On this St. Patrick's Day, a mix of sun and clouds is expected over Skylands, my well-loved home in Maine, with temperatures in the high 30s - hopefully melting more of the snow from this week's nor'easter.
The recent storm which covered my Bedford, New York farm with several inches of white also hit the Seal Harbor area - residents there got a total of about seven to eight inches. Cheryl DuLong, who helps me care for Skylands, takes many pictures around the property, especially in winter when I am not able to visit as often. She sent me these images yesterday, showing the beautiful snow around my home.
Enjoy.
Further up north at my home in Maine, the nor’easter dropped several inches of snow over two days. It was also quite windy, so the snow came from all directions, sticking to nearly every surface and every side of the trees.
Very similar to the conditions here in New York, the snow in Maine was heavy and wet. In this photo, one can see some of “Rockefeller’s Teeth” – large blocks of granite lining an edge to serve as guardrails. These coping stones are cut roughly and spaced irregularly to create a more rustic and natural appearance. This area includes hemlocks, spruce, and cedar trees.
This is a bench just off my back porch. I like to put the asado grill here during summer to use for our outdoor dinners.
Here is a little fir tree just outside my laundry room window. Beyond this tree is a pool where my grandchildren loved to look for frogs when they were younger.
The snow weighed down many of the branches, but fortunately all remained intact. We always try to dust off any snow where we can.
These steps are from the main terrace and join the path to my guest house. The wooden box above covers and protects the ornamental urn inside during the cold season. This photo was taken around 11am on the first day of snow.
The snow drifts made it hard to decipher these narrow stairs leading to the West Terrace. To the left, one can see some of the high bush blueberry branches – the fruits from these bushes are some of the sweetest I’ve ever had.
Here are more of these native blueberry bushes. In summer, we try to harvest as many as possible before the birds get to them.
This is one of Cheryl’s favorite views – the reflection on the dining room window showing the trees and the ocean. It’s hard to see, but yes, all that white is the ocean.
This sundial was installed when the house was built. It is above the doors of the Living Hall, which open out to the main “cracked ice” terrace. The surrounding kiwi vines are original to the house and have grown so beautifully all these years.
Even when it’s snowing, my outdoor grounds crew is hard at work. Here is our new Kubota tractor moving some old stone and debris from a current project. This tractor is so helpful around both my farm and this home in Maine – it’s one of my favorite pieces of equipment.
Even in the coldest of winter, the mountain laurel holds onto its leaves, categorizing it as an evergreen. Here, the leathery deep green foliage stands out among all the surrounding bare tree branches.
Hard to identify some of the plantings under all the snow. This is a tree peony on the main terrace just outside the living room window.
This view is of Skylands’ front circle and the center garden planted with hay-scented ferns, purple smoke bushes, and spruce trees, Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’. When I found these trees, I got many to plant here in Maine. This entire day remained cloudy overhead – everything looked very gray.
This is large black urn we use for planting small trees in the summer. It is covered to keep the inside from falling rain and snow. One can see how much snow has accumulated so far.
Cheryl also does a thorough tour of the house every day to make sure everything is in good, working order. Here, she checks the gutters. They are clear of any leaves – crucial during a storm, so water drains properly.
This is a view looking out from an upstairs window down at the Counsel Circle where my family enjoys gathering on summer nights. The snow was really coming down harder by early afternoon.
From this terrace, one should see Seal Harbor and Sutton’s Island beyond the trees, but it is so cloudy and foggy, it’s hard to see anything – but it’s all there. Cheryl says this terrace had already been shoveled once, but the fast snow quickly covered it all over again.
Here’s another second floor view looking down at the main stairs of the large terrace. I am already looking forward to my spring visit to Skylands when I plant all the outdoor containers. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.
On the calendar, winter turns to spring in just a few days. In fact, Skylands is expecting a warmer weekend with temperatures in the mid-40s and possibly some rain next week – only “Mother Nature” really knows. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Today we're expecting partly cloudy skies in the area with temperatures rising to the mid-50s - good conditions for melting the snow from this week's nor'easter.
The day after a snow storm, I always enjoy touring the farm early in the morning to take photos and to see the picturesque winter scenes across the landscape. I did just that yesterday as the sun was rising. Here in Bedford, New York, we got a good amount of snow that stuck to everything. I hope you saw some of my images on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
Here are more, enjoy.
Early in the morning – around 5:30 – I ventured out to see how the farm was doing after the storm. I like to do this before anyone arrives. It was so peaceful and pristine, and there was snow everywhere.
We all know “the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.” But actually, it is only a generalization. The sun only rises due east and sets due west on two days of the year — the spring and fall equinoxes! Here I am looking east toward the gardens behind my Tenant House as I drive down the carriage road. The farm is covered with a new layer of glistening snow.
This weather system left all the tree branches heavily dusted with snow. Thankfully, none broke.
Here’s the entrance to my living maze. All the young trees are intact. All my garden trees are always well-mulched to protect the roots from winter damage.
This is one side of my peony bed – a small pathway leads to my stable in the distance.
The fresh layer of untouched snow looks so pretty atop my herbaceous peony beds. The pattern left on the burlap shows the strong metal frames we used to cover the boxwood. They are the frames of a hoop house. They work perfectly to accommodate the growing plantings.
This area is where I planted my azalea grove – hundreds of colorful azaleas on both sides of this carriage road. One can see the outlines of the still small deciduous shrubs covered in snow.
Snow stuck to nearly every surface. This is the fence of the coop outside my stable.
