Warm enough for ya? For a couple of weeks now everyone has “enjoyed” the cold weather covering the country. Hopefully everyone has been able to find some warm spot indoors and generally stay out of the cold. Unfortunately this is not the case for us garden plants. We get the privilege of staying outside no matter what the temperature. (I am not counting those wussy tropical plants that get carried indoors at the first hint of frost – talk about a bunch of divas). Some plants may not handle the cold so well, but most will be fine. Since my ancestors came from northern regions of Europe, we don’t mind when the temperature drops to the “tundra” setting.
Despite the bitter cold, there are still some interesting things to see in the Garden. A white flowering Japanese apricot is in full bloom in the Japanese Garden right now. Pale yellow flowers of the wintersweet are also dangling from branches in the Sensory Garden and other spots. I think they flower at this time of year just to prove how tough they really are.
But water, or at least the frozen version of it, is a star today. Walk through the Garden and notice how the cold air has treated different water features. In the Japanese Garden a small fountain has frozen ripples running down the side, following the trail of the water as it cascades over the edge. The central pond has a thin sheet of ice across the surface, trapping the dying remnants of the oft-photographed lotus that were so popular last summer. At one end the, the frozen spray of the waterfall has coated rocks in a thick sheet of glassy white ice while an umbrella of ice
hovers over the falling water, having formed on the frosty branches of a Japanese maple.
Friendship pond is mostly covered in a thin layer of ice except at the center where the turbulent waters churn around the fountain. On a sunny morning, a rainbow will dance with the fountain, the duet reflected on the surrounding ice. The canal and NATO pond are also thinly covered with 
patterned ice, encouraging the birds to move out to the lake.
At the Native Plant Garden, little ribbons of ice cling to branches dangling in and over the water along the edge of the lake. Grasses growing on the water’s edge now sport jeweled collars of frozen water. When the sunlight hits, they truly dazzle. Inland, on the swampy side, swirls of ice form elaborate patterns in and around the plants emerging from the water. All in all, it is a feast for the eyes.
So bundle up and come out to the Garden to see how the plants are getting along. We would appreciate the moral support, you might like what you see and get some fresh air in your lungs.
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