“The Real Thing”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Today, for only the eighth time in sixty years, we had snow. Snow in the New Orleans area is a rare occurrence (only 17 times since 1850), and it was an unexpected pleasure to watch it come down today. It wasn’t predicted for our area. In fact just about every time it does snow, it is not predicted to do so. I left for work this morning, and there was a little bit of ice falling, but everything melted as soon as it hit the ground. About 7:45 AM, it started coming down – big, fat, wet flakes. At first, everything melted as soon as it landed, but soon it started to accumulate. At home, the same thing was happening, and we ended up with 2-3 inches of snow. Areas about fifteen miles farther north had 8 inches. An unbelievable amount around here. By about 11:00 AM, it stopped snowing and became a light rain which soon stopped completely so the snow did stay for a while longer.
I took these photos when I got home about 3PM. The sun had just come out, and our surprise snow was slowly starting to melt. With temperatures hovering around 37 degrees, it was not disappearing quickly which made me happy, as I was hoping to see some snow at our house. The above picture shows a neighbor’s house still covered.
The north side of our property still had a covering of snow. Because this snow was unexpected, none of the plants were protected. I am hoping, because it did not get below freezing, the snow will not have damaged anything. Many tender perennials still looked fine.
The above photo is the bamboo still weighted down with snow. We had two large pine limbs break off, but they did not fall on anything, thankfully. Tonight it is supposed to get down into the upper twenties, and then tomorrow it will be in the low sixties. One thing about winter here, we don’t stay cold long.
When I put the snow falling on my blog, I never thought I would see the real thing this year. I am so excited that I get to participate in Nancy Bond’s Garden Bloggers’ First Snowfall Project.
Saturday will be the first chance to see if there has been any plant damage. I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything is okay. I know that there are so many northern gardeners who will look at this snow and not be too impressed, but for a semitropical area this was a very nice surprise.
Always Growing 
nancybond said,
December 11, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I’m betting your plants will be fine, speaking from experience here only. 🙂 What fun it must be to see that much snow when it is such a rare occurrence. I’ll add your snowy pics to the main page in the morning! Thanks for taking part.
Racquel said,
December 11, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Congratulations on a unexpected snowfall. I’m sure it was quite a surprise.
Sue said,
December 11, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I am glad you enjoyed your snow. We have had just a light dusting, here in Nebraska. I hope your plants are OK!
Carol, May Dream Gardens said,
December 11, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Wow, that’s a lot of snow for a place that doesn’t get snow. The weather so far this winter is very weird, isn’t it?
Anne said,
December 11, 2008 at 8:00 pm
That is too ironic! Maybe you brought the snow on with your post just six days ago about not having any snow this year? You are magic….
tina said,
December 11, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I bet that was fun! Hope you didn’t have to drive anywhere.
Chandramouli said,
December 11, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Hi! That must have been quite a surprise, I see. Wish I had a surprise like that too ( 😛 It’s like wishing for sun to rise from west). I too hope your plants survive the unexpected attack.
Jan said,
December 12, 2008 at 1:17 am
Nancy, I think you are right and the plants will be okay. It was a treat to see this snow. I still can’t believe it.
Racquel, it certainly was a surprise. They were predicting snow for areas about 75 to 100 miles north of us, but luckily, we got snow too.
Sue, I know you usually have more than a dusting, but for people who rarely get to see snow, much less, this much it was very exciting. I think the plants will be okay. I brushed the snow off of most when I got home, and the temperature did stay above freezing all day.
Carol, you are right; the weather this year has been weird. We have been having much cooler temperatures and now snow.
Anne, if putting snow on my blog brought us the real thing, I just may make sure I do this every winter. Snow once a year would be nice.
Tina, I just had to go to work and back (about a 70 mile round trip) but there was no problem on the roads when I had to travel, which is a good thing because nobody around here knows how to drive in ice and snow.
Chandramouli, you may just have to travel to a snowy place. Everyone should experience real snow at least once. When I was in Denver for a convention a few years back, it snowed about 13 inches, and it was wonderful to see.
Tyra in Vaxholm said,
December 12, 2008 at 2:05 am
WOW Jan! Congratulations, perhaps you will get a white Christmas. I like the snow on your blog as well, where can I find it? I would like to have some too/ LOL Tyra
Jean said,
December 12, 2008 at 9:13 am
I was so hoping for snow up here in north Louisiana as well. But it looks like you got it all! What fun you must have had. Here’s hoping your plants survived. Who knows, maybe it inspired them to greater heights next year?? 🙂
Randy said,
December 12, 2008 at 9:31 am
Everyone is getting snow but us! I want snow too. 🙂
Alex said,
December 12, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Don’t you just love unexpected snowfalls??? 🙂 I hope you had a wonderful week and that you didn’t lose too many plants.
*hugs*
Jan said,
December 13, 2008 at 6:26 am
Tyra, I don’t think we will get a white Christmas, that would just be too much to ask for, but this was a fantastic day for us in the Deep South. The snow on my blog comes courtesy of wordpress. I just had to click on a setting. I have seen it on other blogs though, maybe if you “Google” it, you can find out how to put it on yours.
Jean, I am surprised you all did not get any. Maybe not enough moisture in the air. We did have fun. It has a joy to watch all the children playing outside and being so excited to see real snow.
Randy, maybe next time. I think you all have a better shot at getting snow than we ever do.
Alex, it was wonderful. I know that people like you who see so much snow that it is usually hard to be excited about a little snow, but it was such an unexpected thing as well as being a rare treat. You have a great week, too.