Steps Up the Upper Level Heatherwood Japanese Garden
A few days ago I gave myself a photography assignment to photograph windows that drew me into our Heatherwood garden. These windows include elements like pathways, hidden views, and eye catching vignettes. This scene shows a series of steps that lead upward. From the bottom, one cannot determine where it leads to or what is beyond the top. The various textures and colors of Japanese maples, conifer shrubs, ground covers, and rocks entice a visitor to explore and see what is above. A surprise waits at the top.
As I read the morning news on my office computer and sigh for all the turmoil that is going on in our country and the world, I turn to my side and gaze out the window. This image is what greets me on an early morning. It helps me change my perspective and think what is right about our world. I see the many trees that I’ve planted and nature has taken care of as they have matured. I look at the background hill and reflect on how it came into being. I compare the dry slope of the hillside and am grateful for the water that has been directed from the mountains that makes our little Heatherwood oasis possible. It entices me to go outside and mingle with the treats around me that nature has gratefully provided. Thank You!!!
I remember when I first moved back to Selah, the Selah-Naches Irrigation flume ran across the base of the hill above. It supplied the water for the Selah and Naches valley farms and orchards for around 100 years. It was one of the highlights that attracted me to this specific site for my new home. Alas, a few years ago the flume was removed and replaced by an underground pipeline. I miss the historic scene, but was able to build a little tribute to it with this section of the flume and planting area in the NW corner of Heatherwood.
Path to Garden Bench SE Corner, Heatherwood Garden
We do not have many cloudy days like this in Eastern Washington. Cloudy days make colors pop in the garden. Tones of green mixed with yellows, blues, and pink draw me into this little garden path. Where does it lead? Around the corner in an Adirondack bench shaded by a Wireless Zelkova. It’s a perfect private place to sit and enjoy a view upward to the garden and hills above.
It has been almost a month since my last post. How time flies by! We have been very busy working on developing our new southern conifer bed. Meanwhile, other parts of the garden have been busy bursting out their spring color. This part of the garden is now its peak color of the year. My camera has been replaced by a shovel and I almost missed recording some of our spring color.
The part of the garden that we have been working on is not at the photographing level yet. It is a dirt path lined with small conifers with no bark or ground covers. It will take a year or two to get to a state of interest. So, in the meantime I will continue to focus my photography on the more mature parts of the garden.
Our Katsura is one of the first Japanese maples to leaf out in the spring. It has these beautiful yellow leaves outlined along the edges in red. It pops out among our other conifers and deciduous trees. Currently we have it planted in an open area in our woodland garden section. The leaves get a little scorched in late summer. Finding the right spot in our harsh eastern Washington summer environment is difficult and requires a bit of trial and error. Should I be patient and wait for other trees in the woodland to get larger and provide some afternoon shade, or should I make the move now and transplant it in a more protected area?
The first of our crabapples have started blooming. For several days the flower buds kept getting bigger and bigger. Then two days ago they just started bursting open. There are seven different varieties of crabapples in our Heatherwood garden. They all reach their peak bloom at different times. This brings us a gift of blooming crabapples for around two weeks. The crabapples highlight the south east corner of the garden as the field of daffodils decline.
It pays to stroll through the garden every day at this time of year. New blooms burst out every day. In this case with our Akebono cherries, the glory of the full bloom only lasted one day. The temperature dropped into the 20’s the day that the cherries burst out in full bloom. The next morning the bright white blossoms were brown.
Garden strolls remind me to stay in the present and enjoy each and every moment. When I see something that catches my eye, I take the time to stop and explore it. I sometimes get close and touch the plant and feel its uniqueness. Who knows, tomorrow it may change.
Late afternoon sunshine brings warmth to our Heatherwood garden. This was taken at about 5:30P just before the sun set behind the hills to the west. The yellows and reds of the yellow and red twig dogwoods highlight the scene. The Selah Ridge above sets the background. The curving grass walkway provides an entryway to the garden from the road. It gives a peek into the garden for walkers as they pass by.
Cornelian Cherry Dogwood (Cornus mas ‘Golden Glory’) Heatherwood Spring
When I think about dogwoods I envision large white or pink bracts. When I think about ornamental cherries I see tight white or pink blooms. The Cornelian cherry dogwood has neither. However it does have small red cherry-like fruit in the fall.
I first saw a Cornelian cherry dogwood in the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. In late winter/early spring on one of my walks, I saw this large yellow blooming shrub-like tree. At a distance, I thought it was a large forsythia bush. As I got closer, it looked very different. I had no idea of what it was. I went to the visitor’s center asked what it was. To my surprise, they told me it was a dogwood!
For many springs and many visits to the Morris Arboretum, I scouted for the yellow blooming dogwood. It was consistently one of the first if not the first blooming tree in the Arboretum. It was truly a harbinger of spring and many later flowering trees.
When I moved back to Selah, WA and started developing our Heatherwood garden, a Cornelian cherry dogwood was one of the top ‘must have’ trees on my list. I always think of the many happy memories of the Philadelphia area and strolls in the Morris Arboretum when I view our special tree here in Heatherwood. Even though I live across the country from the Morris, I still am a member and supporter of the Arboretum. It is a must see when visiting the Philadelphia area.
