Frost Flowers, Hair Ice

Hair Ice and New Year’s

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Happy New Year!

Over the last few mornings, we had a lovely little stretch where conditions were suitable for hair ice (frost flowers) to grow.

That does not mean “lovely” for tromping around in the woods, since it has to be slightly below freezing, but these beauties are worth some discomfort!

A stick "grows" perfect white locks of ice that look like a wig

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I prefer “frost flowers” as the term for these… but I’m reluctantly caving in to the reality that “hair ice” is both more frequently used, and more apt for most of the formations.

The same stick, zoomed out some so that the whole stick shows. One stick in a large heap of sticks and leaves is growing snowy curving locks of "hair"

The thaw is on now, so these pictures are New Year’s Eve hair ice, not New Year’s Day hair ice.

A hair ice formation cuts diagonally across the central frame. The stick is completely hidden, so it looks like gently curling white hair with a central part

Around here (south Puget Sound), hair ice “grows” on 2-3 year dead alder twigs and branches. The locks of the last couple days have been especially long, probably because the temperature has lingered just below freezing for hours.

When there is more of a cold snap, the formations can be cut short.

Short and long waves of snowy white hair ice

Often, larger sticks mean longer hair ice locks, but under optimal conditions even a skinny stick can grow impressive formations.

In this example, a slim stick 1-2 cm diameter grows hair ice 10-fold the length. Probably most of the moisture has extruded!

A stick covered with snowy white hair ice locks angles across a backdrop of moss and dead leaves. The stick is completely obscured by the snowy white hair-like formations.

I admit that I enjoy the especially lush growths, where thousands of ice hairs form a graceful formation.

However, it’s easier to see what’s going on in the sparser formations.

A large stick with some moss supports a narrow band of hair ice, each filament visible against the dark backdrop

In an acre of alder woods, I might see 5-10 sticks with really nice hair ice, and the same number again that are small or poorly formed.

A hair ice formation looks closer to cotton fluff than hair. It is growing from a fat old stick with lightly frosted blackberry leaves and dead grass clustered around. An alder cone cluster is visible just next to the formation.

We have been amazingly lucky in that both homes Rob and I have had together (Port Angeles and Olympia WA) have supported hair ice growth.

Alder groves+maritime climate with occasional frost=hair ice!

Glossy white locks grow from a narrow stick angled across a sword fern leaf

I found my first “home” hair ice 10 years ago, 12/30/2015, at the house we lived in at Port Angeles. 

Here is one of the handful of formations I found that day.

Glossy white locks grow from a narrow stick angled across a sword fern leaf

The first hair ice I ever saw was actually on a hike on the Olympic Peninsula.

The first hair ice I ever saw was actually on a hike on the Olympic Peninsula the previous winter, 1/3/2015.

It was at a camp site by the Elwha River.

I had never seen anything like them, bits of cotton fluff scattered around.

This is still one of my favorite formations!

The first hair ice I ever saw was actually on a hike on the Olympic Peninsula.

Because they are only out when it’s unpleasantly cold, your odds of running across them randomly like this are not good.

However, now that I know what to look for, I am out at dawn on every frosty morning.

I feel very lucky to have these to share!

May the new year hold many such little joys for you!

May there be previous moments and unexpected beauty.

Best wishes for the New Year!

A large cottony cluster of hair ice grows from near the top of a stick. It looks like lightly teased curly white hair.
Frost Flowers, Hair Ice

First Frost Flowers of the Season!

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We had our first hard frost last night — much later than usual! — and with it, the first frost flowers/hair ice of the season.

A stick "grows" a large cluster of hair-like ice crystals, so it looks like it is wrapped in lightly curled/cow-licked white locks

Hair ice is more apt for most of the formations — especially because the frost effectively “grows” from the stick — but I admit I like the aesthetics of “frost flowers” better.

Closer image of frost that looks like snowy locks

This rare phenomenon usually occurs at least a few times each winter in our area.

It requires: sodden twigs that have been colonized by a certain fungus and temperatures that go from above freezing the previous day to just a couple/few degrees below to “grow” the crystals.

A twig with a split in the bark "grows" silky-looking white locks all along the split

There weren’t many frost flowers this time — it was only just barely cold enough, so only the most exposed candidate sticks grew the formations. 

It is lovely to have any, though!

A floret of frost grows from the end of a stick

If you want to learn more, I did a more detailed blog post a couple years ago:

Late Frost Flowers
Gardening, Life

Solstice, Winter and Summer

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Here at the solstice, in the dark of winter, I am dreaming of my garden at the summer solstice.

