“Redbud Getting Ready to Burst”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden
The buds on our Redbud trees are almost ready to burst out in bloom. I walk down almost every day to check their progress. Any day now they will be covered with pink and magenta blossoms. When they do, the woodland garden will come to life. I love spring!!!
“Woodland Garden in Early Spring”
Heatherwood
Yesterday was a beautiful spring day. I took the opportunity to walk around our woodland garden area with my camera. My focus was to try to capture the feeling of various sections of the garden in the early spring before the majority of the trees were in bloom or leafed out. I also was attempting to create a baseline perspective of the garden prior to the additional planned plantings for this year.
When I first moved to Selah in 2016, this area was part of a pasture. The only trees were the birches in the left background. The next year, I added a small grove of October Glory maples next to the birches. The following year I planted the area in grass and added underground irrigation. In 2020, we started converting the area into a woodland garden theme, removing grass and adding red buds, a couple of dogwoods, and a few evergreens. Last year we continued to add standard maples, Japanese maples, several deciduous shrubs, and grasses to the area. This year, our plan is to add more understory deciduous shrubs and ground covers to frame in the pathway through the area. In the fall if we have the energy, we plan to add several more spring bulbs. This area will continue to be a “works in progress.” It will continuously be in a state of change as the trees grow and create more shade. The understory shrubs will transition from sun loving to filtered shade tolerant species. We will patiently enjoy watching it mature and change over time.
“Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry”
Heatherwood Spring
I love to let my imagination flow as I walk through our garden. As I gaze at our Snow Fountain cherry, I squint my eyes and can visualize a mass of large snow flakes flowing out of a fountain.
This is the start of the third season in Heatherwood for this cherry. Each year the blossoms become more profuse. It anchors one side of a garden path separating a meadow area from a tree and shrub area. Its early blooms make the tree stand out in our lower garden.
“Weeping Cherry & Path of Learning”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
This part of Heatherwood’s Japanese Garden is a “works in progress”. Year 1 we removed the grass, placed the rocks, and planted the evergreen trees and shrubs. Year 2 we added a few more shrubs. Year 3 we planted the creeping phlox, several ground covers, and the weeping cherry. This year we will focus on adding more ground covers.
The series of rocks curving up the hill is intended to portray a path of learning. Last year we added the phlox to highlight the path and the weeping cherry to lead a student up the path.
“Daffodils in Crabapple Grove”
Heatherwood Spring
One more day and all the daffodils are in bloom. From the time that the first daffodils bloomed it only took four days for the whole daffodil drift to bloom. In the same time period several of the crabapples started to leaf out. Shortly they will start to bloom one by one.
“Daffies in Late Afternoon Sun”
Heatherwood Spring
Another day brings out more daffodil blooms. The field is now about 75% in bloom. One day makes a big difference.
Yesterday’s garden walk was in the late afternoon just before the sun dropped behind the western hills. The warm light was gorgeous as it spread across the garden onto the daffodils in the crabapple grove. It was a nice way to wrap-up a beautiful spring day!
“Daffodils and Crabapples”
Heatherwood Crabapple Grove
It’s hard to believe just how much difference only one day makes. Yesterday’s post showed just a few blooms. Today’s post, taken one day later, shows about 50% of the daffodils in bloom. Tomorrow will be even more!
“First Daffodils”
Heatherwood Spring
Yesterday we woke up and looked out our window, and there they were, the first daffodils of the year. There were about a dozen blooms among the field of green leaves. We took a morning stroll to admire them. Looking around we could see little reddish leaves starting to emerge from the spirea shrubs. Leaves were also starting to emerge from the crabapples. Once a few daffodils bloom, the remaining bulbs soon follow. We are just starting a series of blooming/budding color in our crabapple grove. First the daffodils, then the various crabapple trees one species at a time. Each week will have a different surprise.
We love spring!
“Forsythia Tree”
Heatherwood Spring
This bright little forsythia tree was the first plant to bloom in our garden when I first moved back to Selah in 2016. A couple of years ago we added a Cornelian Cherry Dogwood to the garden. The dogwood now is the first tree to bloom. But the forsythia is still the harbinger of spring to me as it tells me that it is time to prune the roses.
“Spring Cleaning”
Lower Heatherwood Garden
The perennials and grasses have been trimmed and the first “spring weeding” is completed. It feels like we are ready for spring to burst forward. I give a short sigh of relief. But that will only be short-lived. We still need to prune the roses and a several deciduous shrubs that need some of the old wood removed. The irrigation system is scheduled to be started in three weeks, and our new spring planting material will be here in four weeks. April will be a busy month.