Winter Light

Actaea seed head. 

They are having another photo competition over at Gardening Gone Wild. This month's theme is "Winter Light". I was not too hopeful of taking part this month when I saw the theme. It feels like the darkest dreariest winter of the lot this year. We have had weeks on end with nothing but grey skies. This morning however I have done my best to dig through my photographs and pull out a very rare few that were taken this winter, which say to me "Winter Light".

My favourite macro has to be the Actaea seed head from the garden here at Tumbledown. I love the way the sun has illuminated each little seedpod and highlights the delicate spiders threads and hooks.

Cow Parsley Skeleton

I managed to snap this image of the Cow Parsley skeleton looking hauntingly beautiful against the winter sky and below the tiny pink flowers of the winter flowering vibernum trapped in a cocoon of icy snow.

Winter Flowering Vibernum

Winter Jewels 

I loved the way the light danced off the ice on this shrub in the front garden too, making it look as though it had been decorated by a thousand jewels.

Ivy in the Sun

On my visit to Colesbourne Park a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get some beautiful afternoon light. It made the snowdrop woodlands feel very magical, if not a little eerie. I loved this tendril of Ivy reaching into the sun and the shadows of an old gate against the tree below creating a very moody scene. My favourite that afternoon was the way the light reflected off of the wonderful blue lagoon making the woods look like they were from some forgotten ghostly realm.

 

Moody 

 Silent Wood

Which is my favourite though? Eeek I'm not sure I can pick, I like them all for different reasons. I think perhaps for me it is the Actaea; I love the way the sun dances off the seedpods and draws you in. It makes me think it is a mountain waiting to be climbed!