Frost Flowers

Frost Flower wrapping around a Pentas stem

Frost Flowers on Pentas

Frost Flowers on Pentas

Frost Flowers spread like wings from Pentas

Candy floss, cotton candy, spun glass, ribbon candy, wool roving, spun sugar, spun cotton:  all are ways to describe the delicate, crystal structures called Frost Flowers. 

A cool, rainy day followed by a freezing night provided the conditions needed for Frost Flowers to occur in my garden.  The soil was moist and not frozen.  The plants had viable roots which could conduct water from the warmer, wet soil into the stems.  When the air temperature plummeted to below freezing, the water in the stems expanded and the plants extruded the water.  Countless, tiny threads of ice were pushed out of the plant stem, starting near the base of the plant.  Variations in air temperature caused the waves of ice to bend, curl and twist forming fantastic shapes.  

If you touch a Frost Flower you will feel that it’s not solid like an icicle.  It’s frothy and fragile.  The ice of a Frost Flower will sublimate as the air warms.  Sublimation means that this ice does not bother with melting into a liquid.  From a solid state it will change directly into a vapor.  The magical Frost Flower will literally vanish into thin air.

In Texas, Frostweed, Verbesinia virginica, is known for making Frost Flowers. The common name is a clue!  In my garden, the Pentas produced the biggest Frost Flowers, but I noticed Frost Flowers on Salvia Indigo Spires,  Russelia and Plumbago.  We have had this phenomenon for three mornings in a row.  I noticed today that the white ice crystals began to appear around 0500 hours.  By 0800 hours, my husband and I were taking photos of the curling formations.  By 10:00 o’clock that morning, the ephemeral Frost Flowers had disappeared.

Frost Flowers on Salvia, Indigo Spires

Frost Flowers on Pentas

 

Frost Flowers on Pentas

My husband captured this image of Frost Flower on Indigo Spires

Red Admiral

Red Admiral basking on Oak Tree

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta,  nectaring at Salvia, Indigo Spires

The Red Admiral's bold markings are distinctive, even at a distance.

The water in the birdbaths had frozen solid overnight and was slowly melting in the late morning sun.   This had been a cold January by Galveston County standards, so I was surprised to see a butterfly nectaring at the blossoms of the indigo spires salvia.  Of course I had to go see who it was, but the critter startled easily and flew away fast.  I dismayed of ever getting a photo.  Fortunately, it settled comfortably on the sunny side of our Nutall Oak Tree.  Spreading its wings wide, with its head toward the ground,  it basked in the winter sunlight and soaked up some rays.  This battered butterfly needed a sip of nectar and a solar recharge.  After a while, the Red Admiral was flying again.   

For that’s what is was - a Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta,  quite easy to identify once it sat still.  Red Admirals are among the family Nymphalidae, the Brush-Footed Butterflies.   Brush-footed butterflies have tiny, vestigial forelegs.  This is not visible in my Red Admiral photos, but if you look back to my “Fritillary Euthanasia” entry, you may see the reduced front legs.  Another characteristic which you can see are the prominent knobs on the antennae. This species has a huge range - nearly all of North America and parts of Central America. Masses of Red Admirals have been known to migrate south, but adult Red Admirals can hibernate during the winter, as can the pupae.  I am sure in our southern county the temperatures are confusing. Their larval host plants include nettles, Urticaceae,  and other plants in that family.  

Several of my books mention that if you have a Red Admiral in your summer garden, it may regularly rest on your arm or shoulder.  Is this territorial butterfly trying to scare you away from its food source?  Are you a convenient basking spot or it is sipping salt and minerals from your skin?   Either way, how delightful to have a butterfly rest upon you!