First Frost

We just barely made it into Autumn before the first frost arrived.  Forecast temperatures for Sunday morning were 40 degrees, but in rural areas it’s easy to be another 10 degrees cooler.  I found heavy frost covering everything when I came out at daybreak.  Gray-headed Coneflower is normally an early summer bloomer, but a few bloomed especially late this year.   A cap of ice is not a normal addition to these flowers.

This frost wasn’t just a light covering across the top of the vegetation.  The cold air filtered down to the base of the plants and put a layer of frost on even the more protected lower leaves.

Many plants will take a frost or two with little suffering, but this is generally a sign that the growing season is coming to a close.

The Gray Goldenrod will be a little bit duller after the frost melts away.  The yellow will still be bright, but somewhat subdued from its prefrost glow.  The temperatures will warm over the next few days, but the change in the goldenrod flowers will still make me feel cold.

Instead of forming intricate crystals, some of the frost began as dew and then froze into balls or lumps. 

With leaves fringed in ice, the Agrimony leaves make a nice display.  I think frost on plants is just one of those things that people like to photograph.  I don’t know how many hundreds of frost pictures I have cluttering up my photo archive.

Frost is a signal for these Blackberry leaves to hurry up and drop.  It would be nice if the thorns were also shed each fall.  These plants gave me some great scratches last winter and will probably do the same this year.  The worst part is that they never produced any berries this summer.

New England Aster has just begun to bloom and will not be slowed by a bit of frost.  As the goldenrods dim, the aster will become more noticeable.

The frost was quick to disappear as the sun moved above the tree line.  It was a short window in which to get some photos, but I think I got all I needed.

Ice Crystals

One of the positive aspects of cold weather is the creation of frost formations.  Conditions are best when the soil surface is saturated with water and humidity levels are high.  Cold nighttime temperatures combined with plenty of moisture can create some wonderful works of ice art.

Water wicking up the grass blade has been transformed into impressive crystalline rods.  These structures are incredibly fragile.  The slightest touch could cause them all to shatter.  In one case, the warmth of my breath melted everything before I could capture a shot.

Grounded leaves take on a new brilliance when decorated by the sharp angled ice crystals. 

It looks like the ice crystals are trying to mimic the pappus on these boneset seeds.

These crystals all formed in the span of one cold night.  Rising daytime temperatures quickly put an end to their existence.

What an amazing collection of crystalline structures.  This is another one of those wonders that can not be experienced from a standing position.  I know many people who will not put their faces close to the ground.  If I want them to see something, I have to lift the object to their eye level.  Even then some will shy away.  There are so many small things that are such a joy to view.  It’s a shame people won’t make the effort to see them.

First Official Frost

I went outside yesterday morning to find a good coating of frost covering the landscape. A little touch of ice adds a bit of beauty to just about everything, except roads and electric lines.

This is actually the second frost we’ve had at Blue Jay Barrens this fall. The first occurred on October 2 and put a nice coating of ice across the lawn. It just didn’t meet my criteria for a legitimate first frost, because it failed to kill even one leaf on my unprotected tomato plants. This is what yesterday’s frost did and that gains it the distinction of being the first official frost of Fall 2011.

Most of the goldenrods were already on their way to turning brown. This frost put an end to any that were trying to hold on to a bit of yellow.

The frost disappeared quickly when touched by the rising sun. The stand of Indian Grass gave little shivers as the ice turned to water and dripped from the seed heads. I also gave an occasional little shiver. I rushed outside to get some frost shots before everything melted away and didn’t bother to change into more substantial footwear. My old tennis shoes are so worn that they are more like house slippers and they definitely don’t protect your feet from the chill of frosty grass.

The melting frost turned quickly to fog. It only took a couple of minutes to reduce unlimited visibility down to about 100 feet. I’m glad I wasn’t trying to land a plane here.

No ants moving this morning. I’m sure activity on the mound will resume as soon as the sun gets a little higher in the sky.

Frost didn’t stop the sparrows from feeding on Indian Grass Seeds. These Field Sparrows took to the Dogwoods as I walked by, but they quickly returned to the grass upon my departure.

First Frost

The temperature dropped to 30 degrees yesterday morning and I decided to slip out back to see if the whiteness on the grass was actually frost. As I went through the door, I saw some neat fog ribbons forming along the hillsides, so I decided to head up The Hill to see if I could get some good photos.

Along the way I verified the first frost of the season. Many people mark the first frost and it’s a safe topic of conversation in most crowds. Ask just anyone if they had frost and they’re more than willing to discuss the subject. If people paid the same attention to all common seasonal events in nature there’d be a lot more opportunities to initiate a conversation with someone you didn’t know. Can you imagine looking at some stranger in the grocery checkout line and saying, “Have the salamanders hit the breeding ponds out your way yet?” That’s enough about that. I’m almost to the top of The Hill.

The little bit of fog is giving us a true starburst sunrise.

As temperatures begin to change, ribbons of fog flow like a river. It looks as though the fog is trying to out run the rising sun in an attempt to continue its existence for a little while longer.

Fog untouched by the sun remains less concentrated. As the sun continued to rise, the rest of the band turned to a thin ribbon before dissipating completely.

The band of fog along the woods has almost completely disappeared. Just a final streamer left and enough haze to make it look as though my camera lens is dirty.

The Hill is at a lower elevation than the wooded ridge, so the sun has not yet reached this point. The formation and disappearance of the fog ribbons was completed in a matter of minutes. If I had been five minutes later I would have missed the whole thing. As I stood in the ice covered grass watching the last of the fog disappear, I just wished I had something more substantial on my feet than an old pair of worn out Chucks. I was correct in my original assumption that I didn’t have time to change into warmer footwear before running up The Hill, but that didn’t make my feet feel any better.

First Heavy Frost

Sunday’s weather was quite a change from what we had Saturday. Bright blue sky, abundant sunlight and a heavy frost indicated the start of what I like to think October days ought to be. This is the view from the step outside the back door.

We’ve had a couple of light frosts this year, but this is the first time temperatures have dipped below freezing. Freezing temperatures combined with yesterday’s high humidity caused a heavy ice load to form on the plants. The frost extends a long way down the Indian Grass stalks.

The weight of the ice caused the seed heads to bow. Those ice crystals are large enough to be snow.

The laws of photography require you to take a certain minimum number of shots of certain subjects. I can’t remember if frosty plants is on the list just above or just below dewy cobwebs. In order to be compliant with all applicable statutes, I offer a few shots of frosty leaves. Here is a goldenrod decorated with ice crystal pseudo hairs.

Compound leaves have an advantage over other leaves because of their leaf margin to surface area ratio. The frilly margins of this Agrimony leaf effectively maximize the available ice crystal production area.

The uniform margin of the Winged Sumac leaf offers less edge for ice. The leaf surface proves to be just as effective at spawning the rod shaped ice crystals.

Let’s not forget that simple can also be beautiful as demonstrated by this Sassafras leaf with its shiny crystalline border.

The frost rapidly retreated before the rising sun. This freeze is going to trigger some major changes in the Blue Jay Barrens landscape.