“Purple & Gold”
Heatherwood Meadow
Purple and gold have always been one of my favorite color combinations. Purple and Gold were our Selah High School colors. And the same purple and gold were the University of Washington colors. Now the same combination permeates our Heatherwood garden. Some colors just grow on me!
“Rock Garden Color”
Heatherwood Early Summer
Following a mild spring, our first week of summer is warming up. We are expecting the temperature to rise to the mid 90’s by this weekend. We will need to closely monitor our watering sequences to make sure we get enough, but not too much, water to our plants. In the meantime we will enjoy our early morning coffee and late afternoon wine in the garden.
“Redbud Leaf Abstract”
Heatherwood Summer
As I say goodbye to spring with an abstract, I will welcome in summer with an abstract as well. We have been very fortunate to have had mild weather with adequate moisture this spring, while many parts of the country are in a severe drought and/or are having extremely high temperatures. Heatherwood’s trees, shrubs, and perennials are doing very well. I hope that the moderate weather will continue through the summer, so the new plants will get a chance to become well established.
My thoughts are with others as they face the harsh conditions across the country.
“Patio Rock Garden in Infrared”
Heatherwood Summer
I needed a little change, so I thought I would post an infrared image of our summer garden. This image is of our new rock garden planted during the spring of 2021. By early summer, the plants had taken hold and started blooming. It will take a couple of years for this area to catch up with our rock garden and meadow planting areas.
“View From the Perch”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Before settling down in the “Perch’s” Adirondack settee, our visitor takes a few moments to enjoy the scene that folds out below. From here, the stroller can view the Selah-Yakima gap, the rural Selah valley and rolling hills, and the Heatherwood landscape as a background to the Japanese garden stream and waterfalls. The dense cloud cover provides a contrast to the normally bright blue summer skies of the Yakima Valley. It is now time to sit down, relax, and enjoy a little peace with the rushing water and the song of birds providing nature’s wonderful music.
This posting is the conclusion for our stroller’s walk through Heatherwood’s Japanese Garden. There is much more to see and enjoy, but those will be left for a future stroll.
“Path to the Kotoji”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Our stroller continues the walk to the top of the path. A stepping stone path beckons one to a sitting rock by the stream across from the Kotoji Japanese lantern. Sitting on the rock next to the stream, a visitor can dangle their fingers in the flowing water as they gaze down and enjoy the water rushing down the hillside.
Today, our stroller decides not to walk down to the stream. Instead they look to the left and see a comfortable Adirondack settee calling them to take a rest and look over the Japanese garden and surrounding countryside.
“The Perch”
“Looking Down Over Garden”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
After a two week break, our visitor continues their stroll up to the top of the Japanese garden. Through a break in the trees, the stroller pauses and looks down to overlook the garden below. He/she notices two young deciduous trees, a Kentucky coffeetree and a Japanese pagoda tree. These were planted this year along with a cork tree to provide a future separation between the Japanese garden hillside and the stream and waterfall beyond. They currently stand about twelve feet tall. At maturity these trees can reach a height of over 60 feet and a width of 40-50 feet.
As the stroller continues up the path, he/she is greeted by small Japanese mountain lantern. The lantern is a harbinger that the path is nearing its end.
“Japanese Mountain Lantern”
“View of Selah Bluff”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Turning the corner, the path straightens out and the view opens up. Our visitor is presented a picturesque scene of the Selah Bluff on a beautiful Eastern Washington blue sky day. One of the design aspects of our Heatherwood garden is the use of borrowed scenery from the surrounding area. We make liberal use of it!
“Tobiosho Japanese Maple & Chief Joseph Lodgepole Pine”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Japanese maples and evergreen conifers line the hillside on the northwestern side of the path. Our visitor stops and examines the various textures and shades of green on the hillside vegetation. During the spring, the light chartreuse of the Tobiosho maple and the bright pink of the creeping phlox add a bit of brilliance to this scene. In the winter, the Chief Joseph pine turns to a brilliant yellow. Red twig dogwoods in the background loose their leaves and add a flash of red to the scene.
The stroller takes a few more steps up the hill and glances toward the sound of flowing water. A small window opens up to present a glimpse of the waterfall and pond.
“Window to the Pond”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
The east side of path is lined with various evergreen trees and shrubs which shield the view of what is beyond to the stroller on the path. Several small windows allow the stroller to peek through to see vignettes of the garden and stream. This window is a “works in progress.” Our design plan is to have low-growing evergreens and and other creeping shrubs create a bed of shades of green and various textures leading to the pond.
“Up the Hill to the Upper Garden”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Our visitor walks back through the lower part of the Japanese garden returning to the small Japanese lantern marking the entry wye. Japanese maples, full maples, and a variety of conifer trees and shrubs entice the walker to start up the path to the upper garden. What new surprises are to be found?