Monthly Archives: October 2020

Heatherwood Fall Colors #7

Kotoji, Waterfall, and Color
Heatherwood Japanese Garden, Fall

Reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. along with the Kotoji lantern highlight this vignette in our Japanese-style garden. Water flows from above to a pond below. Two Japanese maples, a weeping larch and nine different conifers surround the scene.

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Heatherwood Fall Colors #6

Japanese Garden Path
Heatherwood Fall

Like a Stream

Like a stream,
my path meanders
through Nature’s fall glory.

I love walking around Heatherwood’s formal and informal paths. Autumn’s beautiful color is everywhere, but it is fleeting with the coming of colder temperatures. A daily walk through the garden brings me pleasure as I enjoy the present moments, reflect on the past, and anticipate the coming days.

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Heatherwood Fall Colors #5

Russian Sage & Yarrow
Heatherwood Fall

“Purple and Gold” is my favorite color combination. Being from the University of Washington, how can I help not having these being my favorites? Go Dawgs!!!

Fall and Husky football are synonymous. September and October have not really felt like fall with no Husky football. But, the short season is scheduled to start on 7 November. It will be a different type of season, but at least the young athletes will get to play if things don’t change.

In the meantime, my focus has been in our garden, working and enjoying the fall colors. Throughout the meadows and rock gardens, the primary colors are purple (asters, Russian sage, etc.) and gold (rudbeckia, yarrow, etc.). Reds, yellows, greens and oranges highlight the trees.

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Heatherwood Fall Color #4

“Fall Roses”
Heatherwood Fall

The roses are hanging on to their last burst of color. They have provided five months of beautiful enjoyment. It is now time for them to rest. The following is Mary’s perspective:

Fall Roses

As the end of the summer comes, 
one last gasp of velvety red hangs quietly from the stem.

The season of roses gave us color and imagination 
with every gaze of the thirteen rose bushes planted here two years ago.

Some made their way inside, but most lost their petals 
in the summer winds and carpeted the ground with red, pink, yellow, and white.

Now the cold nights are here, and the fall sky grays dully 
during the shortening days.

Here, two red blossoms hang on, sharing their last gasp of fragrant beauty, 
delicate yet defiant of the nature of things.

The uncut rose hips signal a winter nap to get ready for next year’s bloom, 
and their cycle reminds us of the ebb and flow.

Thank you, little roses, for teaching us that the difference 
between the end and the beginning is simply a little time to get ready.

                                                                           Mary Graf, 2020

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Heatherwood Fall Colors #3

Liquidamber Styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’ (Sweet Gum)
Heatherwood Fall

A pair of liquidambers frame the entry area to Heatherwood. I planted them three years ago, before we added the other entryway planting areas and replaced the flowering plum trees with Green Vase Zelkovas. I am attracted to them because of their prominent upright shape, their brilliant fall color, and their “spikey” fruit.

I first planted three liquidambars in our Woodinville, WA garden 25 years ago. I did not have much luck. The first winter after I planted them, we had a very wet snow storm followed by a freeze. The trees still had their leaves and the weight of the snow and ice bent them over to the ground. While we lived there, they never regained their form. Our first year in Fountainville, PA we planted a row of five liquidambers along the road in our front yard. They became the star of our front yard landscape. So when I moved back to Selah, I had to add a pair to a prominent place in our landscape.

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Heatherwood Fall Colors #2

Oak Leaf Hydrangea
Heatherwood Fall

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas are my favorites with their four season interest. In the spring, their dark green leafs unfurl. Summer brings out their beautiful conical flowers. Brilliant fall colors surround the faded brown blossoms in the autumn. In the winter most of the leaves drop leaving their exfoliating cinnamon-brown bark and their brown flower heads. A light dusting of snow highlights their beauty.

Heatherwood displays several Oak Leaf Hydrangeas throughout the garden, including a few in the Oak Grove.

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Heatherwood Fall Colors #1

Oribe Japanese Lantern
Heatherwood Fall

The Oribe guide post lantern leads one to a quite place dedicated to a tea ceremony. The form was created by Lord Furuta Oribe (1544-1615). Lord Oribe was a famous tea master who practiced the Sukiya way of life. In our Heatherwood Japanese garden, the Oribe marks a wash basin for one to wash their hands prior to a tea ceremony. At this point, Heatherwood deviates from a traditional Japanese garden. Instead of a tea house, we have a lounging area with Adirondack chairs were we frequently have a glass of wine instead of a cup of tea.

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Harbinger of a Beautiful Day

Cherry Tree Silhouette Against Early Morning Sunrise
Heatherwood Fall

As I watched the sun rising, the cloudy sky turned a brilliant yellow orange. I just knew it was going to be a crisp beautiful autumn day. As soon as it got light enough, I grabbed my camera and went out to try to capture a feeling of the changing colors in our Heatherwood garden. I will follow up with some of the color I witnessed in my next several posts.

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Early Morning Sunrise

Sunrise on Southern Ridge
Heatherwood

As the sun rises over the eastern hills, these lenticular clouds lit up like they were on fire. A glorious fall day was on its way.

I saw the sun rising to the east as these clouds were moving in from the west. I quickly grabbed my camera with a long telephoto then stood and waited until the clouds moved over the trees on the southern hill crest. A few seconds later the clouds broke up and the sun rose above the western hills. The moment was gone.

It pays to have a camera with the right lens ready when the moment arises. I typically have 3 cameras with different lenses ready most of the time.

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A Little Brightness for the Day

Yellow Rose
Heatherwood Rose Garden

Our rose garden is still full of color. However, most of the blooms are past their prime and are a little tattered. It is hard to find a full crisp fresh rose without a few defects in the petals. So with my macros, my focus is on color, shape, and lines. I am continuing to work with creating “softness” with some of my rose images. I combined two images, one in focus, and one out of focus and blended them together to achieve the above result.

So here’s a little brightness for your day! There is always something in the world to celebrate.

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