First, to produce frost, you need water vapor (gaseous form of water) in
the air over cold ground.
When water vapor molecules contact a cold surface, such as a blade of
grass, they jump directly from the gas state to solid state (known as
"deposition"), leading to a coating of tiny ice crystals.
The central question related to this interesting phenomenon is what kind of weather (meaning, how cold does it really need to be) to have this kind of mass frost actually form? The answer is actually quite complicated: you need a large air mass and surface dew point temperature of at least 32 degrees Fahrenheit or colder to have the "perfect scenario".
With more moisture in the air, the interlocking crystal patterns of frost become more intricate and much larger, known as hoarfrost.
The frost is typically compacted tightly and has very sharp (pointed) edges. See the picture below.
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