A Garden in Frost!

24 Jan '07 11:34 pm

I was ready! Waiting for this frost to come! I had protected my sensitive babies a long time ago, and took care of those protections that had been moved or disappeared during the storm of last week. And , decided to be ..positive. So, I became artistic. Having in mind this magnificent Dublin Bay Rose of Moosey's

, that always serves as one of my wintery avatars, I was myself inspired to take some ...frosty photos! Even some photos before and after( :from +7C, to -3C) , using some brave Roses as models. And look what I have: in the first part I'll show you only Roses, while in the second part the whole of the frozen garden! Everything was really frozen, walking on the lawn was like walking on tiny crystals, and I only did that to take some pictures, because I know how it is harmful for the lawn...Tonight it is going to be even colder, the temperatures until Friday night will fall to -5/-6 Celsius... But I just try to remain positive....Be brave, oh! dear perennial plants!

P.S. : Do you also have this impression , that the frost on the Roses looks like ...frost sugar?? Me, too! MMMMM ! Delicious! I have seen in some French cooking magazines , how to add Rosy impression to some delicious deserts, by adding frost sugar on real Rose petals!

PART 1 :

24 Jan '07 11:42 pm

PART 2 :

25 Jan '07 3:09 am

Dear Liza, how beautiful your roses were both before and after the frost. As gardeners we know we can't hang onto our gardens through the cold winter months, but we always keep hoping for one more day. Were you able to resist the temptation to run around madly with a water hose washing off all the frost before the sun reached the blossoms? I have to admit that I have been guilty of that (this past fall actually). I have been able to extend the beauty of favorite plants for sometimes a couple of weeks when they were dusted by an early frost. I applaud your foresight in preparing for these beautiful before and after shots.

25 Jan '07 10:32 pm

Hi, Faith!

You know, today I am not at all humorous like yesterday. What is happening now in the garden, normally takes place at the end of November , and it is repeated throughout the Winter months , until mid-February..

Right now, it is 0 Celsius, 11am. The ground is still frozen-hard like a rock. Certain tiny plants like the brave Pansies here and there and in the pots, seem lifeless-flat in their pots and on the ground..The amazing phenomenon with Pansies, though, is that they recover --- their blooms , too -- as soon as the temperatures become + 4/+5 Celsius.

Forget about the Roses shown in my previous post.. They are hanging downwards, their petals miserably lifeless....Their foliage crispy from the frost-attack, or miserably hanging from the stems...The same happens with all the perennials, which until now were keeping part of their foliage, like the frost-hardy Fuchias...

The global garden look has lost that greysh-white cover of yesterday, which added a rather positive wintery look to it. The lawn has a sad greenish look, the borders are sadly and lifelessly brown...

In moments like these I so much long for the beneficial arrival of the purity of snow.!! I so much love the snow, but....watching it from inside, from the livingroom...And , of course, taking photos , IF it is not so cold outside...

Concerning what you suggested with the water hose, I could never dare such a thing for two reasons: the first is that the water is frozen hard like a rock in the hoses, and the second, that my intuition warns me that I could fataly harm certain plants , especially their roots.

So! This is the frost garden story of today! I will go on with this Diary , hoping that I will have the chance of seeing some snow, that I missed so much!

26 Jan '07 2:35 am

Take heart, dear Liza, for spring will surely come and all your beloved perenniels will come to life again. In the mean time, I hope you will get your snow. We hardly ever get any here, so we just have to endure the dreary, cold, death and destruction of winter until spring arrives. We are being promised a very cold week ahead by our meteorologists with below freezing temps for several mornings in a row. These are the times I dread most because of my animals, both the domesticated and the wild. Our Mallard duck pair is back on the ponds looking for a likely nesting site and my brave little hummingbird is still hanging around. I feel bad for them during the cold nights, but they are better able to handle them than I. Lets just get out our gardening catalogues and have a hot cup of tea (or coffee) and dream by the fire a while.

Hang in there!

26 Jan '07 2:37 am

Liza, such beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing them. I will, in a minute, create a post showing the snow we got on Tuesday night - I think it may be on its way to you now...

26 Jan '07 11:53 pm

Thank you, sweet ladies, for your support! I was so happy, anyway, to see the snowy photos of Bambi's and Gordon's!!

The situation today is almost the same. Right now it is frozen sunny! During the night the temperatures had savagely fallen, and this morning look at the ...frozen photos I took :

27 Jan '07 1:12 am

I was preparing myself to be brave and go out to make some shoppings we really need, and , you know what?? It is snowing ...in English style( according to Gordon)!!! I am so happy! I will write more later! I am leaving now...

27 Jan '07 4:11 am

Dear Liza

I have not been on the forum since Monday due to almost no connectivity at school since then - an incredibly badly managed chane-over to a new Service Provider (we were joking at school that they were making a mockery of both words in their title Very Happy

) But it looks as if all is back to normal now.

Your pics are wonderful, and the foresight to take them. It really is amazing to have roses at all this deep into winter - I seldom find anything other than Iceberg and General Gallieni in July!

Your Roses (4) and (16) in particular are works of art. Thank you so much for thinking of us! Smile

27 Jan '07 11:11 pm

It is great you are back! What an adventure at school! I can imagine, it was not nice at all, especially if you need your computer for certain presentations during the lessons...

Well, that forsight you are talking about, I think it was actually a sad way to say good-by to those lovely , brave blooms! And, I have to tell you, it was the first time in my garden having Roses in bloom for such a long time! Because -- normally -- the frosts here start during November , and not at the end of January!

Please, Jack, send more photos of your colourful borders and doggies!..

And as for that snow I was telling you before so happy, it was so thinly coming, and it just melted right away! Now the temperature is +7 Celsius.I think I'll change my avatar again... No frost, no snow any more.. Crying or Very sad

A Garden in Frost!

A Garden in Frost!

Lovely Roses before and after

Garden in Frost. DAY 2.

Winter blues

Garden in Frost. DAY 3.

Later, the same day...

Wonderful, wonderful pics!

Welcome, Jack!