A willow tree brought down several rose arbors.

A tree crashed into the vegetable garden.

Our heavy metal, antique bench was smashed.

The wind knocked the furniture on the terrace around.

Several weeks after the worst snowfall of the century we were hit with three days of gale force winds and heavy downpours. 51.4 inches of rain has fallen on my clay soil since October. The normal rainfall for the year is less, 49.69 inches. Our soil can’t absorb it and streams are forming along the flower borders and ponds glisten on the front lawn.

Luckily we only lost electricity for a few hours. Several communities near us lost it for days. Sadly, we had two large trees fall down smashing our vegetable garden fence and two rose arbors. Furniture and garden ornaments were blown about and damaged. One of a pair of heavy metal garden benches blew over and its back broke. The benches had sat in the same place for twenty-eight years.

Walking around to assess the damage on Sunday morning after the winds slowed and the rain turned to drizzle, I was more amazed by what survived, then what was damaged. A terra-cotta pot of grass still sat on top of a pedestal in the herb garden, a few yard from a felled tree. It was untouched by the wind. The snowdrops, crocus, dwarf iris and winter aconite were closed up tight but didn’t show any damage from the beating they took. Daffodils in several protected corners had opened, despite the storm. I realized it is the shining example of the plants that keeps me gardening. They won’t be defeated.

It is a miracle that this pot wasn't smashed.