Category Archives: Flora

Walk Along the Highline

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“Nature Meets Architecture”
The Highline, New York City

This is another interesting building next to the Highline. I get excited when I see beautiful gardens and cool architecture. The Highline is a great place to visit where gardens and architecture meet.

One of the reasons I visited the Highline was to get ideas for our garden. At Heatherwood, we are trying to create a naturalistic combination of perennials and tree groves. The Highline planting designs by Piet Oudolf exemplify the look and feelings that we are targeting.

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Winter Textures

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“Meadow Grasses & Perennials”
Heatherwood Meadow

The golden brown stalks of our ornamental grasses blew gently in the breeze during a recent snowfall. Their motion inhibited light powdery snow from sticking to stalk heads. In contrast the stiffer stalks of the spent rudbeckia reduce motion and allow snow to build up on the flower heads. The various textures and different shades of brown caught my eye as I walked through the meadow. There is always something to see during my strolls.

A recent heavy snowfall has matted down many of the grasses. Many of the stalks now lay on the ground.

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I Need a Change!

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“Autumn Sunrays”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

We are having a blizzard-like snowfall right now. The high temperatures for the last week and a half have been below 20 degrees. The waterfall in our garden is frozen. I need a change! All I have to do is look back on some of the images I created this past year to get a little feeling of warmth.

This warm early autumn image from our Heatherwood Japanese garden was just what I was looking for. I can feel the warmth of the early morning sun rays filtering through the Japanese maples and gracing the lower leaves of a Japanese “Full Moon” maple. The leaves were just starting to change from summer yellow to autumn red. It simply gives me warmth. Maybe it will provide me enough stimulus to go out and collect come cold winter images.

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Sunburst

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“Autumn Joy Sedum and Blue Fescue”
Heatherwood Meadow – Winter

I started my daily walk down to our Heatherwood meadow. I looked down and there my image was. I saw a burst of golden rays radiating out from a spent Autumn Joy sedum. My imagination flew as I visualized the morning sun bursting out over a grove of trees on a hillside ridge. What a great way to start a morning stroll.

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Layered

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“Layered”
Heatherwood Meadow

Heatherwood’s meadow plantings have been designed to produce layers of color and texture interest throughout the year. The above winter vignette is composed of yarrow, rudbeckia, penstemon, and ornamental grasses. They provide varying shades of brown, textures, and shapes creating beautiful winter interest.

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A Walk in the Winter Garden

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“Edge of Cherry Allee”
Heatherwood Winter

The weather Is about to drop down into the teens this week. I decided to take a long stroll through our winter garden while it was comfortable. The bright yellow of the yellow twig dogwood shrubs contrast nicely with the red of the cherry tree bark. The base of the yellow twigs are surrounded by red berginias. In the summer the green foliage of the dogwoods will fill-in against the trunks of the cherries. Coupled with the canopy of the cherries, they will form a border to frame the bright colored perennials in the cherry allee.

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Simple Pleasures

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“Walk Through the Garden”
Heatherwood Winter

The simple pleasure of walking through our Heatherwood garden is something I do almost every day. Sometimes the walk is just a few minutes, other times hours go by before I come in. The garden is in its infancy, but little vignettes like the one above, make each stroll a new experience.

During the busy Holiday season it is easy to get lost in all the hustle and bustle. I try my best to make sure I do not let the opportunities for little simple pleasures escape.

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Winter Day 3

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“Winter Grasses”
Heatherwood Meadow

Snow lightly glazes the stalks of the winter grasses adding to their winter beauty. Many gardeners like to have a neat planting area over the winter and cut down all their perennials. We prefer to let the garden get a little messy and enjoy the remnants of the perennials. The birds like it too as they feast on the spent flower seeds.

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Winter Garden Ground Cover

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“Ice Plant Sedum”
Heatherwood

To compliment the various winter interest shrubs and perennials, we have added various ground covers. The one with the most brilliant winter impact is the ice plant sedum. From its bright light green summer color, it turns into an intense orange-red color in late fall and winter. With a light dusting of snow it is particularly striking.

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