Nature: Delicate frost flowers are Nature's answer to ice sculptures

A frost flower formed on a dittany plant/Jim McCormac

Nature: Delicate frost flowers are Nature's answer to ice sculptures

Columbus Dispatch
January 1, 2022

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Saturday, Nov. 19 dawned crisp and cold. I had stayed at the Shawnee Lodge in Shawnee State Park (Scioto County) the preceding evening to attend a meeting. The largest contiguous forest in Ohio, Shawnee State Forest, surrounds the lodge, and there are about 70,000 acres of wildlands to explore.

I left the lodge before the crack of dawn. Within a minute of departing, I was pleased to see a gray fox saunter across the road. Gray foxes have become much scarcer in recent decades, making sightings of these superb cat-like canids especially noteworthy. Perhaps the elegant fox was an omen of good things to come.

My primary mission, however, involved inanimate objects known as frost flowers. For many years, I had heard about these icy ephemera but had yet to clap eyes on one. Today would be the day.

The day before had been fairly warm, with temperatures in the mid to high 30s. Scattered rains in the preceding days had dampened the ground. When I headed out in the morning, the temperature had plummeted to 12 degrees. The conditions were ripe for the formation of frost flowers.

A frost flower is an incredibly delicate ice sculpture that forms around the bases of certain plants. In southeastern Ohio, the primary producer of frost flowers is a little mint called dittany (Cunila origanoides). It is common in Shawnee State Forest.

I headed for a remote ridgetop with well-drained sparsely vegetated slopes - perfect dittany habitat. I knew from experience that dittany abounded at this site. Within seconds of arrival, I saw what looked to be shards of whitish Styrofoam dotting the ground. Finally – the fabled frost flower!

While frost flowers don’t look like much from afar, up close they are spectacular. Wafer-thin icy curlicues resembling ribbon candy cling to the bases of the dittany stems, forming all manner of sculptures. No two are alike.

One must be gentle around frost flowers. I quickly learned, when trying to pull intruding vegetation aside, that even the mildest perturbance would shatter the frozen rime. The observer must look, not touch, to avoid instant destruction.

Frost flowers form when mostly senescent host plants are still drawing water upward into the stem. Cold air freezes the liquid in the stem, creating longitudinal fissures. New water is forced from these cracks, creating the fantastic icy artwork.

The first cold snaps of mid- to late November is prime time for frost flower formation. Not all suitable plant hosts will form them the first frosty night, so seekers might have a few shots at finding the icy “flowers." Searchers need to get out early. The first sun rays quickly melt the frozen objets d’art.

Adventurous gardeners might consider planting a frost flower garden. In addition to dittany, other native (or nearly so) Ohio flora known to produce frost flowers are Canada frostweed (Helianthemum canadense), white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica), and wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia).

Canada frostweed will be tough to find in the nursery trade. The delicate little member of the rockrose family isn’t common garden fare. The other two are easily obtained, but purists can take note that although the southern white crownbeard occurs as far north as northern Kentucky, it hasn’t been documented as a native in Ohio.

As the morning warmed and the frost flowers liquefied, I moved on to other photographic pursuits. And lo and behold, around 10 a.m. I spotted and photographed a female bobcat with two kittens. They were the subject of my Dec. 4 column.

Apparently, that gray fox was indeed a good omen.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature atwww.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.