If it were the computer problem, I would have a couple of choices. I could either try to wait it out or try the old reboot the system trick.
In the garden, there is no chance that I, mere mortal that I am, can reboot the system, so I simply have to wait for Gaia to decide what is next. But, I can make some preparations for what I believe will happen next - - it is truly going to get cold and the ground will eventually freeze.
Most gardeners in zone 4a expect a good snow cover to protect their plants in winter, so they are not used to seeing what appears to be healthy foliage of Heuchera, Tiarella, Pulmonaria and hardy Geraniums among the ruins of the Hosta plants, sensitive ferns and lily foliage. Surely these plans will all be killed when a blue norther finally blows its icy chill down on them.
As a transplanted zone 6b gardener, I know that the plants showing foliage now are those that had evergreen foliage in warmer places. If we ever bothered to go out and dig beneath their blanket of white, we would find out that they are evergreen beneath the snow too. Usually, they are only cut down by an open winter (no appreciable snow cover) and our usual winter minimum temperatures in the vicinity of -30 degrees.
Remember that the biggest reason we mulch is to affect the conditions at the end of the winter. Once the sun begins to return and the snows begin to melt, there will be that winter/spring intersection where the soil surface thaws in the day's heat and refreezes after dark. This can go on for several weeks before the last of the frost is out of the ground and normal growth can resume. We all know what destruction this freeze/thaw cycling does to our roads and streets. It is just as destructive to the roots of plants. A good mulch keeps the ground cold when the sun is out so surface thawing doesn't happen until the weather is more settled and less likely to freeze hard again at night. This protects plants that have not yet established strong, deep roots that go below the frost line. When the weather catches us before we have the mulch down, we can just put it down when we can - even on top of the snow. The winter's end will be the same: the mulch will keep the surface from thawing during the day.
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