Over the past several years, we have been gradually developing a garden path along the perimeter of our lower Heatherwood garden. The image above is the transition from our lower conifer garden to the woodland garden. The Lebanon cedars on the left and the birches on the right form a doorway across the lawn into the woodland garden above. Along the path, benches provide shaded places to rest and become immersed into the garden’s beauty. It’s time for a walk!!!
Conifers, grasses, Japanese maples, perennials, and deciduous trees all blend together to form an abstract collage of color. Colors change every passing day for a new display. This window into our Heatherwood garden provides a little vignette to greet our daily walkers along the street. The garden provides us the gift of being able to walk among nature every day.
The sagebrush covered hill above along with its ridge of a past volcanic lava flow puts history in perspective. It also provides a reminder of the importance of our 100-year old irrigation canal that has brought water to our fertile valley.
We have been blessed with many beautiful blue-sky early fall days this year. Some trees have already turned color and lost their leaves. Others are just starting to turn into their fall colors. Soon many of the orange maples will turn into scarlet red. We always enjoy the contrast of the garden colors with the stark beauty of the hill above accented by the bright blue sky.
Historic Irrigation Flume in NW Bed Heatherwood Late Summer
Irrigation gives life to our Heatherwood garden. Without the water that the Selah-Naches canal brings, our landscape would be a dry shrub steppe area like what can be seen on the hillside rising above our home. This small section of the wooden flume that originally brought water to the area is a reminder of the canal that was built over 100 years ago. It brought precious water to the fertile soil for the orchards and farm lands of our valley.
We have had a continuous drought for several years. The mountain snow pack and reservoirs have been low. So far we have been able to keep our little oasis thriving. We are very conscious of how we apply the limited water supply. Over time, I am sure that we will need to replace much of our landscape plants with ones that are much more drought tolerant.
It seems like I returned back home to Selah, Washington from Doylestown, Pennsylvania just yesterday. It has been a little over ten years! The years have flown by so very, very fast. Throughout my life, we have developed personal gardens in each location that we have lived in. It all started from a little bed we planted with daffodils and tulips in Richland, WA. Over 50 years our gardens have evolved through eight locations moving from Richland to Seattle to Washington, DC to Kent, WA to Woodinville,WA to Doylestown, PA and finally back to my home town, Selah, WA. The journey has culminated in our little Eden we call Heatherwood.
The above image is from our patio looking over our lower garden to the valley and hills to the south. Nine years ago this was a simple pasture similar to our neighbors. Slowly we added lawn grass, multiple planting beds, and a lower patio. As plants, trees, and shrubs have grown it has matured into a multidimensional landscape. Each year we add a little more here and there. It is hard for us to believe how much things have changed from when I first moved in. The image below is what the lower property looked like before we started re-landscaping in 2018. What a difference eight years has made.
The Meadow and Countryside Beyond Heatherwood Late Summer
One of my favorite places to sit and enjoy our Heatherwood Eden is from our lower patio overlooking the meadow and the countryside beyond. I am at peace as I gaze over the waning colors of the meadow up to our neighbor’s freshly mowed pasture. The grove of trees on the ridge of the hill adds a spot of interest and curiosity. As I sit and enjoy the setting, time flies by and the problems of the world subside. I dream on what is right about our world rather than focus on the difficulties.
I’ve been negligent in my entries for the last six weeks. Where has the time gone? Summer projects and a three week cruise in Europe have consumed most of it. I am now back and will do a little catch up.
This past summer has been a hot one. Temperatures have consistently been in the 90’s even rising over 100 degrees at times. It has placed a lot of stress on newly planted specimens as well as our Japanese maples. The weeds have loved it!
As the summer is winding down and the temperatures are dropping down into the 80’s and 70’s, the bright colors of the garden perennials are fading. The grasses are turning into their fluffy browns. Seed pods of the many flowers are starting to burst open. Birds are abundant! Here and there an occasional last bloom pops up. Fall color of sedums, asters, and other late bloomers are emerging. Colorful berries are forming on many of the viburnums and flowering shrubs. Small apples laden our crabapples. Some of the maples are starting to turn into their autumn colors. Heatherwood is still full of beautiful colors and textures.
Cone Flowers, Phlox, Daisies, Yarrow, Russian Sage, Rudbeckia Heatherwood Summer in the “Bright & Shiny”
Summer is definitely here! Earlier this week the temperature showed 100 degrees as I was driving along the road. The hot temperatures are triggering the summer perennials to burst out in bloom. We have to water the beds every night. The water is directed to minimize waste and provide moisture only where needed.
Our Heatherwood garden continues to fill in as the plantings mature. It is hard to believe that this section of the garden was a sloping grass lawn just seven years ago. Now, a gravel path gradually weaves up the hillside to the source of a stream and waterfall. Trees and shrubs have filled in to border the pathway. One can hear the rush of falling water but cannot see the stream. A new visitor questions, “What is around the corner?”
