Frost Images

Certain problems accompany the desire to get great frost pictures.  Leaving the warm house just after sunrise is not an easy way to start the day.  Inertia and a cup of hot tea hold me inside.  I did venture out this morning but it was to late to get crisp pictures.  Warmth from the sun had started to soften the frost by the time I finally went outside.  Great frost pictures will have to wait for another day.  These are worth a look.

First year strawberry plants were thinned from the bed several weeks ago.  Trashing them seemed wrong so they were placed in a dish pan.  Pushed together in a clump without soil, they still look to be in great condition.  Bright red leaf color keeps them out of the trash.

Extreme cold finds the roof of the car.  The thin metal surface at some distance from the warmth of the ground is the coldest surface around.  Sunlight may have degraded these frost crystals prior to the photo.  Feathery frost formations will have to be recorded just after sunrise.  That has not happened yet.

Wood betony and weeds are the subjects here.  Quack grass is a formidable enemy.  Reducing its numbers is an ongoing quest.  We have given up hope of ever eradicating it here.

These deep fossils are a favorite subject. It's amazing how the frost brings out the details.

The hens and chicks are on top of a stone wall near the house.  Residual warmth limited frost growth here. Delicate white frost outlines each leaf making the plant structure an interesting subject.

Colors In Combination

Now that our gardening skills have progressed to the point where we only kill some of the plants some of the time, it is time to try new things. Placing plants in proximity so that attractive color combinations present themselves seemed a good place to start. Dark Landini lilies have proved hardy here. White Simplon lily bulbs were planted with the Landinis. Both lilies survived the Mother's Day freeze so expectations ran high that we would see dark and white lilies bloom together. As in comedy, timing is everything. Simplon lilies are in bloom here now. Landini lilies finished blooming here weeks ago. Both were beautiful in their solitary displays.

The purple flowers are wood betony, Stachys officinalis. In the photo the combination of purple and white looks sharp. In the garden the white lilies are chest high while the purple betony is ankle high. Prior to the photo I never saw both colors together.



Red and white are easy colors to mix. Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis had planted itself in this spot. The location has proved a good one producing enough plants to transplant elsewhere. Adding the Leucanthemun "Fiona Coghall" seemed worth a try. Since both plants have been here long enough for us to know their bloom time, this combination worked. I guess the lesson learned is that it is easier to succeed if you have some actual information to anchor your plans.