I do not think this winter is exceptionally cold, especially in Central Europe. Temps down to -25 C are completely nomal here. The pictures you show originate mainly from the mountains of mediterranean region known for extreme snowfall (Romania, Bosnia). May be, the extent of cold towards west and south is exceptional, I do not know. Rather atumn's end and first half of winter were exceptionally warm in this part o the world, almost without freezing. My cyclamens (coum) started to bloom first days of January. Before the frost arrival, snowdrops (G. elwesii and ikariae) were well developed, just before blooming. Soon I will see the damages, if any. All plants are in the open garden, of course. Intriguing will be the fate of my Ipheions. Directly from Uruguay..... Those who have never lived in similar climate I inform that ground is deeply frozen in my garden now, down to may be 50 cm deep. And the bulbs have to survive this condition. And many do. They will also have to survive the thaw period when they will be temporarily soaked in water out of melting snow. Yet, in order to protect the bulbs, I plant them deep. For instance cyclamens I plant at least 5 cm deep though I try to plant more than 10 cm deep. Those who believe that deep planting of cyclamen tubers kills the plant I invite to my garden. Jacek, Poland, zone 6 Dnia 15-02-2012 o godz. 22:02 Lee Poulsen napisał(a): > Just saw this photo essay about the really cold weather Europe has had > over the past two weeks: > <http://time.com/time/photogallery/…>. While > we've been complaining about everything leafing out and blooming way too > early over here, it appears a number of places in Europe have had some > really cold weather recently. Snow in Rome and Istanbul, 14°F > temperatures in Zone 8 France and Netherlands. I hope no one has lost > any of their plants. > > --Lee Poulsen > Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a > Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/