There is a group of people who meet once a week at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to do a nature ramble. I was asked this past summer to lead the group through the Hummingbird Trail I designed. During this ramble, I met Don.
Recently, Don asked me on my Facebook photography page if I had the chance to check out the frost flowers at the garden. He told me a hard freeze; the right vegetation and being at the right place at the right time are what is needed to find them.
He said the next time it got down to the low to mid 20’s to look for the ice sculptures that grew out of the mown-down white crownbeard. He wrote, “I tell folks they are ‘effectively’ rare because of the circumstances of seeing them.” I saw some of his photos and knew I had to photograph them.
There are only a few species of plant stems the frost flowers will form on. They are not created from frost but from the sap being pushed up through the ruptured stem.
The sap freezes when it hits the cold air and continues to grow as the sap moves up. It forms ribbons on ice, and other neat ice structures.
Last weekend, the conditions were perfect, and I went with a friend to photograph them. She had never heard of them either. It was super cold but we were having a blast.
The next day, I went by myself. It was 20 degrees as I left my warm car, but I knew what awaited me, so it made it a lot easier!
The frost flowers are small and a lot of them have to be dug out of the vegetation around them. They are also very fragile, so one wrong move and they break.
I started photographing one flower and a shape slowly started to come into view. I positioned myself differently, and there it was….a swan frost flower! I was so excited.
The Lord knows my favorite thing to photograph are birds, so it was no surprise to me to find a frost flower in the shape of a swan. The details of the feathers are quite amazing to me.
I can see His handiwork in my photography. It is something I specifically pray for before I go out to shoot. This time it is seen in the intricate details of the swan. I can’t wait to see what’s waiting next time!
He wants to be an intricate part of our lives. Are you letting Him be a part of yours?
