Winter aconite in winter

Winter aconite is one of the first plants to flower. Indeed, it's so hardy and rarin' to bloom that I've sometimes spotted its cheery yellow blossoms under a scrim of snow in late-February. This year, of course, there was more than a foot of snow covering the hard-frozen ground at the end of last month, but finally, a few days ago, enough of the snowpack had melted that I found a hint of aconite leaves pushing out of the old leaf litter. When I took a closer look, I also found some welcome yellow globes that, in a day or so, would open. There were several aconite blossoms glorying the landscape yesterday, but then, overnight, the warmish, salamander rains changed to sleet, then freezing rain, then a final burst of blinding snow. We only wound up with about an inch, and when it was finished, the temperature plunged. No real problem for the aconites: they simply closed up shop, hunkered down, and waited for better days... and nights.