“Purple & Pink”
Heatherwood Rock Garden
Our Heatherwood garden continues to change through the summer. Color is everywhere. Most of the perennials are relatively small since they were just planted this spring. Small vignettes are the best way to represent what is happening in the garden at this time.
Mary and I usually walk through the garden at least once a day and are always amazed at the beauty that is presented to us.
“Thistle Impression”
Heatherwood Meadow, Summer
It’s time to come back home and add a couple more images from our Heatherwood garden. I used to think thistles were just weeds, but we decided to plant a couple of different varieties in our meadow. This one is planted between white daisies and yellow yarrow. It provides a nice contrast in the meadow. With the hot temperatures (>100 degrees) these thistles have quickly bloomed then lost their color. To accentuate the artistic flair of the thistles, I added a little Georgia O’Keeffe impressionism to it.
“Vincent’s Perspective of Coneflowers”
Fountainville, PA Garden
Today is a special day for looking back on wonderful memories.
A field of blue,
Shows the artist in you.
Always creating, a beautiful view.
Happy 44th!
“Perennial Mixture”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
“Bright and Shiny” is what Mary wanted for her Cherry Allee. It was one of the first criteria that we established as we planned our design for the “lower 40.” It has now become a reality … at least the start of one. Colors are constantly changing as one set of blooms expire and another one starts to bloom. Our target was to have a continuous bloom from mid/late spring through the fall. So far it is working.
Yellow Flowers
On a bright, July day, the yellow flowers are like little suns,
waving in a slight breeze and looking toward me from different angles.
The Earth gives us little miracles, like flowers that drink in the sun,
radiating their color and vibrance to any willing passerby.
The little voices in my head say, “We don’t need to understand it all; just look at the pretty
yellow flowers . . .”
– Mary Dahlin Graf
“Stargazer Lily”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
A bloom, rarely shy
The lily, bold and joyful—
Fragrant, fleeting grace
– Mary Dahlin Graf
How nice these lilies smell! We planted them next to our “sitting stones” at the top of our cherry allee. When we were first planning what kind of flowers we want to plant, Mary’s immediate response was, “a Stargazer lily, please, please, please!”. So, we made it happen. Now she can sit at the top of her allee, reach out, touch, and enjoy the beautiful blooms. Life is good!
“View from Below”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee
Yesterday’s post was of a mature cherry allee at the Yakima Arboretum. This image is our new cherry allee planted this spring. Between the eight trees we have planted a colorful perennial garden with a path zig zagging through the flowers. We have picked perennials that will flower from late spring through early fall.
It will take several years for the trees to grow large enough to form the allee. The perennials will fill in much quicker. In about three years they should fill in leaving a minimum of uncovered ground.
“Yarrow in the Sprinklers”
Heatherwood Meadow
My neighbors must have thought I was crazy as they observed me leaning over the side of my lawnmower with a big camera and long telephoto lens pointed down at the ground. I am sure they were asking, “Why doesn’t he stop being lazy and just get off the mower to take a picture?”
Maybe in a couple more weeks I will be able to. Not being able to walk around much or kneel down and get up is not stopping me from creating an image or two.
“In the Sprinklers 2”
Heatherwood Meadow
The sprinklers trapped me! Looking through my telephoto lens (900mm equivalent) drew me into an imaginary garden. I felt small observing flowers and water droplets at eye level. It was magical.
“In the Sprinkers 1”
Heatherwood Meadow
I have been trying to create the essence of what I see in the meadow for the last couple of weeks. My results have not been satisfying. I am still making my images from my mower since I cannot walk around unaided yet. My prior images have not been as crisp as I would like. I converted several into abstracts to make up for their softness.
For this next set of images, I focused on isolation using a long lens and a narrow depth of field. I also timed taking the images when the meadow was being watered with sprinklers.
In my youth, the highlight of a warm summer day was running through sprinklers in our yard with my brother and sister. I guess I have never outgrown those special times.
Mountain Lantern
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
This informal Mountain lantern was also added this spring to the Heatherwood Japanese Garden. It quietly sits on the hillside above our “Perch” viewing overlook. Its light will gently grace chairs below. I look forward to spending warm summer evenings listening to the waterfall and overlooking the garden below.