Category Archives: Trees

Tracking Clouds … A Great Way to Pass the Time

“Lone Trees & Clouds”
The Palouse, Washington

I have many wonderful memories of my childhood growing up at the “Ranch.” Many times I spent what seemed like hours, laying on the lawn, gazing up at the clouds, watching them move across the sky changing shapes. Some things never change. On my recent trip to the Palouse, I saw these two trees out in the middle of endless hills of green fields. The bright blue sky was filled with puffy white clouds. I stopped and watched the clouds move across the sky casting shadows on the green hills. An hour went by like a flash as I watched and waited for the shadow patterns in the background to frame the tree while not shading the tree itself or the area in front of it. What a great way to spend a peaceful early afternoon in a beautiful part of our state.

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Exploring the Back Roads

“Lonesome Road”
The Palouse, Washington

One of the things I enjoy the most is just driving around exploring the countryside. An old dirt road, rolling hills, puffy clouds puts my mind at peace. I stop in the middle of the seldom traveled road not worrying about another car or truck coming by. I pause and enjoy what I see around me and contemplate how this beautiful land has been used to support a long abandoned homestead and now as a section of a large mega-farm. Sometimes I create an image with my camera. Sometimes I just drive on with the image as a memory in my mind.

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Gifts For the Taking

“Forest Pansy Redbud”
Heatherwood Spring

Heatherwood continues to give up something new and interesting every time we stroll around the garden. Little elements of nature abound at every turn. These gifts are for the taking. I just need to recognize them and add a little creativity.

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The Guardian

“Kotoji, Waterfall, & Japanese Maple”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

I keep coming back to this view in our Heatherwood Japanese garden. The Japanese maples continuously change in color, shape, and texture through the revolving seasons. In time they will flow over the stream’s edge becoming one with it. The Kotoji Japanese lantern acts like a guardian over the stream stabilizing the scene with its graceful legs .

The Guardian
A Japanese maple gently bends,
Shielding the flowing stream,
As the guarding Kotoji overlooks.

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White and Pink Contrast

“Milky Way Dogwood”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden

I remember roaming around the eastern woodlands in Virginia and North Carolina and enjoying the early blooming white dogwoods and redbuds. I can visualize visiting Jefferson’s Monticello with its surrounding eastern woodlands decorated with dogwoods and redbuds. It brings back many wonderful memories.

Here at Heatherwood in Eastern Washington, I am trying to recreate a little of this dream memory. Last year, we planted a redbud grove and a couple of white dogwoods. However the dogwoods were late bloomers and did not coincide with the redbuds. This year we planted two early blooming white dogwoods and have been successful in matching their blooming times. As trees get a little larger, we will add some rhododendrons to complete the scene.

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Crabapple Finale

“The Old Timer”
Heatherwood Spring

This glorious crabapple highlights the corner of our house and the Heatherwood Japanese garden. The tree was planted here before I moved back to Selah in 2016. It is very close to the house and hangs over the entry path to the side of the Japanese garden. Its original shape was heavily leaning and contorted. Over the years, I have selectively pruning it to recover its shape and provide clearance to walk under it on the path. Each year I remove a branch or two to “guide” it in the direction I want it to grow while maintaining its overall health. The tree is beautiful and provides a special anchor to our springtime Japanese garden.

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Spring Glory 7

“Prairefire Crabapple”
Heatherwood Spring

Today we return to a deep pink flowering crabapple. The various colors of the different trees provide a beautiful contrast in Heatherwood’s crabapple grove. They have varied between white, whitish pink, light pink, and deep pink. The trees’ barks, leaves, blooms, and fruits are all different. They all contribute to variety of little surprises that change from season to season.

This post shows the last crabapple that we have planted in our small crabapple grove. The trees are small now. We patiently wait enjoying each surprise they give us as we contemplate what they will be like in the years to come.

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Spring Glory 6

“Golden Raindrops Crabapple”
Heatherwood Spring

“Golden Raindrops” is our sixth crabapple that has bloomed this spring. Each one blooms about one week after its predecessor. It would like to say that the sequence was meticulously planned. But I can’t. We did pay attention to notes that indicated if the species was a late, mid, or early bloomer. With the sequence, we have about three in bloom at one time after the third on starts.

This crabapple is unique in that it has little golden apples in the fall.

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Always Looking for New Ideas

“White and Pink Dogwoods”
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

I enjoy walking through gardens and arboretums enjoying their beauty and creative insights. This springtime vignette of contrasting white and pink dogwoods at the Yakima Arboretum triggered my thoughts for future Heatherwood additions. In our garden we currently have seven white dogwoods and two pink dogwoods, all blooming at different times. The whites and the pinks are planted in different parts of the garden. On my future planting list, I will add a few new pink dogwoods to complement the whites.

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Woodland in Progress

“Don Egolf Redbuds”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden

Last spring we planted nine redbuds as part of our new Woodland Garden. The blooms were gone at the time we planted them. This spring they erupted in bright pink buds. It will take years for this part of the garden to mature. But. we look forward to seeing it evolve over the years to come. As a comparison, the following image from the Yakima Arboretum is what we may expect these young redbuds to mature into.

“Mature Redbud in Spring Glory”
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

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