This is the time of year when I begin to long for summer. I guess I have the winter blahs (having a cold to go with it doesn’t help!).

I can’t complain too much about this winter. It’s been rather spring like for the most part with only a few extremely cold days so far this year. For the most part we’ve had above average temperatures here in Toronto with rain rather than snow.

With some luck this weather will keep up and we’ll ease into spring and it won’t be all that long before I start seeing beautiful flowers like this Climbing Westerland rose growing in my garden again.

Do you have the winter blahs too?

I took this photo of my rose, Therese Bugnet, when it’s red branches were lightly dusted with snow and ice. I like the how the snow appears to have turned into crystals in the branch crevices.

Is your garden or some of it’s plants covered in snow? We had a Green Christmas here, but we just got some snow, so while I can’t complain that we’re buried in snow I can say that are garden looks quite a bit different than it did a few days ago.

I use this old canister as a garden ornament. I forgot to bring it inside this past fall and now it’s just covered in snow!

I sure hope that it doesn’t rust!

It’s been quite snowy here in Toronto this winter. My backyard is just a blank white palette, especially with the snow that’s currently falling. Yes it’s snowing yet again!

This is our snow covered clothes line. I thought it was an interesting enough shot.

Our most recent snow storm started with ice pellets and then it snow and snowed some more. In fact it’s still snowing! We’re supposed to get about 15 inches of snow in total.

I took this photo in January after a heavy snow fall. The clothes line was covered in ice and snow. I’ve always liked looking at snow and ice and the interesting crystals that form as it ages.

We have a wooden birdhouse in our backyard. It’s attached to a telephone pole at the back of the garden. Actually the pole is in my neighbors yard but it’s right on the edge of our property so the birdhouse that we attached to it really is in our yard.

I don’t believe that any birds ever really use this birdhouse, but there is a black squirrel that I see sitting on it every morning warming itself in the sun.

Hmmm .. now I wonder if I can get a photo of a ground hog testing for it’s shadow for tomorrows Ground Hog Day?

I have a young Rose of Sharon tree/shrub in my backyard. Each autumn it produces a lot of seeds from the last of the flowers. What you see in this photo are the seed hulls at the ends of the branches covered in snow. From a distance it looked like the tree was covered in cotton balls.

A few years ago I made this Inukshuk statue myself with stones that I’d gathered from my old cottage area. I grew up in Ottawa and spent a lot of time at our cottage in the Ottawa Valley. I always loved the stone cuttings along the highway.

When my parents passed away I knew I wouldn’t get back to that area very often so I wanted something to remind me of my past and childhood … that’s why I gathered the stones for my garden. Once I got the stones home I had to decide what to do with them. It didn’t take me too long to decide to make this Inuit welcome statue.

I grow some of my plants in strawberry planters. Plants that cascade downward like Lobelia are great for these types of plants. As you can see these planters look interesting in the winter too when they are covered in snow.