The snow even stuck to the branches of the climbing hydrangea on this tree trunk.
And yet the majestic eastern white pines still stand tall and bold green in the distance. These trees can be seen towering from nearly every vantage point on this side of the farm.
At one end of the Boxwood Allée is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
Here is my expansive soccer lawn, where my grandson Truman loves to practice when he visits. He is a very avid and skilled soccer player who just celebrated his 11th birthday.
Nearby, my boxwood border along the winding pergola is well-protected under burlap. The snow almost covers the entire row.
And here is a view through the pergola – such a different look from what it will be like in just a couple of months when the garden is filled with colorful spring blooms.
Hard to tell when the trees are so bare, but this is my grove of American beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. American beech trees are slow to grow, but can live up to 300-years.
Snow and snow drifts piled on top of the burlap-covered boxwood shrubs in the long allée – and the great pines can still be seen.
As many of you know, I planted a few different allées at the farm. This is the south section of my allée of linden trees leading to my carport. An allée is a walk or passage, especially one between two rows of evenly planted trees.
And looking north, here is the other section just across the carriage road. This allée extends all the way to the chicken coops. The fencing casts wonderful shadows.
These trees are in front of my Winter House – covered in crisp, clean white.
The upper terrace parterre outside my Winter House is also buried under the snow. I am thankful the snow weighed down on the burlap and not on the precious plantings underneath.
And here is the nyssa tree in front of my lower terrace parterre outside my Winter House kitchen – disguised in white. Birds love to perch on the top and watch all the activity around the farm. Nyssa sylvatica is a small, slow-growing, stately, deciduous tree with a dense, pyramidal habit. Were you affected by Winter Storm Sage? How much snow did you get? Share your comments in the section below.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, today is clean up day after Winter Storm Sage came through the region dropping several inches of heavy, wet snow.
Yesterday's nor'easter began as rain during the early morning hours and then continued through the day and into the night covering everything in white. Fortunately, we were not among the hardest hit areas, but by afternoon, roads were slick and visibility was low - winter is definitely not over yet.
Here are some photos, enjoy. I hope all of you who were affected are doing okay.
Here at the farm, temperatures hovered in the low to mid-30s much of the day. The storm started as rain and slush. By late morning, snow started to stick on every surface, including the moss and sedum growing on this stone wall outside my Winter House kitchen.
Thankfully, all the ornamental urns and precious boxwood are all still covered with protective burlap.
Here, a burst of early spring color – the witch hazel in bloom.
Snow accumulated on the tops of the burlap-covered frames in my long Boxwood Allée. Here, one could see how large the snowflakes were. These larger flakes occur when temperatures are near freezing at 32-degrees Fahrenheit, which melts some of the snow crystals and causes them to become sticky. As they fall, they collide with other snow crystals, causing them to grow in size and appear as larger snowflakes once they get closer to the ground.
Here is another allée – the south section of linden trees, which lead to the espaliered apple trees behind my long carport.
Venturing into the woods is this stand of beautiful and upright trees. During winter, my outdoor grounds crew works hard to “clean the woods” of any fallen branches, invasive barberry, and dead trees – leaving clear views of the woodland.
These are some of the evergreen trees at the edge of my “Christmas tree garden.” The snow is beginning to weigh down on the branches, but fortunately no damage was done. I planted hundreds of evergreens here more than 10-years ago and they’ve grown immensely.
Here is a tree almost completely disguised by the snow.
This is an old stone wall on my farm. Stone walls are very common here in New England. They originally served as a boundary for property lines and as a way to keep animals away from crops. They still mark properties today, but are also used decoratively.
In this area of the woods, it is so quiet, one can just hear the snow falling in clumps from the trees.
Another sign that spring is on the way – the growing daffodils. There are patches of daffodil greenery bursting through the soil all over the farm. I can’t wait to see them in their full splendor.
This is our nicely organized stone yard, where I keep stone, granite, bricks, pavers and posts for future projects. These piles of stone are also covered in soft white snow.
Last fall, we planted a group of large Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Filicoides’ or Fernspray Hinoki cypress bushes along the carriage road just past my allée of lindens near the entrance to my Japanese Maple Woodland. I thought the space would look even prettier planted with these upright, bushy conifers – and it does, even with the snow cover.
By afternoon, the snow fell more furiously. This is the old corn crib, original to the farm, at the edge of a horse paddock surrounded with antique fencing.
The wild geese often visit my farm and gather in one of the pastures. Geese are very hardy and adaptable to cold climates – they don’t mind the snow at all.
Do you recognize this? It is the entrance to my herbaceous peony garden. The boxwood hedge surrounding it is protected in burlap, while the beds are completely covered in this blanket of white.
And here is the entrance to my living maze. I started planting it last year. I am looking forward to adding more turns and beautiful plants this spring.
These are some of the evergreens in my pinetum, an area I developed behind my Equipment Barn and near one of my weeping willow groves. The pinetum collection has grown so well over the years. It includes pines, spruces and firs, as well as other evergreens.
Here is one of the ancient apple trees in front of my studio building just below my carport. This apple tree is original to the farm and still provides multitudes of delicious fruits every year.
These are six weeping hornbeams. We prune these rare hornbeams regularly to keep the beautiful shape.
And here is the symbol of my farm – the great sycamore tree in the back hayfield. This tree is stands tall and majestic in every season. I love how the snow outlines its branches. Today is expected to be windy with possible snow flurries here in Bedford, but rest assured spring officially begins in less than a week.
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