“Grasses in Snow”
Heatherwood Winter
When most bushes and tree branches are covered with snow, grasses still break through the snow blanket to show off their golden winter color. These grasses above our waterfall provide a contrast of warm golden brown after a fresh snow fall. Many gardeners like to cut their grasses back in the fall to have a nice neat garden bed. I much prefer to let them show off their autumn color and seed heads through the winter.
“Daydreaming from Office”
Heatherwood, Winter
I find myself often turning around from my office desk to gaze out my window. There is always something to see and catch my attention. Frequently my gaze turns into a daydream. A beautiful winter morning is a gift.
Neighbor’s Pasture
Heatherwood, Winter
Yesterday I awoke to the ground covered with about 6 inches of snow. A light fog covered the surrounding hills. Snow covered objects blended into the background. From the top of Heatherwood, I saw our neighbor’s trees mysteriously transparent on the hillside. It’s nice to live in the country.
“Kotoji in Winter”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
I think winter is finally here. The first five weeks of winter have been very mild with temperatures often in the 40’s and 50’s. We have had several very light snowfalls that have melted within a day. Sunday night we received this snow. More is scheduled for this week and coming weekend. Heatherwood is beautiful this time of year. It creates a very peaceful feeling. All the new plants provide a striking contrast to what was just a lawn and pasture setting two years ago.
In this image, the Kotoji lantern silently watches over the dry stream bed. In a couple of months the steam will be active with flowing water and waterfalls.
Patiently watching a silent bed,
Kotoji waits for spring ahead,
With rushing water soon to come.
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Weather changes pretty rapidly here in Eastern Washington. Saturday was bright and shiny in the 40’s. This morning I woke up to a light snowfall. I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and taking a little walk around Heatherwood.
This is one of my favorite garden viewing vantage points. It is peaceful now with a little ice covering the pond. The white snow separates the trees and shrubs from the ground. A light fog blurs the background hills which also helps pop out the deciduous trees at the edge of our garden. Green, yellow, and golden brown color still highlights the winter scene.
In two months, the spring activity level will start. The water will be turned feeding the two waterfalls emptying into the pond. Hopefully early spring bulbs planted last fall will start to emerge. If the weather holds, we will start our spring planting.
Garden Path
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
One day I wake up to a beautiful sunrise like in my previous post. The next day I wake up to a short blast of snow. By early afternoon, the snow had melted and it was warm enough to be outside with a light jacket. I feel blessed with changing weather. It keeps me on my toes to see what’s new or different that I can photograph. I very seldom get bored!
“Heatherwood Sunrise”
Today started with a bright sunrise as a harbinger of the start of a new chapter. Biden’s Inaugural speech on “Unity” was a bright way to start the path for the new Administration. Patience, persistence, honesty, compassion, compromise, and a lot of hard work will be required by all of us.
Hana Matoi Late Fall Growth
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
A few red and green leaves of late autumn growth contrast against the dried brown leaves of the spent leaves. Ice plants in their red and yellow winter color on the hillside frame the new leaves.
Below, the fragile disectum leaves of the Hana Matoi shade the spreading blue purplish green thyme below.
This concludes my Hana Matoi mini-project. Or does it? These six images in the last 3 posts were all taken on an overcast day. Early morning light and late afternoon light provide many additional perspectives. Different seasons display different colors. Snow, ice, rain, and dew create magical views. And there are always an abundance of opportunities for abstracts. An infinite number of images are yet to be discovered.
Hana Matoi Looking Down
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
This post continues my Hana Matoi mini project. Looking for a different perspective, I walked up and leaned into the tree. I stood on my tip toes, held my camera above my head and took this image looking down through the top leaves to highlight the structure of the trunk and branches. It looks like a good spot for a bird to nest.
The image below is from a perspective of walking on a semi-hidden path adjacent to the main Japanese garden path. The Hokkeji pulls a visitor’s eyes to the Hana Matoi and the garden hillside.
Hokkeji and Hana Matoi
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Hana Matoi Japanese Maple
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
I love my morning walks through the garden with my camera. Many times I stop and take a photograph of something I have taken several times before. A couple of days ago I decided to give myself a little challenge to take purposeful photographs of some of our Japanese maples from a different perspective than I have before.
I walked around the little Hana Matoi from different directions and distances. I took close-up and distance images. I climbed above and got down on my hands and knees to just check things out. I used the tree as my primary subject and as a background. I used my feet as my zoom lens. After about an hour, I had around fifty images of different perspectives. I decided to make a small mini project of six images to attempt to characterize our little Hana Matoi Japanese maple.
The above image portrays the Hana Matoi near the entrance of Heatherwood’s Japanese Garden looking east. The maple welcomes visitors to the garden and introduces them to what is to come.
In the image below, the Hana Matoi bids the visitors goodbye as they round a bend and start to exit the garden.
