“Chief Joseph and Sester’s Dwarf”
Heatherwood Winter

Today was a bright, breezy, and chilly winter day. The temperature did not get above freezing. We will be planting a Winter Garden at the Yakima Area Arboretum this spring. Many of the plants we have chosen for the Arboretum are ones that we have planted at Heatherwood. I am preparing educational material for the garden, starting by collecting images for the various plants that we will be planting at the Arboretum. What a better place to start than in my home garden. So off I went, all bundled up, with my camera to create some images. Because of the cold, I was planning on just staying out for a half hour. Three hours later Mary came out to check on me. I was able to make a walk around our whole Heatherwood garden collecting images of winter color and textures.

One element of a winter garden is contrasting colors of various conifers. The image above is one of the most interesting contrasts of yellow and blue. The bright yellow of the Chief Joseph lodgepole pine makes a striking contrast with the bright blue of the Sester’s Dwarf blue spruce. Both are now the same size and are slow growing. We are looking for them to grow up together over the years. While the Sester’s Dwarf retains its blue color throughout the year, the Chief Joseph will turn back to green for the summer. They are a great pair for the garden.

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