Tag Archives: Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Rocks With a Message

“Path to Never Ending Search of Knowledge”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

When we first started designing the layout of Heatherwood’s Japanese Inspired Garden, I identified three stone designs that I wanted to include to depict important inspirations in my life. The stone pattern in the center of above image is meant to depict a pathway to a never ending search of learning. The bottom stone represents the “seeker”. The four rocks above the seeker curve upward creating a path to acquire knowledge. When reaching the top stone, the seeker can look upward to a tall bluff full of geologic history.

I see every day as an opportunity to discover and learn something new. It may be an element of nature, a new face, a new idea. It can come from an external source or from an internal reflection. As seen above, there is a well worn path alongside the rocks. My legs are not long enough to hop from one to another.

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It Is Good to Be Back !

“Goldilocks Japanese White Pine”
Heatherwood Spring

We had a great two week vacation floating down the Danube River, but it still feels good to be back home enjoying our Heatherwood garden. While we were gone, it seems like everything grew about a foot or so. This Pinus parviflora ‘Goldilocks’ sprouted out its new growth in brilliant yellow. The new growth stays yellow throughout the year until late winter when it starts to darken up. Then again in the spring it spurts out its brilliant yellow new growth.

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And Now the Japanese Maples

“Shin Deshojo Japanese Maple”
Heatherwood Spring

During the last two weeks, our Heatherwood Japanese Maples have been opening their leaves in a glorious burst of spring color. This Shin Deshojo graces our sitting area next to the pond. Its striking pinkish red color steals the show as we enter the sitting area.

We have another Shin Deshojo next our house. It has a story of its own to be told.

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Spring Welcome

“Hokkeji Lantern & Don Egolf Redbud”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

The Don Egolf Redbud is the early spring star of Heatherwood’s Japanese garden entryway. Standing beside the Hokkeji Lantern, they welcome visitors (and us) to stroll along the pathway leading through the garden. The Japanese maples will soon take over as the blossoms of the Don Golf drop.

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Experimenting

“Raindrops on Hana Matoi Abstract”
Heatherwood Spring

Yesterday, my post was of individual raindrops on our Hana Matoi Japanese maple. Today’s image is what happened when I added a little motion blur to the image. A little playful creativity can make magic.

Note: the little white curves are individual raindrops.

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Signs of Spring

“Yukimi and Siberian Iris”
Heatherwood Spring

The early spring blooms of the Siberian iris signal that spring is here. This year’s display is much more sparse than previous years. The early hard fall freeze and the late winter snow may have discouraged many of the bulbs from rising above the ground. We will probably need to refresh the area by planting more bulbs this autumn.

The small Japanese maple is forming buds. It will be another 3 to 4 weeks before the leaves burst out. I keep reminding myself, patience, patience, patience!

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Blue Sky Winter Day

“Japanese Garden Entry Path”
Heatherwood Winter

Blue skies on a winter day raise my spirit. I walk out our front door and turn to my right and see the glorious blue sky above the sunlit ridge. The warmer temperatures are melting the snow. Trees and shrubs are now free from snow. Ground covers are peeking above the snow-patched ground. The partly snow covered pathways entice me to walk through the garden. As I walk along the path I stop to touch and inspect the various plants that have been under snow for the past six weeks. I look and see new buds forming on the tips of the branches. I continue and stop multiple times to just look around me and contemplate the garden’s beauty and the changes that will emerge as the seasons of the new year progress. My spirts rise.

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Mid-January Stroll

“Yukimi and Pond”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Between light rain drizzles we had a few hours of sunshine. I grabbed my camera for my first garden excursion of the year. With the rain and above freezing temperatures, our snow is gradually melting. The pond has been free of ice for about a week. During the winter we leave the water flowing in the small stream to provide aeration for our fish. Hopefully they will survive over the winter.

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Still Hanging On

“October Glory Maple & Mountain Lantern”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

This scene is from the top of the garden above our “Perch” sitting area. The leaves of the October Glory are still hanging on. Last year at this time, they had all fallen. They make a nice contrasting interest against the white snow. The yellowish Wintersonne Mugo Pine on the right has not attained its winter color yet. In about a month, it will be bright yellow. Just out of view on the left side of the image is a winterberry holly. In the winter, the leaves will fall, leaving clusters of bright red berries. The combination of other Japanese hollies, winterberry hollies, and green and yellow conifers, along with the Japanese mountain lantern will provide an attractive winter garden vignette. We just need to give it time.

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I Just Turned 90 Degrees

“Looking East”
Heatherwood Snow

I did not have to move far from the spot where I created yesterday’s post for today’s image I took a step or two, then turned toward the East. This image is looking through the northern slope of the Japanese-influenced part of our garden. For this image, I was looking for the contrasts of the snow as well as the subdued winter colors. Again, the biggest contrast is the vegetated garden against the barren background Selah Bluff.

The two red maples in the middle of the image are also a personal interest of mine. They represent a passage of time. The little red Japanese maple in the foreground-left was planted late summer this year as one of our newest additions to the Japanese garden. The larger October Glory maple in the background-right was planted in 2016, the first year that I had moved back to Selah. What a difference in maturity six years makes. It helps me visualize what the garden will look like in the coming years.

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