Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
February has found me delighted to find and photograph some of my favorite things that occur this time of year. Two cheerful early bloomers and some hoar frost! What I can’t stop calling “Hoary Frost” with a “-y”, maybe because another name for it is “Hairy frost” because that is what it looks like.
Frost & Ice:
I’ve been trying to get a good picture of this phenomenon for a while now. This type of frost occurs when you have a sudden freeze on a clear cold night. Because I live in Western Washington where we often have damp foggy air we only get the opportunity for this type of frost a few times of year. Once the sun rises the delicate structure of hair-like ice strands quickly melt.
I found this hoar frost on the leeward side of my giant mulch pile the morning after a clear cold night where temperatures reached nearly 20°F (-6°C).
More pictures of the Hoar/Hairy frost:
The birdbath turned into a frozen explosion of water.
This Begonia leaf is feeling frosty.
My two favorite early bloomers:
Pink Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’)
This beauty doesn’t just look amazing, it also smells amazing! When I was at the garden nursery a few years back I smelled it before I saw it. Once I saw it, I had to take it home. I dragged the 20lb pot across half the length of the nursery in the rain before I finally found a cart to put it on!
and the unscented…
Common Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginica var. macrophylla)
These two witch-hazel trees are outside the Woodinville, Washington library on the west side of the building.
Snowdrop failure?
I planted some Snowdrops this last Fall, but I haven’t seen any of them yet. I’m starting to wonder if the area I put them in is too dry or if the squirrels had a very Merry Christmas buffet of the bulbs.
Have a good rest of your week!
Reminder: Next Photo Submission
Ferns and/or Unexpected Blooms
Due: February 28th
To be posted on: March 1st
The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines
Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.)
Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with your photo. Pictures must be your own or you have permission from the Photographer to share it. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. This is a free, fun, community site about nature. Non-commercial and ad free.
The Nature-led Life 
Your pictures of hoar frost are fascinating! Living in Florida, I don’t ever see that. And I love the viburnum and witch hazel. I am impressed with the quality of your photos that reveals all these wonders in detail. Thank you!
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Thank you, Lisa! Believe it or not, I mostly use my iPhone 8 for most pictures because I’m lazy and one almost always has their phone in their pocket, right? It’s amazing how far cameras on phones have come! I am frustrated though as my battery is dying and its only now that I realize that this generation of phones doesn’t allow for battery replacement on an otherwise perfectly good working piece of technology. I already intended to do a post about the ‘right-to-repair’ and merits of universal design, this is just more motivation.
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My father used to call that “planned obsolescence.” It keeps businesses in business–but I don’t like it one bit. I wish things would be built to last.
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Yes, that’s it! We can counter it with sensible diversification though. I always want people to remember their own power. A business’s success depends on its consumers (or lack there of) to navigate their strategies.
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ooh! some of my faves, too, but which don’t like my climate.
But you may have noticed…there is often something looks like the one you can’t have. That said, many of my loves are, like myself, very unconfdortable in tropical climes! Win some, lose some!
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Thanks, Dinah! The world would be pretty boring if we didn’t have diversity throughout the world. I really must get to your continent someday! 🙂
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It will be some time here before we have any real blooms, but if this warm weather keeps up the bulbs, which are already well up… will be blooming WAY before Easter. I’m hearing we many hit low 60’s by week’s end. In February?
Hoar frost fascinates me. We don’t get that here. And I adore common witch-hazel. Looks great in very tall vases. Happy Hearts Day to you too.
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I’m surprised you don’t get the rare occasion for Hoar frost there. I thought you were in PA. Can’t imagine hitting 60s this early either! Some people are saying these blooms are early, but they seem right on schedule to me. I had to guesstimate when the Witch-hazel had bloomed and I feel like I was almost too late. Thank you, as always, for coming by and saying “Hi!”
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I love the photo prompt for this month! I need to get really creative with that one. Nothing’s blooming outside here. We still have a couple of feet of snow. Great pictures of hoar frost!
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I imagine you’ve got some nice ferns around there though! Maybe some old pictures come to mind? It still counts as nature if some resourceful person has to go take an indoor nursery center to get a picture. Ha,ha,ha Thanks, Mark! I hope to see what you can offer!
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Things will start to melt in the next week or so. I may be able to find some Christmas ferns that actually stay green all year round even when they get buried. And, there always in the nursery!
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Excellent photos, Melanie! I love a hoar frost – not nice to be out in, but so pretty.
Thank you for the reminder to take some pictures.
Sx
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You’re welcome! I’m used to surviving frosty situations. At least hoar frost looks pretty! 🙂
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I love the hoar frost photos–I’ve never actually seen any, only in photos. No blooms here yet…(K)
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I know you to be a creative person, Kerfe! I’m certain you can come up with something interesting! Nature-led, is nature-inspired. I’m open to broad interpretations.
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I’ll see what I can come up with.
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