Here is a snapshot of what was in bloom within a week of the summer solstice.

First up, breadseed poppies and feverfew.

Vertically-framed shot with two burgundy poppies with their faces showing. The focus is on the one center and slightly lower left. It has a yellowish central structure that will become the seedpod, surrounded by creamy-yellow stamens. The burgundy petals are darker near the center, and are gracefully cupped to form a loose goblet shape. The poppies are surrounded by green, and a cluster of daisy-like flowers with white petals and yellow centers. These are feverfew.

Breadseed poppies bloom for a relatively short window — each flower only lasts a couple days — but they can put on an impressive show when they’re in flower!

And in the autumn you get neat seedpods that hold the poppy seeds used in baking.

A bright red poppy with petals with a cut edge and dark purple-black "thumb prints" at the base is in the middle frame. It is bracketed by three burgundy poppies. Pink foxgloves and blue hydrangeas are visible in the background.

I tried a few new flowers this year. All of them were somewhat successful, and I will be growing most of them next spring.

Here, California bluebells and Bird’s-eye gilia join in a beautiful but ephemeral display. 

Both are wildflowers, so they have a short but spectacular bloom in late spring.

This picture shows many small flowers. The larger flowers are an intense medium blue with tiny white stamen dots in the middle. They have five petals that form an open scalloped cup. The smaller flowers also have five petals, but the petals are more distinct from each other. The smaller flowers have a pale lavender base color, but they darken to deep purple at the center, with a yellow central throat. This and the brilliant white stamen dots give a sense of depth to the tiny blooms

This is Schizanthus, with the rather rude common name of poor man’s orchid. It is quite beautiful, and unlike the bluebells and Gilia it continues to bloom all summer.

It also looks good both close up and from a distance, which is not always true.

The copper on the pot is to keep slugs away.

A pot with a copper band holds a tall, vertically growing mass of flowers in shades of pink and purple. Each small flower is symmetrical horizontally but not vertically, giving an impression of little butterflies or orchids. The base color is either pale pink or pale pink-lavender. The pale pink flowers have a strong yellow forehead; the purple-toned ones have a smaller yellow forehead, but strong dark purple markings above.

Signet marigolds are one of my favorite annuals.

I grow them in big pots, three plants to a pot. They don’t photograph especially well, but they bring lots of life and color. Close up, the reds are my favorites, but the orange and yellow form a tapestry with the other flowers.

A series of staggered pots of flowers and plants, with a gate and fence made of field posts in the background. The foremost pot is full of bright marigolds with lots of tiny flowers in shades or medium orange and burgundy. The next layers is pots of green, mint and a snapdragon not yet blooming. Beyond are more marigolds, lemon yellow this time. In the background there are more layers of marigolds and greenery.

In gardening, everyone draws the line between weeds and flowers in a different spot.

For me, mullein is definitely on the “flower” side. This one is just getting started. They become a handsome 3-5 foot spike, and the birds love the seeds!

Feverfew and foxglove behind.

A spike of flowers is just getting started. It is growing from a floret of gray-green fuzzy leaves, most of which are below the image. The opening flowers are lemon yellow, and above them is a compact spike that hints at dozens of flowers to come. Behind is a bank of white and yellow flowers -- feverfew -- and a few pink spikes off to the right -- foxglove.

Some flowers photograph beautifully.

For others, a photo just does not capture their charm.

Here, gentian sage rises in front of agastache, with signet marigolds in the background.

Sages and agastaches in general are charming — especially in person!

Blue flowers with almost an alligator mouth look (long forehead, long lower jaw) rise off of a stalk on the left. Behind are slim stalks carrying clusters of apricot-marmalade trumpet-shaped flowers. Beyond is a cluster of lemon yellow marigolds

And Chantilly snapdragons!

I grew these from seed last spring, but unlike the others they are not true annuals. They often overwinter in our climate, and I have also discovered you can take cuttings! I have a bunch of babies in the basement.

Several flowers of varying color are stacked up a single closer spike. Each flower has five petals, but is vertically oriented, so it has two petals as a forehead and three as the lower face. The bottom-most flowers are bright yellow-orange. The topmost are a soft orange-pink.

Thank you for coming on this tour of my summer solstice garden!

A bank of poppies with gray-green foliage and deep burgundy flowers. On the left is a stand of flowers with fine-cut yellow-green foliage and lots of little white and yellow daisy-like flowers. This is feverfew. A couple spikes of pink foxglove show at the right and in the background.

I will be growing all of these again… and I may have ordered a dozen or two packets of seed to try in addition.

