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When frost is here, the stars of the garden are the seed heads. Their shapes become sculptural and exciting as they are made sparkly with frozen icy crystals. They’re the first thing I look for in winter photography, and a very satisfying subject for an appealing image.
But there aren’t a huge number of seed heads, and, of course, they are vastly outnumbered by the remaining leaves. Fortunately these leaves can often be very attractive with a sprinkling of frost and give their own photographic possibilities.
The leaf in the top photo is a Japanese anemone. These can take on interesting curvy shapes as they dry out and the brown colouring adds a bit of extra interest. There are usually lots of these leaves in the garden, but this year I have noticed that there are fewer. Perhaps the increasingly hot and dry summers have made these anemone clumps less inclined to spread and be thuggish. Although they can make themselves a nuisance, I will be sad if I lose the pretty show of flowers that they give in late summer and early autumn. It seems that climate change may be changing the nature of my garden.
The picture immediately above shows a hardy geranium. These are plants that are good-looking in both leaf and flower, so I’ve been happy to find space for several of these in the garden. The way the frost outlines the deeply indented edges of the leaves emphasises their shape and creates an image that is both pleasing to see and inviting to photograph.
While the first two photographs were taken in this winter’s light frosts, the remaining two were taken in years when the frost was much heavier. A dense coating of frost crystals has given the feathery foliage of a bronze fennel the appearance of lace. (Normally the fennel leaves would be gone by the time there was much frost, but that year the frost arrived earlier.)
Below, frost on the leaves of Euphorbia mellifera will quickly melt in the strong sunshine of a bright winter morning. Despite looking more robust than the delicate fennel leaves, this euphorbia is less hardy and would probably be best given winter protection in areas colder than ours. Luckily for many of our plants, we don’t usually get very cold temperatures for long. As a gardener, I have reason to be very grateful that this winter has been fairly mild so far, even if that means fewer opportunities for winter photography. ❄
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
I like the two middle pictures, with frost spreading centrifugally on the geranium leaves, and outlining the complex network of fennel leaves.
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The geranium leaves are really good in the garden – always attractive, with or without frost and the plant is one of my favourites. I was lucky with the fennel leaves because they’re usually gone by frost-time and this frost was not only early, but much heavier than usual too. (Not so good for some plants though!)
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Lovely shots. I am always amazed how Euphorbia mellifera looks so shrivelled and collapsed in the frost but revovers completely when it thaws.
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In the colder winters I’ve thought it might not survive, especially in the heavier frosts. This plant had to live in a big pot for a long time before I found it a space, so it must be tougher than some of the websites suggested. (At least it’s having a much easier time this winter!)
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I grew one for years in my previous garden, it survived perfectly well even through the Beast from the East. Yes, we are getting off quite lightly this year, but we are not there yet.
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Good to know that they are, in fact, that hardy… 🙂 I’m hoping that we don’t get any ‘beasts’ this year!
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I was immediately taken by the resemblance of your geranium leaves to those of our native, ground-cover geranium. I can’t quite remember, but I’m thinking our native’s leaves are about an inch to an inch and a half across, but they have that same sort of indentation along the edges. My favorite of your photos is the fennel. I’m not sure I’ve ever come across it, even in an herb garden, but its laciness is attractive, and really is set off by the frost.
Cold here is so uncommon and sporadic that bringing plants indoors or covering them outdoors is standard procedure. I recently learned that azaleas actually enjoy a bit of cold, like some other native perennials. We were lucky enough to get a couple of inches of rain before the cold arrived, and we didn’t get any ice, so things should be just fine.
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The geranium makes a lovely ground cover. We have a variety of leaf shapes in the garden geraniums here, some more indented than others. There are some varieties with lovely bronze leaves, but I find them harder to get established. The bronze fennel is lovely, even without frost, but we do get seedlings absolutely everywhere. (Fewer this year because I removed a lot of the seed heads – otherwise they would take over!)
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I love frosty shots, but haven’t had any frost here so far this winter. It has just been very wet which isn’t good at all. Everything just becomes mush. I am glad I have a few evergreens in the garden.
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There haven’t been many frosty mornings here, though we did have a few days when it was very cold and the ground was frozen. It seems to be constant rain now, such a contrast to the dry summer! (But we’re not at the mushy stage yet.)
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Frosty is lovely Ann
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Thank you Flower. Frosty mornings are great for photography. 🙂
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