Tag Archives: snow

Winter Contrast

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“Winter Garden in Fog”
Heatherwood Winter

The fog rolled in and left Heatherwood engulfed in a hazy mist. Hoar frost ice crystals formed on the tips of the plants. It was like a winter wonderland. I grabbed my camera and off I went!

Even on a dreary dark winter day, our garden is a place full of nature’s little gifts. Every time I go out, I see a different perspective of something I have passed a hundred times before. It catches my attention and interest and begs me to try to create an appropriate image. Last year I took over 36,000 images of our Heatherwood garden (not including photos on my iPhone)! I have just completed my 2021 garden highlights selections of about 360 images (1percent). My resolution for this year is to be a little bit more selective. I don’t know if that will work because another resolution is to experiment more and be more creative. It will be a balance.

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Goodbye …

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“Selah Ridge and 1890’s Flume”
Heatherwood Winter

Our historic irrigation flume is no more. It saddens my heart. This week a construction crew started tearing down the flume to convert our irrigation source to a buried pipeline. One of the first things that attracted me to this location was the surrounding ridge and the historic irrigation flume background. Over the six years that I have lived here, there is hardly a day that goes by that I do not gaze upon the hill and flume. I start each day in my office, writing in my journal. I always turn to look out my window over the Heatherwood landscape and up to the flume and ridge. From our living room we look out over the patio again to the ridge and the flume above.

As we designed and developed our Heatherwood landscape, we created multiple view windows that framed the flume and ridge. Several of our garden “sitting rooms” faced the hills and flume. It was a wonderful “borrowed” background for Heatherwood.

Now the above portion of the flume is gone. We were lucky enough to talk the contractor into salvaging a small portion of the flume and bringing it down to our property. We will carefully place it and build a special garden around it. It will be a little remembrance of the area’s history and the special image of the wonderful background that use to be.

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Winter Perspective

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“Winter View from the Perch”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Standing above our stream and waterfalls gives me a wide perspective of our Japanese garden below. It is very quiet and peaceful up here now that the main stream has been shut down for its winter rest. When I am up here, my mind wanders from enjoying the openness of the wide perspective to focusing on little vignettes and details. Many times I lose track of time as I peacefully dream over the landscape. Winter snow adds a whole different feeling.

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Winter Textures

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“Meadow Grasses & Perennials”
Heatherwood Meadow

The golden brown stalks of our ornamental grasses blew gently in the breeze during a recent snowfall. Their motion inhibited light powdery snow from sticking to stalk heads. In contrast the stiffer stalks of the spent rudbeckia reduce motion and allow snow to build up on the flower heads. The various textures and different shades of brown caught my eye as I walked through the meadow. There is always something to see during my strolls.

A recent heavy snowfall has matted down many of the grasses. Many of the stalks now lay on the ground.

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Just a Pretty Picture

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“Lebanon Cedars”
Heatherwood Winter

Everything just seemed to come together when I created this image. The morning mist had lifted for a clear view of the sky and hillside above Heatherwood. Blue sky peeked out behind puffy white clouds. The sunlight was filtered creating soft shadows across the landscape. The “Pretty Picture” was just waiting to be created.

This image was taken from the roadside leading up to our home. One of our design criteria was to provide view windows across Heatherwood for walkers along the road. This is one of those views.

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Back to Reality

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“Chief Joseph in Snow”
Heatherwood Winter

In yesterday’s post I said that I needed a change from the winter weather and reflected back to warmer times early last fall. Now realism has set in, and I have to get my snow shovel out and clear out the snow. But putting first things first, I had to go out and take a walk around the garden with my camera.

One of the first things I saw was the star of our winter garden. Most of our colorful perennials and shrubs were covered with snow, but our reliable Chief Joseph lodgepole pines still stood out in the winter landscape. They set the stage for the rest of the garden.

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On a Crisp Winter’s Morning …

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“Neighbor’s Cherry Tree”
Heatherwood Winter

On a crisp winter’s morning, I gaze out over the Heatherwood landscape. I look over our immediate landscape to the hills surrounding our grounds. My eyes stop and become fixated on our neighbor’s beautiful cherry tree. It is the last standing memory of a bygone cherry orchard of the past.

We frequently walk by the tree on the way to pick up the mail. We stop and admire the tree throughout the year. Zelda, our neighbor’s Black Labrador, frequently greets us yearning for a pet.

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Snow, Winter Color, and Kotoji

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“Kotoji in Winter”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

The Kotoji Japanese lantern is probably the most frequent single element that I have photographed in our Heatherwood Japanese Garden. It sits in a prominent spot overlooking the stream and waterfalls. One leg is in the stream while the other sits solidly on land. From every angle it seems to be a sentinel guarding the stream and pond below. The Kotoji can be seen from multiple places around the Japanese garden as well as as from the lower Heatherwood meadow and garden. Even in winter it is a dominant focal point in the landscape. At night its internal light shines through the lantern openings while an external flood lamp highlights the lantern and stream.

Many mornings we have started the day enjoying a cup of coffee overlooking the Kotoji from the “Perch” above. In the late afternoon/early evening we have sat below looking up over the pond and waterfalls to the Kotoji as we sip a glass of wine toasting to another beautiful day.

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Winter Beauty

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Snow-covered Hydrangeas
Heatherwood Winter

I don’t know which I enjoy the most: the snow-covered panicle hydrangeas in winter or the profuse white blooms in the summer. Each conveys a different feeling: one a quiet, peaceful, solemn feeling, the other a robust splurge of brightness. The more I think about it, the easier the answer is. I like both for the enjoyment they bring.

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Snowing Again

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“Snowing in Our Rock Garden”
Heatherwood Winter

We continue to get a little more snow. It is light enough not to incur any real inconvenience. Even though I anxiously anticipate the spring bloom, I appreciate the beauty of the winter season, especially with a blanket of fresh snow. Each season has its unique beauty. All I have to do is to look out our windows to discover little vignettes that highlight our garden.

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