Omnivorous Surfer

A friend brought pictures of some ice formations someone he knew had found in his yard. In doing some research, he found them to be called ice ribbons, frost flowers, or ice flowers. They can take on different forms, and they're fascinating! The photo here, which I believe not to be copyrighted, comes from City-Data.com.  Dr. James R. Carter of Illinois State University, Normal, IL, has links to lots of pictures (his and others') and information available.

In short, it appears that when certain conditions exist, water drawn up through the roots into the stem of the plan and, freezes it and as it expands is "extruded" through breaks it creates in the wall of the stem.

I now want to get some seeds to plant Verbesina virginica (also known as White Crownbeard or Frostweed), one of the plants that seem to support the growth of ice flowers. Apparently there are others, including yellow ironweed, salvia, and vinca. I've planted both in the past; I will do so again and will leave them in the ground over winter to see what might happen.