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The leaves here are mostly long gone, but the few that remain can give an interesting texture to the frosted garden. The gently curving leaves in the photograph above are those of Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’. This small shrub is in a very sheltered position, so this is the first year that I’ve seen frost on it.
This Mahonia is very different from the larger one (probably a Mahonia japonica) at the back of our garden. ‘Soft Caress’ is smaller (3 to 4ft high) and not as hardy. It’s a cultivar that doesn’t like to be in a hot, dry position, so I’ve planted it where it is shaded by other larger shrubs.
Unlike other varieties of Mahonia, the leaves of this one aren’t prickly (hence the name), so it’s a much ‘friendlier’ plant to have around. I like the effect of its foliage so much that I’d like to grow it elsewhere in the garden too, but that will be if I can find a suitable spot for another one. (Most of our garden is likely to be a bit too hot and dry in summer.)
The second set of leaves are those of a fennel. We have lots of bronze fennel in the garden (it spreads very easily from seed), but I notice that this one is green. I think a bee must have brought in some pollen from a green fennel and that this is a cross between it and one of our bronze plants. We’ll probably end up with more green ones, but I’ve been getting rid of a lot of the self-sown seedlings. If I didn’t, they’d soon take over the garden! But I would never get rid of them all. They look far too good when frosted for me to do that, and I love to photograph both the leaves and the seed heads. (As you may have noticed…you can see a couple of my favourites on this post.) ❄
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
As beautiful as your photos are (especially that first one!), I suspect you’ll be happy enough when winter leaves.
The fennel is interesting. Is that the same plant that produces the fennel seeds used in cooking? I’d never used it until I was introduced to Indian food, but I like it very much; the taste is as pleasant as the frosted plant is visually pleasing.
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You’re right, Linda…though we haven’t had the really cold and snowy weather that those further north have. We’ve been quite lucky here really, but even so, I’m looking forward to some warmer weather.
The fennel is the same, yes, and we do sometimes use it in the kitchen. Hubby occasionally makes tea with it too, but that doesn’t appeal to me. Fennel is a good companion plant in a veggie garden too – very useful!
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We’re not familiar with the ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia. The foliage is gorgeous – I showed your photo to Nigel and immediately he was “Wow!”
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It’s a lovely foliage plant and has yellow flowers – though this one doesn’t have a lot yet. If you have somewhere with reasonably moist soil and not too hot it would be a super addition to the garden. 🙂
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Moist soil always (far too much so in our climate), and heat rarely a problem either! Mahonias do very well down south here, if we have ‘Soft Caress’ in NZ it’d make a welcome addition to our garden!
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Sounds ideal, Liz! Time for a bit of plant-shopping maybe? 😁
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Haha! That’d be fun 😀
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I can’t remember when it wasn’t a cold start :-0 😱 nice frosty textures, do you make prints based on them as I imagine a lot of your macro stuff would be well suited to it.
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It’s been a very cold start today – I’ve just come in from taking some frosty photos and am enjoying a big mug of coffee. 🙂 I used to sell photos on Etsy some years ago but left there. I don’t have a printer at the moment but I’m in the process of loading my pics onto a site that can handle both prints and downloads. It will be linked to this blog when it’s ready. I’d like to print at home again but my last printer was so expensive to run that it has made me wary. Hope the weather warms up a bit soon!
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What an eye-catching photograph your first one is, with all those curving leaf lines. Well done.
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Thank you, Steve! It’s an attractive small shrub and looks great with other leaf-shapes.
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The first photo with the frosted green leaves and interspersed colourful leaves is very captivating, Ann. It’s as if the leaves had decided to attach themselves to the leaves for added effect. Nature, the artist! 😊
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Nature is a very creative artist! 🙂
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I love the way the frost “outlines” the leaves.
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I love the way frost does that too – it makes even the most ordinary of leaves look more interesting. 🙂
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