Along with much of the continental United States, my garden has been stuck in freezer mode since Saturday morning. There hasn’t been snow, per se, but instead, the wintry mix weather folk like to talk about. The sleet started over night Saturday into Sunday, the thin blanket of ice covering everything, everywhere, all at once (with apologies to that worthy Academy Award winner of a few years ago).
Here in Austin, we’d experienced one light freeze before this deeper, longer one, prompting my check for the swirly ice sculptures which give native plant Frostweed, Verbesina virginica, its name. No ice capades appeared in my garden during that first freeze, but this deeper freeze delivered a dramatic frost show–but on only one of my Frostweed plants. Usually each plant produces its own icy artwork–ranging from bombastic to minimalist–but this winter, one of my largest and oldest specimens was the sole artist-in-residence.
The beauty of the ice, fragile and ephemeral, belies the rather violent nature of the super frozen moisture as it bursts through the plant’s stem structure, destroying limbs of the now-ended growing season. Frostweed is done; I will prune the remains to the ground soon. In a matter of weeks, spring will beckon, fresh growth will emerge, and the cycle for a new year of foliage, blooms, seeds, and ice flowers will commence.
The ice sculptures are called many names: ice flowers, ice ribbons, frost flowers, and more; my favorite of the nicknames is ice beards.
On less swirly–though still slippery–ice, this this Fox Squirrel, enjoyed some scattered seeds and peanuts for breakfast these past mornings.
Birds are also busy at the seeds, though this White-winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica, was content to chill in the chill.
One of the winter warblers hanging out in my garden, a darling Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, is unfazed by the cold. He bopped around the garden, nibbling on this-n-that, dashing to shrubs and trees for protection.
Once this freeze is history, I’ll assess the damage to the garden. I don’t expect any permanent problems, as I choose tough plants to grow. But winter pruning must begin this week and the next 6 to 8 weeks are my busiest time in the garden. The goal of pruning completion is the first week of March; wish me good luck with that!
Winter has left its impression the garden.
My Gardener Says... 
Loved everything about this – the frost curls, the birds, the leaf impression… just great! I’m south of I-10, so I’ll have to be content just admiring your finds.
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Thanks, Sam! No ice for you? I hadn’t looked at a map, but assumed most of Texas was chillier than normal.
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Yay, you finally got your frostweed ice! It went pretty high up on the stalks of the plant, too. Your frostweed must have been saving up for the grand finale by not doing anything on the occasions when others of its ilk did.
As for ice beards, I know one that’s been out on recent freezing winter mornings, and it’s even the right color.
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I did–and those swirls reached even higher on the limbs than my photo showed. They were something! It is weird that it was the only frostweed that performed. Janet (a few comments below) said the same thing, that hers didn’t do much. I wonder if the drought has anything to do with the lack water from the stems. It makes some sense. I don’t water much, so mine mostly get what comes from the sky and this year, that’s been precious little. Hmmm.
I take it that it’s your beard…?
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Yes, to your last sentence.
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The high excitement here was thunder sleet early Sunday morning — and a very few snowflakes this morning. I do mean ‘few’ — the National Weather Service office photographed the event, but their images showed a half dozen flakes at the most.
Whether we had frostweed ice locally is possible but unlikely. What I hadn’t counted on was icy roads between me and the local nature center, and the closure of the center because of the ice. Having a garden is so much more convenient! I’m glad you got good production from your plant, though. Now it’s really time to begin thinking of spring — although I hear we may have another freeze next weekend.
I’m always surprised when I see birds sitting in the snow, but I suppose those feathers are just the ticket for staying warm. I saw my chickadees, cardinals, bluejays, and doves today, and the lone little warbler that comes regularly to the feeder. Otherwise, it’s quiet as can be. The skies have cleared, so we’ll be even colder tonight, but the one huge Hawaiian schefflera that had to stay outside is covered and a couple of light bulbs are tucked in with it. Nothing but the best!
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Hi, we have alot of frostweed on our property in Bastrop county, which has been in a drought for a while. We had absolutely none of our frostweed do their frost trick, nor did it happen several days ago when it also dipped into the 20’s. Weird.
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Clearly, the most predictable thing about nature is its unpredictability!
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Yours did the same thing as mine. It is weird. All I can figure is that it’s the drought and there just isn’t much extra water in the stems.
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I saw a really interesting video about how birds handle cold. They have so many adaptations, that it really has to be cold for them to truly feel it.
We’re also in for another two nights of freezes (low 20s tonight) and another front over the weekend. I can’t complain, it’s January. But, I was hoping for a mild winter, so that I wouldn’t have to prune so much in the coming 6 weeks. I must be getting old…:)
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Frostweed is so dramatic, talk about a grand finale! Your puffed up birds are so sweet. 💕 Wishing you well on your spring chores… and today I was thinking happily that our last frost is ONLY 3 months away! 😀
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It really was a grand finale. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the ice swirls so far up the stems!
Three months! I’ll be wearing shorts by then. Heck, I was wearing shorts 4 days ago! Read lots of nice books and take lots of gorgeous photos!!
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👍🏼
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