Pinus cembra ‘Algonquin Pillar’ Heatherwood Spring
Today’s post is for my friends in the Northeast. From what I see in the news your are being hit with an Arctic blast with some temperatures below freezing and maybe even a little snow. It’s the first week of May … this is not suppose to happen. Today in Eastern Washington, we expect to see temperatures in the high 70’s. So I thought you would appreciate a little brightness and warmth.
This image is the tip of one of our speciality pine tree branches breaking out in new needles and cones. We have selected several non-common pine and spruce species to create a little evergreen grove on the southeast corner of our property. This little guy is showing off its spring glory. I look forward to watching as it matures through the season.
More long exposure practice … For this image, I tried to create a feeling of slowing down time. I wanted the water to have a distinct character as opposed to being a soft blur. Time is a continuum. Each element in motion has a unique flow. Small streams of splashing water have their distinct line as opposed to being combined in a blur with others.
I wanted to practice my long exposure techniques. What a better place to work than our Japanese Garden waterfall. My target was to create a soothing feeling of a small segment of our stream as it falls into the pond. I liked how this section of the stream flowed over the edge and bounced off an intermediate rock before it scattered over a rock in the pond.
This image was also taken from our view point shown in my 29 April post. From our “Perch” I look up and see history in front of me. Selah Ridge is part of the Yakima Folds running East and West. The rock outcroppings are part of the Columbia Basin basalt flows which occurred around 18 million years ago. Beneath the basalt there are layers of sandstone that once were part of the Pacific Ocean. The brown structure in the lower right is a piece of more recent history. It is part of the Naches-Selah irrigation canal built in the 1890’s. It still has a few years left until it will be torn down and replaced with a “modern” underground pipe. I will hate to see it go!
The day I created this image was a very unusual afternoon. It had been dark and cloudy for most of the day. Then around 5:00 PM the sun broke out and lit up the ridge in a golden orange-brown. The contrast between the warm orange ridge and the dark blue sky was breathtaking. There is always something interesting going on here at Heatherwood.
This scene is also from the view point shown in my post on 29 April. It is so peaceful watching our neighbor’s cows graze in their meadow. The Selah-Yakima Gap provides the background for our maples and conifers. The late afternoon sun provides the soft glow as it warms our bodies.
Our little friend, Lacey, loves to join us while we sit in our upper view point. She loves to explore the area around us. The water intrigues her. I just wait for her to plunge into the stream. She hasn’t gained enough courage yet. Birds are always flying about and settling on the small trees and waters edge. She is fascinated and tries to slowly sneak up on them. No such luck! Just watching her explore and play is entertainment as we enjoy the garden and countryside.
This view of the Kotoji Japanese lantern and the spring-colored Japanese maples is just one of the several focal points that we can see from our view point shown in my previous posting. The afternoon sun makes the reds of the Japanese maples glow as well as highlights the Kotoji. Spring at Heatherwood is brilliant. A glass of red wine goes well with the red Japanese maples. Here’s a toast to Spring!
This is a secluded little alcove at the top of our Japanese garden. The embankment curves around the sitting area, blocking the view of the houses above. Trees have been planted to further seclude the Adirondack setee. The top of our stream and waterfall is tucked in behind and flows alongside the chair. From this view point, we can overlook our Japanese garden and stream as well as look beyond to the lower property. From here we can gaze above to view the Selah Bluffs and then beyond to see the Selah-Yakima gap.
It is a private and peaceful place to view the surrounding landscape, listen to the rushing water, and watch the birds flutter about. It is a wonderful place to start the day with a cup of coffee, end the afternoon with a glass of wine, or to just sit and be grateful for all that surrounds us.
Remember back in a previous post (March 22) I presented a viburnum that was just getting ready to bloom? I thought it would burst open the next day. I kept going out every day checking for its progress. Leaves started to come out, but nothing seemed to be happening with the blossom buds. Then last week, all of a sudden the whole plant burst open in bloom. Well it took almost 4 weeks for the viburnum to reach its full bloom. Patience pays off! One week later, most of the blooms have been blown off the plant. Oh well … It was beautiful!
Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) have always been one of my favorite spring flowers. It was one of Dad’s as well. I can remember when I was just a little tyke, Dad would grab me and take me out to see the first blooms. I can remember him planting the Bleeding Heart in our small garden at the “little house” up at the ranch. When we moved into the “City” (Selah, WA), we built a rock garden in the back yard by our patio. A Bleeding Heart was one of the first plants Dad and Mom planted.
After I was out on my own, it was many years before I planted my own Bleeding Heart. I planted one in our first house in Seattle. our house in Bothell, our house in Fairfax VA, our house in Kent, our house in Woodinville, and our house in Fountainville PA. We were in Fountainville for 17 years where our Bleeding Heart grew into a rather large plant. It provided a beautiful contrast among a bed of pachysandra under a blue atlas cedar. It was the highlight of the spring bloom in its own corner for Karen and me.
The first plant I planted when I moved back to Selah was the Bleeding Heart. I did not have a good shade location to plant it, so I planted it next to the house in a little corner between rhododendrons and sword ferns. It is making its home there, but it is a little hidden. As we finish our Japanese garden, I will find a place for it where it can shine.
Over the years, I have photographed our Bleeding Heart from many different perspectives. I have made several greeting cards using it as the subject. They always come in handy for that special greeting to someone that means very much to me.
