Walking in the Winter Air

 

At the beginning of January, we were getting some frosty hillsides. Take a close look at the branches and notice the long spines of white.  Spines?  Nope, rime frost.  Rime frost happens in areas of dense fog and the liquid is super cooled before it comes in contact with a surface--that's why it looks like spines.  This is formed in the fog and cold.  Hoar frost is similar to dew and forms on cold, clear nights.  The rime frost created some beautiful crystals.

Little bird feeder with rime frost.

Purple coneflowers and grasses in my prairie yard.

Giant yellow hyssop in the prairie.

 

 

Walking across the river is full of interesting sites.

The wind can be a bit chilly.  My pace moves swiftly.  

The day started with lots of grey.  Beautiful and I need to work to keep my spirits happy.

At the end of the afternoon, the sun began to peek between the clouds.  The day feels warm.

River walk

That sky makes me happy.

Social distance walks with friends on Holzinger Trails.

A little snow creation

My friend, Dawn hugging her favorite tree.  Where do you like to walk, hike, snowshoe, ski?  Hope you get to out to be in the fresh air soon.

Winter in my Prairie

There are prairie flowers growing in my yard during the spring, summer and autumn.  Now in the winter, everything is dormant.  We let the plants stand to allow any seeds to be food for birds or small critters.

We have sandy soil in Winona and the Little Bluestem likes that kind of soil. 

Here are some more grasses and Cream Wild Indigo leaves.  They grow in a bush form and flower   with yellow flowers in early spring.

 This is Wild Bergamot. It has light purple flowers when it blooms in later summer.

This is Stiff Goldenrod.  Most of it's seed would have blown away.

The tallest plant to the left is called Giant Yellow Hyssop with the dark brown long seed pods.  The more bushy plant to the right is Brown-Eyed Susan with the rounded brown seed head.  It's flowers are golden yellow in the late autumn.

A close up of an Amorpha Fruiticosa.

This Amorpha Fruiticosa is over six feet tall.

There are a few Common Milkweed plants that grow around our house.  They feed the monarch butterflies.

Two large catalpa trees give some nice shade in the summer.  We have lots of flowers that bloom through the growing season.

Sunny day with interesting clouds gave me the idea to photograph some of the plants in our yard.  I'm so grateful for sun and for the warmth.  The days are getting longer.