"Frost flowers" and steaming bulrushes (Coombe Wood)

A very cold and frosty morning and my fist opportunity for a walk in Coombe Wood this week because of various medical appointments etc.

The pond was frozen over with smooth thin rivers of ice between thicker rougher areas of ice.

Feathery ice patterns at the edge of the pond.  

Fish clearly visible beneath the ice. 

Fishy abstract

A thick frosty layer on everything. 

Long crystals. 

 Tiny flecks of red among the bare frosty branches. 

Curled frosty leaf. 

A snow creature - left over from a week ago, - decorated with pampas grass

Mystery wild flower frosty seed pods.

There was a plume of smoke coming from one of the chimneys. When I was taking a photo of it I noticed how clearly the pods of the Golden Rain Tree showed up with the smoke behind them.

Frosty Korean Pine needles - a delicate stripe up the back of each needle.

 Another kind of pine with cones on the end of the stems.

The Callicarpa has been losing berries. 

I was trying to photograph this when I noticed white bits like wet tissue paper draped over some of the stems . . .

. . . and realised they were frost flowers.

According to information online these are quite rare. 

I saw my first frost flowers last year at Coombe Wood and had hoped to see more one day but I didn't expect to find the amount I came across today.

Extremely thin layers of ice are pushed out of the stems of certain plants if the conditions are just right, when the weather is freezing but the ground beneath the surface isn't.

As the thin ice pushes out from the stems it twists, folds and ripples creating delicate patterns resembling flower petals.

My finger next to one so you can see what size this ice flower is. 

Oh what a shame. I wonder what happened here. 

The bark on the young walnut tree has split open. 

Plenty of buds on these plants (camelias?)

Silhouettes. 

Snowdrops - barely visible in the frost..

Tiny frosty mushrooms. 

The frost has made the witch hazel droop - what a vibrant colour.

The Earthstar mushrooms seem to be getting smaller and smaller each time I see them, and they're much harder to find as they darken and blend in with the leaves.

Beautiful blue sky - sunlight reaching the top branches

Another frost flower further along on my walk.

and a second leftover construction from the snowfall a week ago.

There really is a flower under this frosty layer. 

So many buds. 

A flock of teasels.

These two look as if they're dancing. 

Back to the first snow construction - looking at it from the side.

On the way to the gate I noticed that the plant that the frost flowers had been on last year had been cut back. I had a closer look in case there were frost flowers again and was surprised to see that there were. They were smaller than the ones I'd seen earlier on my walk but some had extra curliness

- like an explosion of delicate voile fabric, gathered into frills.

Frosty ferns. 

Steam was coming from the Pond Cottage roof. 

Rosehips.

I stopped to photograph the bulrushes with the sun shining through them . . .

Steam was rising from some of them as the sun heated the frost.

 Thank you very much for joining me.