This is what I woke up to this morning. Snow.

I know what you're thinking. It's February. Snow + February = Normal, right? But not here, friends, not here! This is the Pacific Northwest for goodness sake. It just doesn't snow here that often. I mean, sure, it does, but not like this! Or this? Insanity.

Of course, last week when it was 55 degrees and sunny I was too sick to go outside. Sigh.

I know, I'm whining. I'll suck it up, I promise. But for now, can I just say: "Waaaaahhhhh!"

I guess I'm just really really really really really really ready for spring.

What about you?

This year, inspired by a series of photos from my old house, I'm keeping a weekly series of photos in my garden, and I'm calling it Saturday Survey. I take pictures every Saturday, and I post the most recent one on the first Saturday of each month.

As you can see, compared to January's post, not much has changed. I cleaned up the beds a little but that's about it.

Except, wait, wait a minute.... those daffodils have definitely gotten bigger. Very exciting. I can't wait to show this bed bursting forth with flowers and birds and butterflies all season. I also can't wait to see if my planting scheme is going to work out the way it worked in my head.

The other thing that caught my eye was this little patch of rock cress in the half-barrel at the base of the bamboo. It seems so fresh and alive.

The big thing that keeps bugging me is the open back (to the far left in the top photo). Since I chose not to have a lot of structure across the back of this bed, the dog keeps wandering across it (and worse). So I'm considering some kind of barrier across the back. Espaliered something. Or open fence something. It has to be skinny because I planted all the way to the back.

Hmmmm.....

I am so proud of myself. I actually drew a to-scale plan for the future rose garden. I am usually a garden-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person, but lately I've been craving a bit more organization. I'm tired of having a plant ghetto, for one thing. But also I'd like this garden to have some underlying structure and symmetry, and for that I felt that a drawing was the best option.

At the bottom of the garden is the shed, which I hope to make into a summer house / planting shed / getaway of some time. But it cuts the corner out of the space, so I filled in next to it with a large grape arbor, which both provides a great feature (both for the grapes and the arbor), and also then creates a boundary forming a nearly square area in the center of the space.

And in the center, a parterre of raised beds with an weeping willow-leaf pear as a center focal point (Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'). I already have this tree and I'm excited to give it a good home. Poor thing has been moved about a dozen times. I've got peaches in the corners, and the rest will be roses, herbs and perennials. I've got room for 12 roses and 8 climbers. I'm so happy!

Of course, I can't afford to put this all in at once. But I can chip away at it. First step is to get the pear tree settled asap, before it leafs out. Oh yes, and figure how to organize the roses. I have a list of roses started, thanks to all of you (thank you!). I'm going with all pinks (both light and dark) and yellows/apricots for colors. But do I mix them all up? Do blocks of a color family together? I've got the corners and the climbers and I want something that's harmonious and soothing. Hmmmm....

P.S. For those of you wondering about my Saturday Survey, yes, I'm still doing it. And I am taking pictures every Saturday. But there's not a whole lot different in a week, so I'll post an update on the first Saturday of each month. Feel free to join in! :-)