Frost and Early Blooms

February 13, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 16 Comments

Pink Dawn Viburnum Flower cluster Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

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:

Hoar Frost 1 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

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:

Hoar Frost2 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

Hoar Frost3 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

The birdbath turned into a frozen explosion of water.

Frozen Birdbath Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

This Begonia leaf is feeling frosty.

Frost on a Begonia Leaf Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

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!

Pink Dawn Viburnum Early Bloom Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

Pink Dawn Early Bloom2 Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

and the unscented…

Common Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginica var. macrophylla)

Common Witch-hazel Wide View Feb 2023 By Melanie Reynolds

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.

January Submissions: Moss & Lichen

February 1, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 19 Comments

How did we get to the January already?!?! I feel as though the days evaporated into the time-space continuum and here we are now on February 1st. Thank you to everyone who was able to make the time to offer us their pictures of moss and/or lichen!

Lichen Village on a Fence By Mary King Woodinville WA USA Jan 2023

I love Mary’s creativity in referring to this as a “Lichen Village”, it really inspires the imagination and remind us that all things are part of a community.

Lichen on a moss-covered rock By Lisa Troute South Florida USA Jan2023

Yellow and White Lichen By Dinah Vancouver BC Canada https://moreidlethoughts.wordpress.com/

Shrieking Pit Lichen By IDV Norfolk England UK Jan 2023 https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/

More from the Shrieking Lichen Pit By IDV Norfolk England UK Jan 2023 https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/

lichen, any of about 15,000 species of plantlike organisms that consist of a symbiotic association of algae (usually green) or cyanobacteria and fungi (mostly ascomycetes and basidiomycetes). Lichens are found worldwide and occur in a variety of environmental conditions.

_{Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “lichen”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Dec. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/lichen. Accessed 1 February 2023.}

Lichen Rock By Kerfe Asheville NC US Jan 2023 https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ & https://kblog.blog/

Mostly Moss…

Moss and Butterflies By Kerfe Asheville NC US Jan 2023 (Flipped) https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ & https://kblog.blog/

Ball of Moss By Lisa Troute South Florida USA Jan 20223 (Maybe Spanish Moss baby?)

Moss on Pine By Cathy Litchfield North Carolina USA Jan 2023 grounded-wisdom.com

Mossy Hedgebank By Ms Scarlet Devon England UK https://wonky-words.com/blog/

A Glimpse of the Shrieking Pit By IDV Norfolk England UK Jan 2023 https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/

I’m ready for my closeup By IDV Norfolk England UK Jan 2023 https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/

I’ve been to Japan many times but one of my favorite memories is when I was honored to stay at my friend Keiko’s house and her dad showed me his lovely tsubo-niwa (a small courtyard garden). When he showed me the tweezers he uses to pluck out rogue grass I had a funny thought; in Japan they favor the moss and not the grass and in the United States they favor the grass and not the moss. Personally, I’m with the Japanese on this. I prefer moss and clover over to big plots of lawn grass.

Here’s one of my favorite videos about the art of tsubo-niwa by NHK World Video:

Tsubo-niwa: Life Enhanced by Quintessential Spaces Language: English, Japanese, Chinese, Espanol Runtime: 28mins

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2029065/?

In closing, I’d like to thank Lisa Troute for providing us with this interesting article about moss itself.

The Many Meanings of Moss: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/03/the-many-meanings-of-moss?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-2022-0102-01022023&om_rid=58020d8ae1f1e8bc8e1d99bbd88cbfce9d1d1a142b3954bba64b94e6bf720408&~campaign=hist-inside-history-2022-0102

Thank you to everyone that participated in this month’s photo submission request! It’s not a competition, you all have my love and gratitude!

Next up:

Ferns and/or Unexpected Blooms

Due: February 28th

To be posted on: March 1st

The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines

Last Call for January: Moss & Lichen Pictures

January 30, 2023 ~ melaniereynolds ~ 7 Comments

^{Raindrops on Moss By Melanie Reynolds Washington State, USA.}

Do I need more pictures of moss and lichen? Well, maybe not, but then again does a book lover ever really have enough books? I can’t imagine having too many books or pictures of nature! So, if you were planning on submitting moss and/or lichen pictures for this January’s photo submission request here is your last chance!

January: Moss and Lichen

Due: Tomorrow, January 31st

Photos will be posted sometime during the day of Feb 1st Pacific Standard Time (PST)

I’m in the last time zone on the planet so this works to your advantage. For Example: The Eastern side of North America is 3 hours ahead of me, most of Europe is 8 hours ahead of me and Asia is 16-17 hours ahead of me. You could in theory send me a picture on the morning of Feb 1st your time and I would still receive it early enough on Jan 31st my time to include it, because time is relative.

Next Photo Submission:

February: Unexpected Blooms and/or Ferns

Due: February 28

Photos will be posted sometime during the day of March 1st PST

The Fine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines

Thank you!

Thank you very much to our Nature-Led friends Lisa Troute, IDV, Dinah, and Cathy Litchfield who have already submitted their Moss and Lichen for the month! If you sent in multiple photos rest assured that at least one or two of your photos will be shared! I may not share them all though.