Just an FYI, it is thought by some that many of these bacteria evolved this mechanism to get themselves put back on the ground where their chances of survival are much better. It is also thought by some that some of the bacteria that are frost nucleation species, may be doing so as to induce damage to the plant providing themselves a food source. As Tom says, "it's all related", and the sooner people accept that they are not isolated from the natural environment, that there IS consequences for their actions, the better. On the flip side, not all consequences are negative or even meaningful, and occasionally they are in fact beneficial. As example, our non-native Shantung Maple has turned out to be an excellent host for the native Silk Moth (see link). Arktrees Here is a link that might be useful:

Wow! It's already beautiful. I love that color of blue. I've never heard of this plant. Thanks for posting this. If they take a photo for you, please post it!

boy you do love clouds ,I feel like I am seeing them, they are such great photos. c

Thanks, all! Using my old Canon A-1 35mm, I could always double or even triple expose a photo, that is, if the first and second photos didn't capture any lightning. That is what I like about my digital camera, I can take hundreds of photos and they don't cost anything, unlike the 35mm film developing. I learned from my use of the A-1, to not waste film, so if you notice when there is a lightning cloud in the distance, you can count between the 'big' strikes, usually taking between 4 and 12 seconds in between strikes. The reason this happens is that once lightning strikes, it releases the negative charge, and it takes that long to build up again. Some strikes go about every four seconds, and some 12 or even more seconds between strikes. As the storm goes on for a while, the time between strikes will gradually get longer until it stops, but for a while, sometimes up to 30 minutes, but usually less, there is a regular pattern of time between strikes. Once you establish the time between strikes, then take the photo and increase the odds of getting a lightning shot. I set my camera ISO 100 and usually set it anywhere between 2 and 8 seconds, depending on how dark it is outside and how often it lightnings. Use a tripod or a windowpod as I did in both of these photos. I hope I explained this OK and I hope it helps. One last thing, take a LOT of pictures! You may get lucky. Even if you don't or can't establish a pattern, you are more likely to get a strike on film with lots of pictures. Here is some streak lightning. I was counting a pattern of about 10 to 12 seconds between strikes when I took this photo. It only struck four times after I took this photo. Kt