Happy solstice, and know the light will be longer tomorrow! 

Uncategorized

Thanksgiving

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I know that this is a difficult day for many, for historic/justice reasons, for personal/family reasons, or just because they are going through a lonely time.

To those for whom it is difficult:

I hope you can find another day to enjoy good food with friends and family.

Glorious fire-engine-red poppy with a cut edge to the petals against a backdrop of feverfew: little daisy-like flowers with yellow centers and white petals

If things look bleak and lonely at present, please remember that life is change. Please hang in there, and know that the world is richer with you in it.

May you find people to enjoy the good times with, and may there be lots of good times!

Purplish poppy glowing in the sun. Cut-edged petals surround a golden and cream center.

If your family is difficult or problematic, may you have found family, now or in the future, to bring you joy!

Perhaps things will get better with your first family… but even if it doesn’t, it does not mean you have to be without family!

Sometimes things can be repaired, but sometimes not.

A clear orange sulphur cosmos with slightly ribbed petals against a backdrop of silvery wormwood. A few bright red-orange stars of signet marigolds are visible in the background

I love the spirit of Thanksgiving: getting together with loved ones to share a good meal and contemplate the good in life.

We never lived close to my extended family, so it was always a happy group cobbled together from friends and friends-of-friends.

A cosmos with dramatic curving pink petals, with a dark pink picot border and a pale pink interior. Two orange and black beetles are mating on one of the petals

Since COVID, we have kept a small Thanksgiving with my parents. That year we met on the porch to swap goodies, and then went home. I appreciate each additional year when I can enjoy Thanksgiving with my parents in their home. They are in their 80s, and that era may be coming to an end.

Three bright simple signet marigold flowers against a backdrop of pale yellow-green geranium foliage. A small bee is visiting one of the flowers. The marigolds are a clear golden yellow, with a little burgundy mark that looks like it was made with a paintbrush at the base of each petal

I have much to be thankful for, and today I will be happy to contemplate those blessings, large and small.

These photos are a few favorites from summers past. Flowers and nature are two of the great small joys in my life, and I love sharing them with you.

May you have a wonderful day!

A dramatic orange-red sulphur cosmos spangled with raindrops, against a green backdrop with a few daisy-like feverfew in the lower right. The cosmos has a brilliant orange-red overlaid over the orange base. It gives a delicate painted look
Gardening

Growing Notes: Coreopsis

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I have grown coreopsis before, starting it indoors on the theory that it was a hot weather plant that needed heat to get a good start.

I quite enjoyed the dwarf mix I got a year or two ago, but they started blooming late, and the plants were very leggy… so I decided I probably didn’t have enough sun, and wouldn’t grow them this year.

I mentioned elsewhere that I tried Schizanthus (Poor Man’s Orchid) this year, direct sown into large pots.

Mid-spring, I noticed that some of the “Schizanthus” clumps were not like the others. In fact, they looked suspiciously like coreopsis!

I had reused the soil, and apparently my extra layer of coir/perlite/vermiculite to guarantee a clean base was just thick enough to make the coreopsis happy.

The result is a lovely airy cloud of color.

This is definitely the way to do coreopsis!

I’ll be trying to deliberately reproduce this serendipity next winter.

Wish me luck!

Gardening

Growing Notes: Salpiglossis

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Another of the flowers that I am trying this year are Salpiglossis. They are cousins of the petunias, and can be quite spectacular.

A flower face that looks somewhat like a more open petunia trumpet, with a complex and brilliant design with a purple background, yellow center, and fine veining of burgundy over all

Although you can direct-sow them, the best option for large plants is to start them inside.

They’re a bit fussy to start inside, so I’m not sure whether I’ll grow them next year. I love the stained-glass flowers, but in the mix I used, the yellow is more common and floriferous… pretty, but I have other yellows in the garden that are a lot less fussy to grow.

A cluster of several flowers similar to petunias with a more open trumpet. Pale yellow with a dark yellow overlay

I really like the jewel-tones that some of them have, though.

An open bloom with a medium-purple background, yellow center almost completely hidden by a heavy bright purple overlay that tends towards burgundy in the middle. It glows.

We’ll see how my energy level is doing next spring!

I really appreciated the growing notes provided by Growing with Plants! I recommend the article if you want to give these a try, but a few key points are that the darkness germination requirement is probably nonsense, keep them fairly cool, use a dry/moist cycle, and use petunia fertilizer.

I might have fared better if I had found these notes before I had started my seeds for the year!

In the coming weeks, I’ll wait for each new bloom to open, to see what its patterning will be.

