The Season's First Snow 2022
The first snowfall of the season has arrived here at my Bedford, New York farm and it's transformed it into a beautiful winter wonderland - at least for a day.
Until now, the weather here has been pretty mild. And, although the weekend storm system was very short-lived, it left a lovely two-inch coating of white snow on the landscape. Fortunately, all my plants are tucked away in temperature-controlled greenhouses, but we're still in the process of wrapping my precious boxwood shrubs, hedges, and cold-sensitive garden containers in burlap.
Enjoy these photos of the first snow, and go to my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see more.
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- There is always a bit of excitement with the first snow of the season. Whenever it snows, I enjoy getting out early to take photos of the untouched snow. This photo was taken at 7am just as the clouds opened up to the day’s blue skies.
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- The Boxwood Allée looks so different in winter. I am so glad the boxwood is draped in burlap shrouds to keep everything protected from the snow.
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- We got enough snow just to cover the ground. Here is a view looking south up the allée of lindens. My carport is straight ahead.
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- Here is another burlap covered boxwood shrub. The snow left a pretty coating of white everywhere.
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- The snow accumulated on many of the tree branches, but did not weigh any down too much. The light fluffy snow forms when all layers of the atmosphere are below freezing. Because the air is cold, all the way down to the surface, snowflakes don’t melt. It was about 30-degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning and the cold held through the rest of the day.
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- This is the carriage road leading to my tennis court. Flanking both sides of the narrow road are Styrax japonicus ‘Marley’s Pink Parasol’ Japanese Snowbells and Styrax japonicus ‘Evening Light.’
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- Driving through the woodland, I took a photo of this full and babbling stream. It is so peaceful in the early morning – one can hear the gently burble as it travels along its bed, bubbling over rocks and branches.
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- This is the little Basket House nestled in the grove of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum.
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- And here is the old corn crib that’s original to the farm. The unique “keystone” shape flaring from bottom to top was designed to shed water.
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- Here is the long row of boxwood that line both sides of the pergola – all covered in protective burlap.
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- The large linden trees on the right are part of the allée. The linden tree, Tilia, is also referred to as basswood or lime, though it is not related at all to the lime fruit. The specimens to the left are all European beech trees, Fagus sylvatica, or the common beech – they hold tight to their leaves.
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- I love how snow collects on this 100-year old white spruce fencing I purchased in Canada. This fencing is what surrounds all my paddocks at the farm.
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- Whenever it snows, I am always grateful for the stakes we put up delineating the carriage roads. We paint the tips of those stakes that mark the catch basins, so if needed, the side openings can be cleared.
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- This is a view looking down from one end of my clematis pergola. The uprights for this pergola are antique granite posts from China – originally used as grape supports. They’re perfect as posts because they don’t rot over time like the wood overhead.
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- Nearby is my expansive soccer field or “party lawn”, where I love to set-up games for guests during summer parties and where my grandson, Truman, loves to play soccer with friends. On one side of this “soccer field” are six rare weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula. These are such graceful and shapely specimen trees, very densely branched and adaptable to various soil conditions.
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- This view is across my pool – all covered for the season. It is hard to miss the stand of eastern white pine trees, Pinus strobus, in the distance.
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- Here are the trunks of the mighty pin oaks that grow alongside my large Equipment Barn. The pin oak is one of the most popular trees for landscaping because it’s so easy to transplant and is very hardy and handsome.
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- The pachysandra is almost unrecognizable under this thin coating of white.
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- And the cobblestones in the courtyard outside my stable are also coated with snow – light, powdery snow. It did not take long before it melted away.
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- Just outside the stable is a grove of crabapple trees. These are white with snow right now, but for a short time in May, they are white with fragrant springtime blooms.
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- The terrace parterre in front of my Winter House kitchen is also white. The clean white looks so pretty atop the newly trimmed and groomed boxwood hedges.
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- This photo was taken from the back steps of my Summer House. The giant tree at the rear is the old ginkgo – original to the farm. Fortunately, the snow did not harm any of the boxwood shrubs. The crew gently brushes all the snow off these precious specimens. Heavy snow could damage the shrubs and splay their branches. Soon, they will be covered with protective burlap.
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- And here are four of my five donkeys – Truman “TJ” Junior, Jude “JJ” Junior, Billie and Rufus – waiting patiently for someone to stop with cookies. Clive is to the right eating some of the freshly dropped hay. They love this weather and have naturally thick coats that protect them in the cold. After below freezing temperatures overnight, today is expected to be in the mid- to high 30s melting some of the snow away. We’re expecting more precipitation at the end of the week – winter is here.
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