We enjoy bright flowers all summer long, but in the winter there
are no flowers at all (well, not exactly true, but they are definitely
scarce). Still, even during cold, short winter days you can find
something beautiful, and sometimes even something bright… like these
nandina leaves, still clinging to the branches and still glowing red.
So I was walking through the Denver Botanic Garden hoping to find a
thing or two to capture... but I found much more! Like these dried
flower seed pods that caught my attention, and to my surprise one of
them hosted a ladybug!
Some reddish and yellowish leaves also drew my eye. Against a
background of bare, colorless branches, they looked simply stunning.
With the warm weather, roses had continued to bloom, but the cold
mornings eventually killed the blossoms and dried them out. An
interesting kind of preservation of floral beauty, don’t you think?
As usual, I walked in circles - admiring red leaves on another
nandina plant, then berries, before stopping at a hydrangea bush still
covered with dried flowers. The intricate skeletal structure mesmerized
me for a few minutes and I had a hard time moving further.
And then - here it was! A blooming flower. This Purple Rock Cress
still added a splash of color, creating a striking contrast with its
muted surroundings.
Oaks often keep their leaves through winter and only shed them in
March, so it wasn’t a big surprise to find some still hanging on.
Another dried rose stopped me on my way, this one had kept its
color, transforming from bright purple to a deeper, burned shade. Very
beautiful, actually.
My next stop was a tall prairie dock plant. Its petals had dried and turned brown, yet they remained beautiful nonetheless.
Another circle, and more leaves, roses, hydrangeas, and thistles…
Honestly, that morning I found far more beauty than I expected. Winter
doesn’t mean everything looks boring. Faded and dull, perhaps, but
sometimes still colorful and bright, even on the coldest days of the
year.
Photos taken on December 24, 2025.
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