Gardening

Growing Notes: Breadseed Poppies

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Breadseed poppy season has properly arrived!

Here in the Pacific Northwest it tends to start in late June, and then continue intermittently for a month or so.

This is the umpty-ninth descendent of a Lauren’s Purple. I think the color is still pretty true… it’s a gorgeous burgundy.

A large burgundy poppy bloom in front of a backdrop of little white daisy-like flowers with yellow centers. The poppy. has a yellow star-marked central structure, surrounded by a halo of slightly dusky cream stamens

Feverfew in the background.

Here is the poppy bed. Here in the Puget Sound area, I usually sprinkle out the poppy seeds in January of February. They sprout in a few weeks, then sit and do nothing for a couple months. It gives them a stronger start, though.

A dozen burgundy poppy blooms floating above slightly gray-green foliage. Some feverfew (white and yellow) shows in the foreground. Foxgloves, rose campion, and blue hydrangeas are visible in the background

The one catch is that the slugs like them. No red frillies this year, for that reason…

I usually do two beds of poppies, one of the red frillies and one of the purples. For some reason the slug pressure on the reds was very high this year, and I wasn’t on top of dealing with it. Next year I will take measures early and thoroughly!

Breadseed poppies close up at night! Usually just for one night, but still, they have the mechanism.

They can’t re-pack themselves the way they were in the bud, but they close each pair of lips as much as they can (they usually have four symmetrical petals). The inner pair basically acts like a clamshell!

A burgundy breadseed poppy, closed for the night, shot from the top. The two inner petals are closed like a clamshell. The outer petals are as closed as the inner petals permit.

Genetics are always fun!

The cut edge on this one came by way of the cut-edged reds that I usually grow.

A number of burgundy poppies. The middle poppy has deeply cut petals that look like someone took a pair of scissors to them.

It also only has three petals, which is a straight-up mutation. 

Here they are, a side-shot all closed up for the evening. It’s a good thing, because we got a little rain!

Possibly the last for weeks, so every drop is precious. 

Burgundy poppies, closed up clam-like and beaded with water

Breadseed poppies are fun, and if you can allow the seedheads to develop, you can use them for baking! Plus, the seedheads look cool.

Give them a whirl!

Gardening

Growing Notes: Late-Spring Update

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It is time for the late-spring flower update.

Every year I try some new seeds, or try to improve on what has gone before.

Here we have Schizanthus, California Bluebells, and Gilia Tricolor.

Delicate pink flowers with strong burgundy markings and a little yellow forehead float above brilliant blue flowers with white centers. In the bottom is a constellation of pale and mid-purple flowers with ferny foliage

I planted all three species in large pots outside on March 1st, just as the weather started to tilt towards spring. The pots have copper tape around them, since we have a lot of slugs, and our slugs like almost all types of flower babies.

I used large (~12″) pots, and did a cluster of seeds in the center, and three clusters equally spaced around the edge. I did not thin — I think these species really didn’t need it (with the possible exception of the Schizanthus).

The Gilia Tricolor was the first to bloom, opening a few flowers in late May. 

A constellation of delicate purple flowers float in ferny green foliage. The centers are darker than the petals, with five pale stamen dots emphasizing the center.

The pollinators like it!

I think it’s starting to fade — it’s basically a California wildflower, so a relatively short bloom season is to be expected, but it has been a lovely addition to the mid-spring garden.

It has a naturally cascading habit. Next year I think I’ll do a bit more in the way of supports, but it doesn’t break when it bends over.

A cluster of intense blue flowers with delicate white stamen dots held on the end of blue-purple stamen stalks. The center is pale, and the five petals form a delicate scalloped cup.

The California bluebells opened a week or so later, at the start of June.

I had grown them before, but previously I had started them indoors and transplanted them. They did much better direct-sown into their big pot!

Their color is amazing. They really are that blue!

They are still going strong, but I don’t expect them to make it far into July. They are another wildflower that really hasn’t seen any hybridization.

They also have a cascading habit. Some short supports will help control and spread the cascade. I might try a couple more vertical supports for the central cluster next year, to see if I can make more of a mound, but they are lovely as-is.

A delicate winged pale pink flower is in the upper center, with more filling the background. The flower is left-right symmetrical, with a strong top petal, and cut side petals giving it a complicated look. The top petal and the two petals next to it have strong burgundy markings, and the top petal has yellow markings. The effect looks orchid-like, which gives rise the the common name.

The Schizanthus were the last of the three to open, starting just after the CA bluebells. 

I should have staked the Schizanthus early and vigorously; they want to be vertical, and they snap under their own weight when it rains.

