I had not heard the term hoarfrost before moving to Iowa. I suppose it existed elsewhere in the world and no one told me. Did the world think I wasn’t to be trusted with such a word? Maybe. And perhaps they had good reason.

It turns out the Internet has information that explains the phenomenon of hoarfrost. I like this one that appears to be from a site titled snowcrystals.com (though the address is really from Caltech). As the title suggests, the site also has fascinating descriptions of all the different crystal forms of snow.

As for the hoar in hoarfrost — according to my friend the internet, it is a reference to its white/gray aged appearance. A bit of a let down in terms of interesting etymology. And yet it makes for really nice winter photos.

Now, as I am typing this post, the frost is gone;  A big fat robin is hopping about the dry grass, and geese can be heard as they fly overhead.

The wind and snow are sculpting the landscape here in the Midwest. I do like snow drifts, as long as I don’t need to move them. And even when I do have to move them, I am impressed by their size and contour. (I am also annoyed by their mass when shoveling or tractoring). This pile in front of the East side of the workshop has yet to be cleared away. That’s why we wanted two doors to the workshop.

And then there was this mini-mountain peak next to the car. It’s so cute. I was hoping to see mice with little skis enjoying the slopes.

I know, it’s about time I posted. Now would be a great time to reflect on the 2010 gardening season, but that’s a bigger topic than I can manage at present! This one will be about yellow curly willow, which I now think I like even more than coral bark curly willow! Time will tell. My yellow curly willows are a little older than than my 2 newer varieties: coral bark and scarlet, and the branches tend to become more contorted in years 2 and 3.
Below I managed to capture yellow curly willow on particularly good day, with great color saturation. I have taken shots on other winter days that barely revealed the stunning color I see through the lens. Notice the different tones: the oldest biggest branches are a dried grass color, next oldest are more golden, and the youngest tips are a coppery orangish hue.

This tree was planted from an unrooted cutting in 2009. It is already 8 – 10 feet tall! Other unrooted cuttings were planted in less ideal places- one in compacted gravel and others in quack grass, and they are much smaller and poorly developed in comparison. When planting any tree always remove competing vegetation (especially grasses since they are water hogs) at least 3 feet in diameter around your tree and add 2-3 inches of mulch.

The Buddha doesn’t feel cold the way we mortals do. But somehow I feel he would not like to be completely buried in the drifts. Yep, I attribute feelings to a cement garden statue. I can’t help it. He looks so pensive, and no drift should compromise that.

Anne and I had a snowday today. It was a bit too cold for sledding, but I managed to hike up to the mailbox and found more garden catalogs! Yay!! I think it is about time to order some seeds. I also want to build a little seed starting shelf – the light shelves in the catalogs sell for about $400… seems a bit unreasonable for a shelf with lights on chains. I will build one and if it works, I will post plans to share. Buddha will help.

I find myself recomposing this entry. I had it set to publish on the 31st of November. I think that confused the system and now the post is nowhere to be found. No matter. Winter has still come. In the first version of this post, I reflected on my poor winter photography. I’ll let you be the judge. See if your eye enjoys what can be seen in the cozy frozen country. 

A few of the shots might appear randomly below. More shots of the snowy landscape can be seen in the 2008 Flowers and Farm gallery link on the right. Winter begins on page 7 of gallery.

I alluded to the snow in my last post. It has come. It is the wet, heavy, stick-to-everything variety helping to create a winter wonderland in the country. I ventured out into the cloudy-yet-cozy landscape and took a few pictures. I’m not very good at winter photographs. I would like to blame it on the camera, but a poor photographer blames his lenses. Then again, I am a poor photographer, so it’s totally my camera’s fault! My camera, in auto-mode, seems to be fooled by all the reflected light of the snow, it overcompensated for the brightness and the shots were under exposed. Good to know. I tried to fix some of the shots in Photoshop, but ultimately moved toward complete desaturation to eliminate the bluish haze on the snow. Still, I manage to capture some of the wintery scenes on the farm.

There are more shots than this one. A few might appear below (those are random based on tag information). To see them all, visit the 2008 Flowers and Farm gallery (link on the right) and head to page 7 or so.