Keeping plants alive through freezing nights

This is not intended as an informational article about gardening, a subject that is far from my limited areas of knowledge! My wife has had success nursing some vulnerable plants through winter frost and occasional extreme temperatures. Covering them with old bed sheets before the temp drops too much below freezing seems to help a lot.

This morning, when I helped remove the sheets as the sun climbed and the temp rose, we were both pleasantly surprised at how well some budding flowers were doing, considering that we had dropped to -7º C (18 or 19º F) overnight. Some blooms had fully opened, but the ones that I found most photogenic were these buds, preparing to display. The light was helpful for a little while. I found that my tripod wouldn't let me position the macro lens where I wanted it, so these shots were all done hand-held, bracing my arms and elbows wherever I could - including sometimes on the side of a tripod leg, and sometimes on a hard, cold concrete driveway - and getting some assist from the IS (image stabilization) feature of the lens (Canon 100/2.8 L IS macro).

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A tiny hint of snow

Thursday night, central North Carolina got a mix of rain and snow. In Raleigh, it was rain until about midnight, followed by a puny dusting of snow that soon ended, with an accumulation - at least in our neighborhood - that would better be measured in millimeters than fractions of an inch. Still, I prepared a camera and lens so that I could do some quick shooting in the morning before it was necessary to leave for rehearsal. If only I'd had time to drive an hour northwest, where the snowfall was significant...but there's no sense in bemoaning what wasn't an option.

I like to make the best of situations, including when I've assigned myself a task that seems to depend on external circumstances. In this case, I wanted to create some images that said "winter", and even though we didn't have the wall to wall carpet of white that immediately describes the season, I hoped I could arrange elements to highlight hints of snow and frost without looking contrived.

No doubt due to the warm weather we've had recently, some perennials are starting to bloom. It would have been nice (from a photographic point of view) if they had been covered with flakes, but there was only water from the rain. The leaves on the ground did catch a little snow and ice, so I chose a high enough vantage to make that my background.

This leaf caught the sun just right, making its texture a good contrast with the ice.

There was lots of water on this group, along with just a hint of remaining frost.

The morning sun began working on what little frozen stuff there was.

This little beauty flaunted her charms, acting as if the sparse field of frost around her might be the perfect frozen stage of a ballet on ice:

Just when I was running out of time, I caught sight of a curved leaf that made a pretty effective ice trap. This is a rather cluttered composition, and I have misgivings about it, but there are also some things to like, so I'll let it be seen.

Now I can go back to hoping that in the next month or two there might be a "real" snowstorm that I can get to. It's a purely selfish wish, I know! Children like to play in the snow, and I guess at heart I'm still very much a child, though this kid likes to play with a camera instead of a sled!

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