Shades of Green and Golden Light
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 12:00PM this is the garden: colours come and go,
frail azures fluttering from night's outer wing
strong silent green serenely lingering,
absolute lights like baths of golden snow.
E.E. Cummings
Light transforms.
If your garden has gloomy, heavily shaded areas where nothing good will grow, consider removing the scrubby stuff and judiciously limbing up and pruning some of the trees to let in the sunshine. You may be surprised at what a difference it makes, and that area could even become one of your favorites.
Recently, as gentle sun washed over my garden, shades of green and golden light filled my heart with joy. I hope you are gladdened as I was.
Here are scenes from the woodland garden:
Golden light streams through the entrance to the woodland garden.
Irises are beginning to blossom near the woodland entrance.
A tapestry of greens in the woodland garden
Hosta 'sieboldiana elegans' glows in the light.
Sunlight and shadows create a serene atmosphere in the woodland garden.
the hillside in the woodland garden
This is the view in front of my house:
Ethereal light shines over the japanese maple I call our marriage tree.
While the wonderful green colors predominate, flowers are blooming throughout the gardens:
Knockout roses in the herb bed
May God's Light shine in your hearts and take you out of dark places. Deborah
Reader Comments (25)
Deborah,
Your garden is really looking lush. It is quite a contrast from your wintertime pictures.
Nice !
I have a small woodland area which I thought would be difficult to start with but now would be quite happy to have a whole garden of woodland plants given the right conditions
I loved every single one of these pictures - what beautiful hues of green and gold. Those seed pods look magnificent - I've never seen anything like that before as its not a tree I know about.
Your garden looks fabulous Deborah.
Oooh, you know I love your Japanese maple and its story. That is a gorgeous hydrangea bloom as well. I loved all your plants and the beautiful woodland setting. I love dark places in the garden where we can escape from the overbearing, blistering sun. Very inviting to these Florida eyes. And the bridge is wonderful! (I've always wanted a bridge.)
Hello Deborah - I've been marvelling at your beautiful lush and inviting garden yet again! Shade isn't a problem at the moment in my garden (apart for one section of roses I'm about to move), but as the trees get bigger I'll make sure I keep your tip in mind!
Thank you for that lovely wish~The flooding and rain have made it dark for all of us in Nashville and I needed the blessing! Your garden is beautiful and offers me several lessons...in going with bolder foliage. I'm glad you stopped by C&L. gail
I love the look of dappled light under the trees, and the patterns they make over the day, including all of the shifting shades of green. The bridge looks perfect in the woodland setting. You have a lot of pink flowers to add to your green and gold.
Your woodland is so inviting. I have to aim more at DRY HOT shade. And I love that turquoise bridge, partner to Jack's at Sequoia Gardens.
Beautiful pictures! And there are some very interesting details in you garden, I like the little bridge a lot!
Just beautiful ... somehow the greens in your woodland garden are just gorgeous! I have spent quite some time gazing at your photos ... the flowers are wonderful, but I do so love that photo showing the bridge! That is a glorious scene.
Your garden is wonderful! Especially that front yard view but also that redbud with all the seedpods hanging is really nice. I spend a ton of time limbing up my trees for this very purpose-I want a view and some light. Tough job but so worth it as you know.
As I sit here in my open sunny lot with nothing but young trees to provide future shade, I an awed by your woodland garden. So serene, and so golden in the light-filled pictures you captured -- I love how you kept it wild, yet limbed up and tended... lovely!
Your garden is gorgeous. Both the flowers and the sunlight filtering through the leaves, with all of the different colors and textures of green. The bridge is so charming.
A lush, green and beautiful garden. I just love the beans, they look so cute, dangling down in neatly arranged rows.
Hi Deborah,
It is really so obvious from your photos the difference judicious pruning makes in your woodland garden. I am sure the understory plants underneath appreciate the extra light. Oh, and your hydrangeas are so beautiful....
Your woodland garden looks simply perfect in the golden light.
Beautiful pictures. Makes you just want to sit and relax.
I just love the woodland garden! The plum yew is really pretty. We limbed up our big evergreens a few years ago and you're right, one area that I used to be very frustrated with is now one of my favorites.
I can't believe you have a Hydrangea blooming already!
I always enjoy the photos of your gardens, Deborah. You have a wonderful eye as a gardener and a photographer. The shot of your endless summer hydrangea blossom made me stop ... mine are not that far along and you gave me a good taste of things to come.
I always love to look at your garden!!
We are getting rid of our cedar trees and I look forward to seeing the garden without them!
Hi Deborah, that woodland garden is really very beautiful, enticing too. I love to do that, but it is difficult in this type of climate and conditions. By the way, the blue salvia at the last is my favorite. We have red salvia here but haven't seen that blue yet.
A very magical scenic post..yay..so charmingly beautiful...gorgeous photos..i love the sunlit energy here..marvelous!! This may be one of my faves now..great post!!
Kiki~
I love looking at your gardens! I can only hope ours look half as good as yours in a few years. The ice storm of 2009 pruned our large trees for us, and it did open up the area to let more light in.
Oh, how LOVELY! Blooms are beautiful as well as all the foliage.
Hello,
Very beautiful picture and so many flowers.