It's Friday, March 22 today and as forecasted, I awoke to a full ground-covering of snow. It's 9:45 now and a little more snow will fall until about 11:30 am. Maybe an inch or just over that will be on the ground. Crazy Chicago weather never disappoints!

Update 24 hours later: The sun is out, the temps are about 35, and the snow is melting. Yesterday afternoon I had to run a few errands and noticed something very odd. Only 1/4 to 1/2 mile from our house there was very little snow - just a smattering. When I returned home from a different direction it was even more striking! It seems like my house was the epicenter of the snowfall and just a half-mile away there was no snow. I have, on several occasions, thought that precipitation goes out of its way to avoid my garden and yard. But not this time. It's only 1-2 inches of snow so no big whup but it's just very unusual.

March weather can be fickle, but a pattern seems to be emerging over the past few years. Early in the month it's a fair bit warmer than usual. But then mid-month the switch gets flipped and the latter half of the month is colder than usual. It's happening again right now. Next 5 days will average 5 degrees below average, and the next 15 days are projected to be 2 degrees colder than average. Not too extreme thankfully, but seeing the colder weather again is mentally difficult to take. To add insult to injury, early Friday morning (today is Monday) we're projected to see one inch of snow. Lovely.

Forsythia bushes are almost starting to leaf out. This may set things back a ways.

I just couldn't resist temptation when I saw that J&P was offering 30 roses for 30% off. Some good ones too. So I am adding 3 new varieties that I don't already have (April Moon, Elegant Lady {nee Princess Diana of Wales}, and Simply Magnificent), plus one that I already have and love (Soft Whisper). These will all be potted up as possible replacements for those roses "not putting out." If no candidates emerge, I know from experience with Ring of Fire that I can overwinter the pots in the unheated garage and they will come back like gangbusters the following Spring. Including shipping ($30) and Sales Tax ($11.37), the total order works out to $153.17, or $38.29 per bush. The 30% off saved me $47.91. So a little better deal than free shipping.

We had nearly 3/4 inch of rain two days ago - back yard has visible puddles of water as it always seem to at this time of year. I walked in the garden yesterday and many bushes are beginning to push out new growth - Oh My! seems to be leading the pack in this regard. We have some mid-60s temps coming this week but at the moment there's no damaging cold weather in sight. I'll start removing JTO bushes plus Munstead Wood when the weather is warm.