I am going to ignore the gloomy wet week that has just past and revel in the blue skies and frosty morning of today. The water in the bird bath is well and truly frozen and the grass is fully frosted. It was a cold night. Time to enjoy the winter garden.
One
The beautiful view from one end of the garden. Most of the leaves are now down but this tree is still glowing with autumn colour.
Two
The frost made finding six garden delights much easier. These are the frosted leaves of Cistus × purpureus ‘Alan Fradd’.
Three
Frosted Primrose leaves. A sigh of relief goes with this picture. There were some lingering scented leaf pellies in this pot and I just got them into greenhouse in time. Last night in the greenhouse it was -.08 degrees.
Four
The seeds of the verbenia bonariensis are going to provide a chilly snack for the birds today. But if they come late morning things might have improved. As I took these photos the sounds of dripping water indicated that the sun was melting the frost away.
Five
My parsnips. They’ve had a couple of frosts now so its time for me dig up a few and see how they fared over the summer. Definitely an improvement on last year when none of the seeds germinated.
Six
More beautiful leaf colour but also a bit of fail here as I didn’t prune the gooseberries in July and haven’t yet got round to doing the winter prune. Still there’s plenty of time – if I can be persuaded out into the garden.
So now we settle into winter dormancy for the plants. For me, I will finish the rose pruning, take down the passion flower and prune the soft fruits and the grapevine. I will, I will.
I wonder what is on Mr P’s to do list? Stop by and find out and catch up with other SOS news from around the world.
n20gardener 
What beautiful pictures of frost! … Apparently it’s colder further north but I’m not teaching you anything. Bravo for parsnips: 2 years without germination for me > I will try again next year. I had to miss something with these seeds, but there is not much that resists me.
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Two years ago was the first year for me that seeds didn’t germinate. Who knows why? We just keep on trying. And you try everything!
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So lovely to see some blue sky. None here but there are rumours that tomorrow will be bright. Fabulous frost photos!
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‘Proper frost there’ but at last no rain. Great pictures love the Cistus × purpureus ‘Alan Fradd’ this picture would make a great card.
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I just caught that one at the right moment. One day I will sort out cards or a calendar. One day!
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My parsnips germinated OK but they’re about the same size as my carrots. Close relatives growing side by side, what’s that all about? I think the cold is headed our way, I’d manage without TBH.
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I do love parsnips so I keep on with them. Haven’t lifted any this week as life has been busy. But this weekend looks calmer so I hope I shall have more time in the garden and the weather looks to be slightly warmer. I won’t go in detail about my carrots other than to say poor.
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The frost on the leaves is very pretty to see. How nice it would be to hear water dripping though I know you’ve had a lot in the northern hemisphere and are heartily sick of it. There are still some nice autumn colours in your garden.
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That made me smile – the frost melting had a lovely sound but the rain – yes way too much of it at the wrong times. Never happy!
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I also have a few parsnips, I am hoping they will do for Christmas lunch. I will leave them in to get the benefit of any December frosts we have.
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I may have to buy back up parsnips for Christmas lunch – I’d hate not to have enough. We’ve certainly had a good few frosts here now.
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Are gooseberries native or planted for berry production? Our natives are not very productive. Cultivars became available in nurseries only in the past several years.
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