With snow in the forecast, what to do with your flowers and plants?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It isn't unusual for late season snowfall in the Sierra, and after a drier than normal winter, precipitation is welcome in any form - for most people.

There are the gardeners who have been rejoicing in the blooms coming to life in their gardens. The ones who had been anxiously awaiting spring to start treks to the local garden center.

Mother Nature, being who she is, has decided to toss in the possibility of snow this week. Long-term residents of the Lake Tahoe Basin have their advice to new gardeners. Many advise no planting until after Memorial Day while others say Father's Day. With a son whose birthday is June 7, I know all too well the number of snow-covered birthday parties he has seen in his life.

The forecast calls for the next five nights of having lows below freezing. If that wasn't enough, it also calls for a chance of up to an inch of snow and wind. These three things together can cause damage to your garden.

Most perennials in the garden will fair better than the annuals and newly planted color, but there are some important tasks to undertake before the cold weather system comes to the mountains Thursday morning.

"You need to do something," said Jose Gonzalez, manager of Tahoe Outdoor Living Garden Center. "Ideally the plants should come inside."

Knowing this isn't possible for things in the ground, Gonzalez offers these tips:

- Cover shrubs and plants with a frost cloth. It will give them ventilation while also protecting them from the wind which he says can be worse than the snow.

- New plants, vegetables, and annuals need protection. Brind inside if possible.

- If you don't have a frost cloth, create a cover. Tahoe Outdoor Living is making frames out of PVC pipe, secured with rebar. The team at the nursery will then cover with tarps. Many of their plants can also be moved under the wooden shelves that display them. Keeping things closer to the ground is important too as the ground retains heat longer.

- If using a tarp or frost cloth it is important they do not touch the flowers.

- Wind and windchill are the most detrimental to plants. If tarping be prepared for wind as well as the weight of rain and snow.

Some plants are stronger than others and can survive a quick cold spell, wind, and snow. If plants are from prior years they may experience some burning on the leaves, and those previously planted trees and shrubs aren't going to die and normally survive. That isn't necessarily the case for annuals.

While daffodils are normally tough, tulips can lose their flowers in weather like this week. Pansies and violas can usually survive. All of these are perennials.

Gonzalez said he has been helping customers this week and suggesting they postpone their new purchases until the storm passes unless they can be stored inside.