Ok, thanks everyone! I tried to plant them Saturday and only got 5 in the ground, because I could only dig down 4 inches with the bulb planter. So I thought I'd wait for my husband to get home and find his drill/auger thing he has been looking for. I looked at Paghat's website and she recommended planting that particular tulip at about 8 inches. Boy, my neighbors had a laugh at the sight of me out there in the snow. We're the only ppl in the neighborhood who haven't raked up their leaves. :0) Phyl

I've lived in California most of my life and have only once or twice seen a winter that generally tracked with day-to-day historical norms. The years where rainfall tracks with the norms or is below average, temperatures are usually all over the place. In a winter where temperatures are predictably cool and highs and lows match historical records there is usually above average rainfall. Averages are merely means of extremes. Global warming is blamed if the temperatures are too high or too low, if there is excessive rain or drought. A theory that can explain every possible outcome explains nothing (lacks falsifiability). Global warming only predicts changes in means over time. An alteration of the prevailing weather patterns that lasts for longer than a drought cycle (5-7 years) may be important, this year's weather won't be except so far as it reflects a sustained shift in climate. Ryan

The same is happening with the pinyon and beetles. In some places, the kill rate is 50 percent of the forest. The problem is so big that various govm't agencies aren't doing anything. There's just too many dead/dying trees to cut down -- and where can someone burn tens of thousands of trees? They are appealing to landowners to go across their property and cut-down/burn the beetle trees. But nothing is being done (as if anything could be done!) on BLM and USFS lands. I drove southwest of Cortez, Colo., last month. Wow! Stands of brown-needled (dead) pinyon were everywhere. When this all comes to an end, I think people might look back and say the drought/fires were certainly the most visible disaster, but that the beetle infestations and tree kills were the most devastating. Hope I'm wrong about that!

This was the warmest March on record here. Haven't had a freeze in forever, and when it dipped down at night, it bounced back in the morning. It is near 90 now. My poor poppies are up, but no way are they likely to bloom in this heat. I am so sorry the weather is doing that to you. We should have two more cold snaps for Easter and blackberry winter, but who knows. I hope you have only a dusting and it is quickly resolved with little damage. Gardening can break your heart. kay