After days of self-isolating, my hubby and I made a break for it to my favourite botanical garden. The air was fresh and invigorating, but chilly; I had to stuff my hands in my pockets between photos.

Even in its winter-dormant state, the garden is a lovely walk. There’s a sculptural quality to the landscape and everything in it that’s revealed by the absence of leaves. Above, my favourite path winds into the distance under a coating of snow, framed by fountain grass, dogwood branches in their cold-weather glory, and the silvery bark of a bare tree.

I love this big urn, although I’ve yet to get a photo of it that I’m happy with. It looks very regal and imposing as it introduces an allee of trees, but it refuses to share that with my camera. I’ll keep trying 🙂

At the big pond, I was fascinated by the formation of these white crystals on top of the layer of ice underneath. They remind me of snow-white winter birds, taking a rest between flights.

As the sun began to set, its light gilded the shape of this ice-rimmed opening above one of the fountains that spurt upward when the weather’s warmer.

Something had braved the ice on top of the pond when it was still soft enough to be imprinted with tracks. I believe these are rabbit tracks, although they’re rougher than if they’d been made in snow and harder to identify with certainty. Feel free to shoot me a comment if I’m correct or not.

I love taking photos of milkweed pods; an entire patch of them was looking very picturesque and textured in their winter state. By the time I finished taking multiple photos at this spot, my hands were freezing off, so it was time to head home for some steaming mugs of hot chocolate in front of our fireplace. We counted it a very good outing.

All photos are by me and all rights reserved. E. Jurus