Category Archives: Flora

Bright and Shiny

“Perennial Mixture”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee

“Bright and Shiny” is what Mary wanted for her Cherry Allee. It was one of the first criteria that we established as we planned our design for the “lower 40.” It has now become a reality … at least the start of one. Colors are constantly changing as one set of blooms expire and another one starts to bloom. Our target was to have a continuous bloom from mid/late spring through the fall. So far it is working.

Yellow Flowers

On a bright, July day, the yellow flowers are like little suns,
waving in a slight breeze and looking toward me from different angles.

The Earth gives us little miracles, like flowers that drink in the sun,
radiating their color and vibrance to any willing passerby.

The little voices in my head say, “We don’t need to understand it all; just look at the pretty
yellow flowers . . .”

– Mary Dahlin Graf

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Star Gazing

“Stargazer Lily”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee


A bloom, rarely shy
The lily, bold and joyful—
Fragrant, fleeting grace

– Mary Dahlin Graf

How nice these lilies smell! We planted them next to our “sitting stones” at the top of our cherry allee. When we were first planning what kind of flowers we want to plant, Mary’s immediate response was, “a Stargazer lily, please, please, please!”. So, we made it happen. Now she can sit at the top of her allee, reach out, touch, and enjoy the beautiful blooms. Life is good!

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In the Sprinklers Again

Yarrow in the Sprinklers”
Heatherwood Meadow

My neighbors must have thought I was crazy as they observed me leaning over the side of my lawnmower with a big camera and long telephoto lens pointed down at the ground. I am sure they were asking, “Why doesn’t he stop being lazy and just get off the mower to take a picture?”

Maybe in a couple more weeks I will be able to. Not being able to walk around much or kneel down and get up is not stopping me from creating an image or two.

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Nature’s Little Wonders – 6

“Ouch”
Yakima Arboretum, Washington

“When you see red, shoot” … especially in the garden. The leathery red leaves of this Oregon grape popped out from the background. The Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) is a multi-season star of the garden. Its dark green leaves provide a strong contrast with its bright yellow spring blooms. These turn into blue berries in the late summer/fall. In the winter, the leaves turn to various shades of orange, burgundy, and red.

We have planted several mahonia among the pines and spruces of our conifer grove to provided a multi-season complimentary contrast.

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Nature’s Little Wonders – 3

Oakleaf Hydrangea
Yakima Arboretum, Washington

The glow of this back/side lit expired hydrangea bloom stopped me in my tracks. It was like if it was a bright red stop sign signaling me to stop and pay attention to what it had to offer. Each fall, I face a hard decision to deadhead the spent blooms for a better bloom next year, or let them be to provide special winter interest. We solved the problem this spring by planting several additional plants in the lower part of the garden.

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A Little More Meadow Color

“Meadow Impression”
Heatherwood Summer

As the temperatures hover in the high 90’s, our new meadow continues to display a variety of color. I long to be able to get our among the flowers and become one with my camera and the beautiful blooms. For the next several weeks, I will need to be content with viewing alongside and from above. Patience is not one of my strongest virtues.

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“Beardtongue”

“White, Pink, and Burgundy”
Heatherwood Summer

The “Eastern Smooth Beardtongue” (Penstemon laevigitus) is one of our garden’s first bloomers. its three foot tall burgundy stems host brilliant white and pink flowers in the middle of the meadow.

Small beautiful vignettes like this help me focus on what is right with this world as I let go of the many difficult things we are all facing. Beauty is all around us, we just need to open our eyes and hearts to recognize it.

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More Meadow Color

“In the Meadow”
Heatherwood Summer

Here is to more color in the meadow. This time we’ve added a little orange to the yellow and purple. The patches of color are separate, but gently blend into one another. The yellow provides a little buffer between the orange and the purple. What a summer treat our new meadow brings us.

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