The flowers are quite pretty; the common name is “Poor Man’s Orchid.”

I think this one has been hybridized more. We’ll see what the bloom span is like.

So far, the three make good friends, since their bloom period and color range overlap nicely.

Two of the three are basically CA wildflowers, so I expect them to finish fairly soon. Hopefully the Schizanthus will continue into the summer!

I think I’ll grow all three again next year, but with a lot more staking for the Schizanthus.

This year I did one pot of each; next year I’ll multiple the California Bluebells and Gilia Tricolor. They are very pretty at a time when not much is blooming here.

Parks, Travel

Ecola State Park

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Yesterday we took a road trip to see our nephew and poke around the Oregon Coast. We visited Ecola State Park, which is lovely. It is the location of the famous Goonies sea stacks; it also has very beautiful spruce coastal forest.

Looking through near-vertical tree trunks (spruce) to the beach far below. The beach is pale sand, with rocks along the bluff edge. Beyond is surf with protruding sea stacks

Many people just take a picture from the viewpoint, but we took a nice hike through the woods. It tantalized us with glimpses of the beach for over a mile before a steep switchback trail allowed us to descend to the beach.

The trail winds through beautiful coastal Sitka spruce forest. The understory is mostly salal and sword ferns. The forest has some true giants; this was one of my favorites, because of the swooping limb that was itself the size of a tree.

A swooping curve of sitka spruce branch the size of a tree frames a view down the bluff to the sea, where a couple seastacks are visible against the blue and white surf

The beach itself is beautiful, fine pale sand bookended by headlands that have eroded into sea stacks in both directions.

A nearly flat pale-sand beach stretches to a green rolling headland. Shot rocky seastacks extend out into the water. A layer of coastal fog separates the water from the clear blue sky

This picture is back towards the bluff by the parking area. It looks so close, but the actual walk is more than a mile.

It was a pleasant walk, although a bit of a scramble in a couple spots. It would be difficult if you had bad knees.

Here is the view from the bluff near the parking lot. This view is available to all, having excellent access from the parking lot. 

A vividly green bluff slopes steeply down to the water. A curve of surf swoops away to a line of seastacks eroded from the next headland.

There are lots of picnic tables near the parking lot — it would be a lovely spot for a picnic!

We happened to go on Goonies day, so I’m sure there were four times as many people as usual. Even so, once we were out on the trail we only passed the occasional hiker.

Highly recommended!

Gardening, Native Plants, Propagation

Garden Update

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It has been a busy spring: work, life, and a sick kitty conspired to stretch us thin. Things are finally settling down, in time for us to enjoy the lead-up to summer.

The swallowtails have arrived, just in time for the Dame’s Rocket. This is a lovely plant, but invasive in some areas — check before you grow!

A bunch of other things are starting to bloom or just hitting their stride.

The Harsh Paintbrush has been going for a couple weeks now. I grew these from seed two years ago, and am very pleased that they are solidly perennial.

The slugs tend to munch on them when they’re starting to res-route; the copper around the pots eliminates that problem. I’ll be trying to plant some out this year — we’ll see whether I can keep them safe in the spring in the ground!

I also started some baby paintbrushes from some of the plants that bloomed last year. It’s gratifying to have their propagation down — maybe not to nursery standards, but quite solidly enough for home use.

I scarify the seeds in a ziplock back with some damp coconut coir for 6 weeks, then I sprinkle them in a 4″ pot filled with a coir/perlite/vermiculite mixture with a little vermiculite over. They sprouted in just a few days under grow lights in the basement.

About a month on, I use a fork to pull out chunks and stick them in 2″ pots. Then I sprinkle some native yarrow seeds over: these will act as the host plant, since paintbrushes are semi-parasitic. Yarrow sprout fast enough that they catch up nicely, and then they can grow up together.

Unfortunately not everything was so successful.

The native penstemon were getting off to an amazing start after the same scarification and planting regiment as the paintbrushes… but they had a mold attack very early on, and it pretty much destroyed them. I might get one.

Lesson here: plant them more thinly, and maybe don’t use vermiculite over them; I feel like the vermiculite made it worse.

The planting notes for this species do mention that they are susceptible to damping off… so I will be much more careful next time!

One other note on damping off:

I was a good girl and bleached all my pots this year, and it made a big difference (penstemon aside). The only things I had any problems with were my first batch of chocolate cosmos (note to self, they do *not* like being wet — keep them on the dry side until they hit their stride), and the penstemon.

So, lots of success and a few failures this spring.

More notes later! I will resist putting everything in this one catch-up post 😉