I've heard it said that spring moves in our direction at a rate of 13 miles/day. So the differences between New York City and Connecticut seem right on. Local variations, microclimates, are often interesting, in the sense of astonishing. When I gardened in Wilton Connecticut a friend's garden less than 10 or so miles away in Georgetown Connecticut was consistently colder, about 6 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. So Ellie had earlier frost in fall, and later frost in spring. Prior to that garden I lived in Norwalk Connecticut, closer to Long Island Sound. The move to Wilton, 8 miles inland and behind the Merritt Parkway's ridge made a large difference between those two gardens. (The second one had that quasi- mythical high organic, moist yet well drained soil. How I hated to leave! Now I'm in western New Jersey, just a couple of miles from the Delaware River. So further south, but with clay soil. Orientation, solar orientation that is, is another major factor in my opinion. Yesterday's snow squall left a dusting of snow on the ground. By early (8:30 a.m.) morning the snow was gone from the sunnier side of the road, still present on the shady side (where, naturally, our house and garden are located.) Sometimes this shadier site is helpful. Cooler conditions keep slightly tender plants from premature growth that gets nailed by a frost - Arisaema ringens has not been slapped back because it sensibly waits to emerge, influenced by the generally cooler conditions. regards, Judy at Bellewood Garden http://www.bellewood-gardens.com/