Red and Yellow Twig Dogwoods Heatherwood Woodland Garden
Today I took a two hour stroll through our garden with my camera. With one month left in winter, I decided to focus on the winter garden highlights throughout Heatherwood. Throughout the woodland area we have planted red and yellow twig dogwoods. They provide an understory of winter color. Winterberry and mahonia (not show in the above image) provide additional winter color in other spots in the woodland.
Many times I wake up early in the morning and my mind is in a fog. It doesn’t worry me though. I close my eyes and think what is right about the world around me. I open my eyes and up pops an idea or thought that I can focus my day upon. It’s a much better way to start the day than brooding on something that is outside my influence.
I often use a similar technique when I photograph. I will be walking around with my camera enjoying the world around me. I feel good, but nothing is popping up that focuses my interest. I close my eyes and clear my mind. I open my eyes and just look around. Then there it is, something captures my eye and off I go!
Pahoehoe lava flows and cools slowly. It forms ropey type patterns as it cools. Walking over the Kilauea lava flows provides an infinite source of vignettes for creating images. My mind wanders as it gazes over the terrain. I discover pattern after pattern. Each one is unique and my imagination goes wild. I get lost and lose track of time. Each time I have walked the flows with travel partners, they have patiently(?) waited for me with stern faces by the car ready to drive to the next stop.
We were gifted a beautiful sunset on our first evening of our 2024 Hawaiian vacation. It was like a movie, with a colada in our hands we toasted to a beautiful welcome to Hawaii. It was followed by a romantic dinner with a local musician playing near our table and the gentle tropical breeze flowing through the palm trees.
Chief Joseph #2 is our visual target at the end of our Japanese Garden pathway. Because of their seasonal interest, we have placed them at strategic places in the garden. Chief Joseph #1 shown in an earlier post, is located at the corner of a bend in our upper Japanese garden pathway. It is the focal point walking both up and down from Heatherwood’s Perch.
In its winter glory the Chief Joseph pine is one of our winter garden stars. Its bright yellow winter color makes it stand out among the other conifers. We enjoyed this little star so much, we added two more in different parts of our Heatherwood garden. In summer it turns back to its green color as it merges back with the other surrounding conifers.
Today is our first real snow of the year. It looks like I will need to get out the snow plow tomorrow morning.
Heatherwood’s woodland is slowly maturing. Four years ago this area was a grass covered lawn. We first started converting the lawn by removing the grass and planting about 30 trees. Some were tall canopy trees others were understory trees. We then started adding shrubs and ground covers. Now the woodland is starting to take shape.
Throughout the woodland garden area, we added deciduous shrubs and trees that are characterized by their winter color. This scene is highlighted by the reds and yellows of red and yellow twig dogwoods and white bark of viburnums and redbuds framed by the bronze leaves of a scarlet oak. At the bend of the garden path sits an Adirondack settee, one of our favorite spots for a morning cup of coffee or an afternoon sip of wine.
A little fog in the morning adds interest to my morning strolls through the garden. Colors seem to pop out while the background is somewhat blurred. What lies around the corner? What is behind and beyond the trees and shrubs?
We only have a few of these mild winter days left in the horizon. In a few days the temperatures will drop down to -7 degrees at night and highs will be only in the low single digits. I hope that the sudden severe drop in temperature will not harm the garden!
A bright sunrise is a welcomed harbinger of a bright New Year. I look forward to new adventures and new experiences. I look forward to sharing good times with family and friends. Thoughts of new additions to Heatherwood and the Yakima Arboretum dance through my mind. I am anxious to reintroduce myself to my old hobbies that I have let lapse over the last few years. Being and enjoying life with loved ones is always at the top of my list. Each and every day is precious. I hope to live each one to its fullest.
Kotoji and Dry Winter Stream Bed Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Today is December 31st, the end of the year. How fast the year has flown by. It just seems like yesterday that we were cleaning the garden to prepare for spring. Heatherwood is still full of winter color. We anxiously wait for the first major snow storm of the new year.
Just like the year has flown by, my strolls through the garden flash by as well. Today I started out for a quick stroll to create a few foggy images. Two and a half hours later, I came in. It is so easy for me to get lost in thought as I walk through the garden with my camera. I see one interesting vignette, then another, then another. Today, I started out with a thin layer of fog covering the garden. I could not see the surrounding hills. By the time I finished, the fog had moved through the valley leaving the hills projecting up over the garden. It was a wonderful last stroll through the garden for 2023.