Pretty as a picture
Out a front window to the front garden & the crab apple that blooms every other year. The wood frame makes it look like a piece of art hanging on the wall.
Over at A Photographer's Garden Blog, David has challenged bloggers to take photos out their windows. The challenge being to do it now–don't worry about framing up, making it perfect. I've been trying to go the entire winter without showing my garden in snow. I have a good library of shots to last me the winter. You've seen enough snow shots. I firmly believe this time of year, it's nice to see green. So I decided to show my preferred view, and the current view. I like the contrast. We just put in all new windows on our second floor. The former had been there for the first 112 years. Can't say it improved the view, but there's less of a windchill factor INSIDE the house this year.
Out the kitchen window. The playset.
Out the kitchen window, the swing set & checkerboard grass garden. Note how well the view over the fence gets hidden in the summer.
Out the back door toward the deck/hot tub area.
Out the second-floor office window.
We have a similar view out the window over our kitchen sink — a pink crabapple that blooms every other year. We also have a birch grove planted specifically for window views (you can read about it on today's post). We spent a lot of time on our back fence since we can see if from the living room where we sit. My husband spent three years building it and it looks beautiful in winter. But, you're right — I'm more than ready for green! Your play area with the bright blue is wonderful. You are such a creative designer and seem to have so much packed into a small space. I'm always impressed.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love this post! It illustrates what I so love about gardening -- that it is dynamic and changes constantly! Now Jim, I challenge you to do this one thing. Pick one window from your house and take a photograph out of it once a week. Come back next year and post all of your photographs in order! And look at the metamorphosis of the seasons!
ReplyDeleteThese are a fabulous idea, Jim! I love looking at the views through different seasons. It gives us more of an appreciation of where we live, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI, too, like the contrast between warm and cold weather photos! Your new windows look wonderful.
ReplyDeleteMs.Wis
ReplyDeleteThank you. I love my crab apple - for one month every two years. The rest of the time it looks like it's slowly committing suicide.
Pam,
I may try it - not once a week, but maybe the beginning of each month. It'd be a good experiment.
jodi,
I do enjoy the seasons of where we live. Although if we completely cut out February, I'd not miss it.
nancybond,
The new windows actually have more glass area, making rooms brighter. The old heavy wood-framed windows had a lot of bulk. And we can clean these from inside - no more ladders! We may actually take the time to clean them!
Your season comparisons -- great way to show the difference!
ReplyDeleteCameron
Jim — we call our crabapple the "lace tree" since it is virtually leafless by July. But it is 50 years old and was planted by the folks who built our house. And my husband has spent years pruning it into a gorgeous shape. Winter is its season! But I am training a sweet autumn clematis to grow into it, hoping to clothe its summer nakedness.
ReplyDeleteCameron,
ReplyDeleteI have to find a Fall and summer shot of each to get all the seasons in there. That'll be my challenge.
Ms.Wis,
"Lace" is a good word. We use "denuded." I read somewhere about adding clematis to a tree that looks sparse. I may just do that too.
I love the contrasts between the photos. That weird white substance--what is that?--really changes the look of the garden...
ReplyDeleteNice compare/contrast posting. But I prefer to see the green, not the white.
ReplyDeletelostlandscape,
ReplyDeleteFunny. Very funny. We call that white stuff snow. The Inuit have 100 different words for it. We just have a few, and they're all curse words.
TC,
I prefer the green too. I don't have much of a say in it, if I choose to live here. And this is a great city to live in, despite what anyone's heard.