Tag Archives: Heatherwood Meadow

First Day of Winter – Officially

“Snow and Frost-covered Meadow”
Heatherwood Winter

Today is the first official day of winter. Winter came much earlier than its official start this year. We had our first dusting of snow in mid-November. Then a week after Thanksgiving we had our first substantial snow fall. We had another significant snow fall in early December. Heatherwood has now been covered with snow for the last three weeks. In addition, the temperatures have been very cold adding hoarfrost to our trees, shrubs, and perennials. It is truly a beautiful winter scene.

The image above is a section of our Heatherwood meadow area. In the spring through fall, the meadow is full of color and various texture. Even in the winter it has shades of gold, orange, and browns with even a little hint of red. We elect not to cut back our perennials to provide this winter interest as well as provide seeds and berries for the wintering birds.

Related Images:

The Grasses No Longer Flutter in the Wind

“Snow-covered Meadow Grasses”
Heatherwood

The winter grasses will not be fluttering in the wind any longer. A heavy 6-8 inch snowfall covered the Heatherwood landscape a couple of days ago. Grasses were smothered and tree limbs laden with heavy snow broke. But as soon as the snow had fallen, it started to melt with temperatures in the high 30’s. Heatherwood looked like a winter wonderland. The warm temperatures will last a couple of days before they drop back down below freezing for the highs.

Related Images:

Snow Contrast

“Snow Dusted”
Heatherwood Meadow

A light dusting of snow amplifies the contrast of textures in our garden’s meadow. The shapes of the spent flowers and leaves pop out. The oranges, golds, and browns of the grasses are framed by the white of the snow dusting. The bright green of the lawn grass in hidden providing a contrast to the meadow areas.

Related Images:

The Emerging Star

“Purple Aster”
Heatherwood Meadow

The purple asters are at their peak. They are the emerging star in our Heatherwood meadow. Here they contrast with the golds and yellows of the daylilies, sedum, and yarrow. The bees have found them and are swarming all over. They are the last plants to bloom in the meadow. Soon, the bees will start their winter hibernation.

Related Images:

Balanced and Framed

“Grasses, Joe Pye Weed, and Coreopsis”
Heatherwood Meadow

There are many little vignettes in Heatherwood’s summer meadow. I constantly walk though the garden and discover a new perspectives of note. In this little scene, the two tall Karl Forester grasses in the back and the two blue oat grasses on the sides frame in the row of yellow coreopsis in the front and the row of pink Joe Pye weed in the center. The scene is naturally balanced.

Related Images:

Summer Color in the Meadow

“Soft Summer Color”
Heatherwood Meadow

Walking through our Heatherwood meadow in the early morning when the sun just rises and softly grazes over the meadow flowers is a calming experience. The various colors, textures, and shapes pull me into the scene.

The summer scenes change daily. Some flowers fade, new flowers emerge. Grasses grow taller providing new backgrounds as well as blocking and framing other views. This year the scorching summer direct sunlight is causing many flowers to fade prematurely, but others burst out just as quickly. We are always in a dilemma, should we deadhead plants to make the garden look pretty and force new blooms, or should we just let them take their natural course and fade then spread their seeds in the fall and winter. Mostly, we just let things mature naturally.

Related Images:

Purple and White

“New Echinaceas”
Heatherwood Summer Meadow

Echinaceas are one of my favorite summer perennials. In Pennsylvania, we started with just a few of purple echinaceas planted by the previous owners. They were in the wrong spots. We pulled most out and transplanted just a few. Over the years we ended up with three beautiful echinacea beds.

At Heatherwood, we started out with just a couple of patches of white echinaceas when we first planted the meadow three years ago. This year we added a few more patches and mixed in purple cone flowers with the white. Now it is time to wait, watch them fill in, and then start spreading them out. It just takes time and patience.

Related Images:

Water Spray

“Meadow Abstract”
Heatherwood Summer

This looks like we are giving the meadow flowers a bath shower. We are just watering them. Temperatures are getting hot. The forecast is to break 100 degrees next week. We need to make sure everything is well watered by the time the extreme temperatures hit. We hope we have been watering enough to have built up a enough moisture to get the plants through the upcoming scorcher.

Related Images:

Color, Color, Color, and More Color

“Color in the Meadow”
Heatherwood Summer

Fourth of July was a beautiful day here in Eastern Washington. After a morning cup of coffee sitting out in the garden, I took off for a stroll with my camera. Everywhere I looked summer color was brightly shining throughout the garden. In this little spot in our meadow we have orange red-hot pokers, purple bee balm, red bee balm, purple salvia, white daisies, yellow yarrow, yellow red-hot pokers, and various shades of green grasses. We peacefully gaze and enjoy the wonderful gift in front of us.

Related Images: