenty feet or wider. I dread a repeat, but even if temperatures are not so severe, buds are damaged at two degrees above and a total loss at a degree or two below.

Flowers of mahonias (Berberis x hortensis ‘Winter Sun’, above and below) are unscathed so far by recent swings of mild and chilly temperatures. Typically, I expect that blooms will fade by mid-January, so I’m pleased they’ve made it to the third week of the month with little sign of decline.

I expect that this extended period of flowering will abruptly end with the first sub-zero freeze unless blooms are covered by a thick layer of snow. Flowers of Ozark witch hazels (Hamamelis vernalis, below) will not be damaged by the cold. The spidery petals will fold inward for protection and open again when temperatures rise a few days later.

Fatsias and schefflera that will not tolerate temperatures colder than five degrees above zero have been covered by a double layer of frost cloth that is likely to remain through the week. When a low temperature of five above was forecast I planned to leave one older fatsia uncovered to test its limits, but below zero it would certainly perish. It is covered.

One young fatsia is small enough that it will benefit from an insulating cover of snow, but I covered it anyway. I’ll be prepared to head out into the garden as the snow accumulates to nudge branches that bend with a heavy snow load. While branches can quickly recover after bending for a short period, it is best to dislodge heavy accumulations as quickly as possible. I use a leaf rake to spread the impact so there is little or no damage to brittle branches.

The snow is welcomed as we get so little of it, and in retirement I no longer must face the danger of driving to work in the dark on icy roads. The below zero temperatures are not welcomed. I would be happier with eight degrees above rather than below, and happier still with a low of eighteen.