Hello, Winter ... Bye-bye, Roses.

Our weird warm temperatures are a thing of the past, as a cold-weather system swept in during the day yesterday ... bringing a dose of winter that is expected to stick around, and signalling the official end of the growing season.  This morning, as I wandered to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup, I noticed that everything outside was wearing a beautiful coating of frost.  Before the sun came up, I was outside with my camera to see what I could capture. 

'Maria Stern'

'Mrs. Wakefield Christy-Miller'

The grass, the leaves, the trees, and the roses all looked like they had been coated with sugar.  It was incredibly beautiful!

This fallen bud came from 'Schoener's Nutkana', one of my favorite roses and a ONCE BLOOMER.  Our hot, dry summer must have put it into some sort of dormancy (mimicking what happens over the winter, perhaps?)  and it has been producing the odd flower here and there since the heat subsided in September.

'Curly Pink'

Look how beautiful magnolia pods are when covered with frost!  I will be harvesting some of these really soon, and some sprigs of magnolia leaves, for Christmas decorating.

Even weeds, fallen leaves, and dead roses have an artistic look about them when they're covered with ice crystals.

The whole time I was outside (which wasn't a very long time since it is COLD), this big hawk sat in one of the oak trees keeping an eye on me.

As the sun rose, and sunlight touched the roses, the ice began to melt ... even though the temperature was still well below freezing.  I hurried to capture a final few frozen blossoms.

'Cadenza'

"Evona's Yellow"

No work outside for me today.  I have inside projects to finish. (I'll probably be ready to show you what I'm working on, with a tutorial or two, in a couple of weeks.)

Here's one more frozen rose for you.

'Sunny South'