“Winter Grasses”
Heatherwood Meadow
Snow lightly glazes the stalks of the winter grasses adding to their winter beauty. Many gardeners like to have a neat planting area over the winter and cut down all their perennials. We prefer to let the garden get a little messy and enjoy the remnants of the perennials. The birds like it too as they feast on the spent flower seeds.
“First Day of Winter”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Today is the first day of winter. Light snowfalls in the last couple of days ushered in winter in our Heatherwood garden. I even had to plow our driveway yesterday.
Last year most of the Japanese maples kept their leaves through the fall and most of the winter. This year, they all have lost their leaves. The maples’ naked branches just blend into the background. The landscape seems more barren than it was last year. Hopefully the trees are taking a rest as they continue to develop strength below the ground’s surface preparing them for next years growth.
“Spent”
Heatherwood Rose Garden
I view this spent rose every time I look out our family room window. At times, I become fixated with it and imagine how I can best photograph it to convey what I see and feel. Waking up from a late afternoon nap, I looked out and saw the rose side lit by the late afternoon sunlight. The wind was still and I was able to grab my camera with a 400mm lens and isolate the hip through the family room window. In post-processing, I simplified the image converting it to black and white and added a simple vignette blur.
Our forsythia is getting ready to bloom. As the saying goes, when the forsythia blooms, it is time to prune the roses. Next week my winter attraction will be cut down to prepare for new spring growth. So long my friend …
“Stepping Stone Path”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
The Path
Around the corner I go.
Morning sun graces young plants,
Leading to surprises beyond.
Surprises abound around every Heatherwood corner. It is a great way to start a morning stroll.
“Looking North Through Japanese Garden”
Heatherwood Winter
Work is about to start on our 2021 spring project at Heatherwood. Our garden will continuously change over time. Additions and modifications are designed to highlight key plants, frame views, and hide distractions. From the perspective of the above image, we want to focus the attention to the plants in the Japanese garden then draw the view to the 1890’s irrigation flume in the background. This year we plan to add medium sized Japanese holly evergreens to hide the road leading up the hill and mid-sized conifers to hide the bare hillside at the right of the image. These additions will provide a background layer for the Japanese garden as well as frame the irrigation flume in the distant background.
As we walk through our garden, we are content enjoying the current state of our existing plants. Concurrently we visualize how the plants will mature as well as look for new opportunities to enhance the garden. Change is an ever-present part of Heatherwood.
“Winter Meadow”
Heatherwood
Today is the first of March, time to clean up the meadow and other planting beds. The weather here will be mild in the mid-50’s for the next week and a half. The garden is calling for attention. Grasses and perennials need to be cut back to make room for new growth. Trees and shrubs need to be trimmed to guide their shape as the new growth emerges. Winter weeds need to be extracted before they get carried away. Several of our shrubs need to be transplanted to accommodate the placement of new plantings. Some of our hardscape needs to be modified to allow for our landscape design plan changes. In an evolving garden, nothing remains constant.
And while all this is going on, the 2000 bulbs we planted last fall are sprouting! March will be a busy and exciting month at Heatherwood.
“View Through Rock Garden”
Heatherwood Winter
As I have commented several times before, every time I walk through our garden I see something from a different perspective. Many of the views through Heatherwood have been planned as part of the design. The one above is an unplanned gift, looking through the lower rock garden northwest to the surrounding hills and our neighbor’s cherry orchard.
We have several such views since our newly planted trees are relatively small. Over the years, the tree canopies will grow and block many of these “peek” views. In turn, they will frame and highlight other views. The garden will continuously change bringing new surprises. Exciting!
“Diane Witch Hazel”
Heatherwood Winter
Last spring we planted six small witch hazels, 3 red (Diane) and 3 orange (Jelena). The Jelena (shown in my 9 Feb posting) was the first to bloom. The Diane started to bloom about a week earlier. The blooms on both are now faded. The plants are small, only 12 to 18 inches tall. They are forming the start of an understory of shrubs for one of our planting areas in the lower Heatherwood garden. We are searching to add a yellow species to fill out the witch hazel color template: red, orange, and yellow.
As the witch hazels mature, they will provide a beautiful burst of mid-winter color in the garden. The will act as the harbinger of the coming spring.
Spent Rose
Heatherwood Winter
Nothing is perfect … nothing is permanent … nothing is complete. Wabi-sabi is a characteristic concept of our Heatherwood garden. I find beauty in every aspect of imperfection throughout our garden. This spent rose was a beautiful red flower in its prime. The summer flower’s fleeting beauty transitioned to these stems and rose hips in the fall and winter. In nature the hips would release the seeds to the ground. Its life is incomplete as the seeds create new plants.
I admire the beauty of this rose stalk and hips every day as I sit and read and look out our family room window. They fascinate me. I do not have the heart or desire to prune the winter roses to make them look neat. I just simply enjoy them as they are. There is plenty of time to prune the roses before the spring growth.
“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.