“November Rose”
Heatherwood, Fall
The buttery yellow of a November rose brings a little sunshine to our rose garden. Most of the garden’s roses are spent and hanging down. Just a few of our yellow floribunda remain. Even these are on their last hurrah. Leaves are wilting and falling off. Rose hips are forming. It is time for the roses to go to sleep for the winter and get their rest for a bright June bloom.
“Swirling Leaves in the Grass”
Heatherwood, Fall
If a diagonal multiple exposure will work, why not a swirl? There is always magic around, all you have to do is look and imagine!
“Leaves in the Grass”
Heatherwood, Fall
The wind was blowing and leaves were falling. It was time to go out and play with my camera. Walking around looking at the blowing trees, I wasn’t coming up with anything that really grabbed me. I looked down at my feet and saw patches of leaves in the grass. I decided to try a slow diagonal pan using multiple exposures. Here’s the result.
“Liatris Glory”
Heatherwood Meadow, Fall
These Liatris were once a brilliant purple in their summer prime. Their beauty remains even after the blooms have long shed their color. Part of nature’s glory in our meadow is what is left behind. The late afternoon sunlight creates an emphemeral feeling of fleeting moments. I anticipate the liatris will present a different version of beauty as the late fall frost and winter snow decorates them.
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.
“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
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.
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.
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.
“Soft Beauty”
Heatherwood Rose Garden
As I was photographing in our rose garden, I came across these two roses snuggled together. I remember thinking, “How soft and peaceful.” In post processing I tried to enhance that feeling.
There are so many interesting things to focus on in our Heatherwood garden. I have a difficult time really working a specific image since there are so many other distractions all around me. I tend to hop from one flower to another flower, vignette, or view constantly. When doing so, I tend to fall into a “photo-snapping” mentality and loose my contemplative creativity. I really need to work on this.