Category Archives: Landscape Photography

First Bloom of the Year

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Jelena Witch Hazel
Heatherwood Winter

Just before the arctic blast is suppose to hit us, our witch hazels are blooming. Over the years, witch hazels have been the harbinger of the coming spring in our winter gardens. We planted our first witch hazels in our Woodinville, WA garden. They were planted them later in the spring after their blooms had been replaced by leaves. I didn’t know what to expect the next winter, but in late January we were pleasantly surprised by the little fragile blooms. When we lived in the Philadelphia area, we frequently made the adventure down to Longwood Gardens to see and photograph the displays of large (10 foot) yellow, orange, and red witch hazels. Here at Heatherwood, we planted six Diane and Jelena witch hazels last spring and are enjoying their first winter bloom now. Our little guys are only 12-18 inches tall. They look a little lonely in the large open planting areas. Looking back on the Longwood Garden specimens, I can visualize the beauty in which they will grace our winter garden as they mature.

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Borrowed View and Memories

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Front Yard View
Heatherwood Winter

Looking out over our front yard, I reflect on memories of bygone childhood years. Outside our farmhouse door, in the foreground I see the snow covered apple trees with a few remaining apples hanging on the wild branches that need to be pruned. A little farther out I see our neighbor’s newly planted apple orchard. Behind the new apple orchard, I reminisce running through the old cherry orchard looking for low hanging delicious treats. And above the cherry orchard, I dream of the hours I would spend roaming around the sagebrush hills behind our orchard.

I enjoy looking over our Heatherwood landscape as I appreciate the borrowed views from our neighbors’ properties.

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Keeping My Mind and Eyes Open

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“Winter Sunset”
Heatherwood View

One of my favorite places to sit, relax, and read is in our family room by the window. I frequently look up and gaze over the our garden and the ridges in the distance. Most times I see something that catches my attention and causes me to pause and contemplatively think about what I am seeing. The more that my mind is open, the more that I see. The more that I see, the more I appreciate the wonderful world we live in.

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Persistent

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“Japanese Maple in Snow”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

This Japanese Maple is persistent. It just will not drop its leaves. Most of our Japanese Maples have a similar habit. They add to contrasting colors in the winter landscape as well as provide interesting “nesting spots” for winter snow. If the snow gets too heavy, we do have to gently dust it off the fragile branches to protect them from breaking. Later in the early spring we also need to gently run our hands through the branches to remove the leaves on some of the trees to prepare for the fresh new growth.

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Touch of Color

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“Grasses in Snow”
Heatherwood Winter

When most bushes and tree branches are covered with snow, grasses still break through the snow blanket to show off their golden winter color. These grasses above our waterfall provide a contrast of warm golden brown after a fresh snow fall. Many gardeners like to cut their grasses back in the fall to have a nice neat garden bed. I much prefer to let them show off their autumn color and seed heads through the winter.

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Stark Mystery

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Neighbor’s Pasture
Heatherwood, Winter

Yesterday I awoke to the ground covered with about 6 inches of snow. A light fog covered the surrounding hills. Snow covered objects blended into the background. From the top of Heatherwood, I saw our neighbor’s trees mysteriously transparent on the hillside. It’s nice to live in the country.

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Kotoji in Winter

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“Kotoji in Winter”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

I think winter is finally here. The first five weeks of winter have been very mild with temperatures often in the 40’s and 50’s. We have had several very light snowfalls that have melted within a day. Sunday night we received this snow. More is scheduled for this week and coming weekend. Heatherwood is beautiful this time of year. It creates a very peaceful feeling. All the new plants provide a striking contrast to what was just a lawn and pasture setting two years ago.

In this image, the Kotoji lantern silently watches over the dry stream bed. In a couple of months the steam will be active with flowing water and waterfalls.

Patiently watching a silent bed,
Kotoji waits for spring ahead,
With rushing water soon to come.

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