Category Archives: Our Garden

Images taken in our Pennsylvania garden

Early Morning Sunrise

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Sunrise on Southern Ridge
Heatherwood

As the sun rises over the eastern hills, these lenticular clouds lit up like they were on fire. A glorious fall day was on its way.

I saw the sun rising to the east as these clouds were moving in from the west. I quickly grabbed my camera with a long telephoto then stood and waited until the clouds moved over the trees on the southern hill crest. A few seconds later the clouds broke up and the sun rose above the western hills. The moment was gone.

It pays to have a camera with the right lens ready when the moment arises. I typically have 3 cameras with different lenses ready most of the time.

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Soft

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“Soft Beauty”
Heatherwood Rose Garden

As I was photographing in our rose garden, I came across these two roses snuggled together. I remember thinking, “How soft and peaceful.” In post processing I tried to enhance that feeling.

There are so many interesting things to focus on in our Heatherwood garden. I have a difficult time really working a specific image since there are so many other distractions all around me. I tend to hop from one flower to another flower, vignette, or view constantly. When doing so, I tend to fall into a “photo-snapping” mentality and loose my contemplative creativity. I really need to work on this.

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Blue Skies and Green Grass

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“Future SW View Area”
Heatherwood

After 3 weeks of smoke-filled skies and hazardous air quality warnings, blue skies finally emerged. The local and other western state wild fires had filled our little place of peace with a heavy layer of smoke. It was hard to spend much time outside without a burning sensation in my lungs. Finally a strong breeze pushed the smoke out of †he valley. It felt so good to walk around our garden and breath fresh clean air.

The point where this image is taken is the future site of a small outdoor room/sitting area from which we can hide and enjoy a peaceful view of our garden, house, and ridge above. The lawn area will be closed in with shrubs and small trees providing a private shady area for a cozy bench. It will be a peaceful area to take an afternoon break in the shade and enjoy the scene above. Planning for the future keeps my imagination going.

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Hmmmmm

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“Hummingbird and Bee Balm”
Heatherwood Meadow

One of my favorite memories of our garden in Eastern Pennsylvania was watching hummingbirds flicker from bloom to bloom in our patch of red bee balm (Monarda). Having a grouping of bee balm in our Eastern Washington Heatherwood perennial meadow was a priority. We planted about 6 plants and sure enough, bees and hummingbirds flocked to sample the sweet nectar.

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What I Am Trying to Achieve (Continued)

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“Lower Waterfall in Early Morning Sun”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Continuing from my prior post, this image illustrates the design opportunities that we have to create my vision for the stream, waterfall, and pond. We have laid the foundation for the stream’s surrounding areas with a few conifer trees and shrubs. To compliment these, we need to add contrasting shapes and textures along with a lot of ground cover. I hope to achieve this with interesting evergreen and deciduous shrubs and a few more deciduous trees. I am looking also for fast-growing ground covers to keep the bark in place. When we have a strong wind, the surrounding bark is blown into the stream and pond, causing quite a mess and a lot of maintenance work. While adding framing plantings, we need to make sure that we allow “windows” for morning and afternoon sun to highlight the flowing waterfalls. Plant placement will be critical.

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What I Am Trying to Achieve

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“Japanese Maple & Waterfall”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

My vision of our Heatherwood Japanese Garden stream and waterfall is to have the stream encased by green trees, spreading evergreen shrubs, and ground covers flowing over the stream edges. I want to create a feeling that the stream and surrounding plants and rocks are a single complementary element. In this image, the Japanese Maple flows into the stream. What is missing is something to cover the ground beneath the maple that will spread over the rocks.

Over the past year I have been gazing over the stream to define the “vignette” that I am looking for. I feel that I am ready to start moving forward. We are currently in the planning process to develop the specific plant selection for next year’s Heatherwood project. The stream bed and surrounding area will be our top priority.

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A Start

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“Yukimi and Waterfall”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

In the summer of 2019 we built a stream, waterfall, and pond for our Japanese Garden. We also added several Japanese lanterns and small trees. This year we added a little ground cover. Our vision is to have the pond and stream lined with lush evergreen shrubs, trees, ground cover, and textured perennials that will cascade over the stream and pond’s edge. Additional trees will be planted to create a shaded environment. Time, a little work, and patience along with nature’s care is all that it will take to fulfill our vision. Our enjoyment will be to watch it evolve over time.

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Start of a Nice Day

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“Kotoji in Morning Light”
Heatherwood, Indian Summer

I love to start the day enjoying the morning sunlight on our Kotoji Japanese Lantern guarding the waterfall. The Yakima Valley “Indian Summer” is one of my favorite times of the year. The evenings and early mornings are cool in contrast to the warm (sometimes hot) days. Fall colors start to appear on the deciduous trees. The conifers also start to transition to their fall and winter shades. It is a beautiful time of the year!

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A Walk Along a Garden Path (Part 3)

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“A New Perspective”
Heatherwood Garden

As I follow the path to the west, a new perspective opens up in front of me. My eyes leave the “bright and shiny garden” to gaze up along the hillside in front of me. I see the large homes on the ridge above. Fence lined pastures create the bucolic countryside feeling that attracts me to this area. The remnants of an apple orchard line the bottom fence. Our neighbor’s old horse is usually grazing amongst the apple trees.

The tree line path leads me first to a sloping lawn, then to the entrance to an informal path among a grove of young dogwoods and red buds. I missed their blooms this spring and look forward to a bright surprise next spring.

The meandering paths scattered throughout Heatherwood are designed to guide a visitor through the garden as well as introduce surprises at each turn. The plantings are young and will need several years to mature. My imagination is constantly at work envisioning what it will be in future years. In the meantime, I enjoy watching the little changes in what we have created and identifying items that we will need to add.

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