Monday, December 23, 2013

Plants on Ice

Today is rainy and too warm for December...it's been in the 60's and 70's for the past 3 days! I'm sorry to complain but just a week or 2 ago we had snow and ice and hey, it's the day before Christmas Eve and I am a northerner (at heart)...having grown up in Pennsylvania, New York and Maine. Living in Virginia is nice and I love it here so I can't blame the region on this weird weather. It's been strange, to say the least, across the nation with extremes in precipitation and temperatures so I know we're not alone in this.

But anyway, since it's warm and raining and I'm longing for snow and ice, here are a few photos from December 9th of an ice storm we had. School was cancelled and while unsafe for drivers, it certainly was beautiful for photographers and anyone looking for some glimmering eye candy! I don't usually make my photos this large but wanted to try something new this time. Some of them overlap the sidebar so if you want to read that, go to a previous post where it will be clear for you!

Hollys:
 
 
  




My blue bottles:



 Echinacea:



Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow':


 Flowering dogwoods:






Hydrangea blooms:

  

Crepe Myrtles:






Fringe Tree and Fothergilla:


Sweetbay Magnolia:




Leland Cypress:


Native Azalea buds:



 

Ice chunks scattered across the yard:


Sedum:


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays :)


What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/
Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.
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14 comments:

  1. Donna@Gardens Eye View12/23/13, 3:50 PM

    Jan your garden is gorgeous under all that ice...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Toni - Signature Gardens12/24/13, 1:07 AM

    Wow, amazing pictures Glad you made them large. Such amazing detail with the crackles in the ice!!! It is beautiful to see, but I must admit I prefer the 70s :-) Merry Christmas and all the best to you in 2014!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 10:18 AM

      Thanks, Toni! I pretty much prefer warmer weather too, Toni...but sometimes I remember winters when I was growing up and get nostalgic for that experience.

      Delete
  3. Gardener on Sherlock Street12/24/13, 8:39 PM

    Your ice photos are beautiful.

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 10:18 AM

      Thanks, GSS. Hope you had a Merry Christmas too :)

      Delete
  4. sweetbay12/24/13, 8:52 PM

    Ice is beautiful as long as the power stays on! Your pictures are gorgeous! I love the pictures of the blue bottles.

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 10:19 AM

      Thanks Sweetbay....you are right about the power! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

      Delete
  5. RobinL12/28/13, 10:37 PM

    Well, I don't wish for an ice storm either, but that was gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 10:20 AM

      Thanks Robin! Ice storms can be dangerous so I don't wish for them either, but they can provide eye candy for those looking for beauty.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12/30/13, 12:59 PM

    I hope you had a wonderful holiday Jan and a very Happy New Year to you. It looks like we had the same ice storm. It was pretty, no? Your images say so. Quite a bit of tree damage though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 10:21 AM

      Sorry about your tree damage, Donna. Ice storms are not something we 'want'...however they can be cool to look at. Thanks for stopping by and hope you had a Merry Christmas.

      Delete
  7. Les1/4/14, 11:54 AM

    I sure hope you have already planned to turn these into Christmas cards for next year, they make the danger of ice in the garden worth it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan1/4/14, 3:09 PM

      Wow, Les...thank you, I hadn't even thought of that idea. It's kind of you to suggest they might actually work in that capacity! It definitely was exciting to walk around and view all those images. Nature always (well, not 'always'!...as sometimes it seems like days are monotonous when it's the middle of summer and 100+ degrees),,,but quite OFTEN has something new and amazing to offer us!

      Delete

Thanks so much for visiting and taking the time to comment! Please enjoy your TODAY and all of the gifts in YOUR garden of life!

Jan

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