Winter Blooms

'Tis the season for these beautiful winter miracles. These are frost flowers, delicate naturally occurring ice ribbons formed when the air is freezing but the ground is not. The stem of the plant is still pulling water up from the ground but the freezing air causes the stems to crack and ice to form in extremely thin layers which is pushed out from the stems of plants in the most wonderful patterns, like Christmas ribbon candy. These are worth looking for on these cold mornings!