Backlighting And Updating

It has been noticed that when the sun is shining a certain way, the colors in the garden change drastically. Even Kitty noticed.

When it is overcast and cloudy, the japanese blood grass, Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’ is nearly brown, with only a hint of its formerly vibrant red self showing. Really past its prime. But when the sun is shining with the softer lower angle, the grass shines as if it were springtime again. Here is the first update: The self sown seedling in the trough planter that was trialed for foliage color to see if the reddish hues lasted through the warmer summer months, they did, has been named Heuchera ‘Faire Piecrust’. It has not produced any offsets yet that can be planted out and about in the garden, but the tiniest beginnings of new plants are showing along the stem. Thanks to all for the help with the naming, which can be seen in comments here.

The long view from the deck, which is also the view we see from inside the addition through the sliders, lets the north facing slope be illuminated by the western sun in such a way as to light the hillside afire. The muhly, Muhlenbergia capillaris at the top is a palomino tan when the golden orb hides behind cloud cover. The golden Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’ along the step stones by Alas Poor Yorick helps accentuate the reds and pinks along the wall.

Standing at the foot of the steps that lead from under the garage deck to the upper gardens the Spiraea bumaldi ‘Magic Carpet’ can be seen turning from golden honey to royal ruby. The sun enhances this colorway even more.

From the vantage point of under the garage deck, the Bongo Congo family sitting in the shadows along the wall must be getting pleasure from the whiffs of the backlit fruit sage, Salvia dorisiana when the breeze catches the fragrance and tosses it their way.

The promise of yet more perfume in the garden is held by the balls of buds hanging from the magically transformed chartruese leaves of Edgeworthia chrysantha. In real life these leaves are a solid dark green.

Behind the knot garden bench, new growth on bronze fennel, Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ sparkles.

Amidst the fallen leaves of the nearby silver maple, the Carex testacea ‘Orange New Zealand Sedge’ newly spread on the left slope promises to add plenty of winter interest when the sky is clear. To the left is Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’.

From between the fingers of the same silver maple that drops the majority of the leaves here at the Fairegarden can be seen its reflection in the window of the shed. Fothergilla ssp. remnants are backlit for last of the season frivolity.

Another update: The site of the tree formerly known as Ferngully has been tidied up. The rock wall was rebuilt and the honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens awaits a new trellis of some kind. This shot was so dreary with the shades of brown and grey that we added a little art on the piece of lumber that is keeping the larger limb bits from rolling onto the landscape covered path. Just like Jackson Pollock, don’t you agree?

For those curious about the fruit pods of the Cobaea scandens hanging on the arbor, here is what they look like. Nowhere close to mature or ripe or whatever has to happen for them to open to release the seeds I would wager. They will be watched for signs of opening so there might be a harvest to start this vine in the greenhouse just in case it succumbs to the cold temps of our zone seven winter. The leaves and tendrils are nicely backlit. A twofer.

Red raspberry ‘Caroline’ has been producing amazingly sweet berries of late, along with her golden sister ‘Anne’. The brightly lit yellow leaf shows the sun working its magic back in the veggie bed in addition to the hillside gardens.

Before we leave you to enjoy a very happy American Thanksgiving with our hungry hordes of family arriving soon from scattered parts of the universe, we wish to show this final update. The fishnet pantyhosed encased pumpkin is still growing, the vine is even still producing flowers after several frosts. The arbor clad in massive Cobaea vines must have some potent protective charms with those wrappings.

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May you share in fine food and family fun this holiday, wherever in the world you might be.

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This post is one of a series on photography tips. Our tip with this one is to site your plants so they may be backlit by the sun in your own garden. Whether you are taking pictures of them or not, it makes for spectacular viewing. I suggest grassses with multi hued blades, such as the blood grass or acorus to bring a smile even when there are no blooms about. Deciduous shrubs with good fall color, spring color or any color, and yes, green is a color too, become much more dramatic when backlit.

This may or may not be the final photography post of this year. That is the beauty of blogging, you are your own boss and there are no deadlines.

Here are the previous posts:

About The Light-May

About The Light-June

In Need Of A Focal Point (July)

Look Up-Look Down-Look All Around (September)

Photographing The Blue Chairs (November)

We would also like to enter this post into Pam of Digging’s foliage day for November, if that is okay. All the shots feature foliage, so it seems to fit the meme.

Frances