The leaves are finally filling in the bare branches of winter. Etherials on the forest floor are grasping for the last vestiges of as unobstructed sunlight as the trees will allow.
In spring understory specimens planted near the house become curtains of all manor of foliage texture, flower color and shape. The 30" paddle whorls of Magnolia tripetala against expanding crinoline petticoats of Hinoki Cypress hover over ferns and decorative ground covers.
Star shaped chartreuse cut leaf Japanese Maple leaves fill in the picture over the wall garden.
Tiny flowers and leaves of Pink Chimes Styrax japonica back up a stained glass panel.
In my woodland garden the 12-25' tall accent trees like this mature Styrax japonica off my deck are backed by the noble trunks of Loblolly Pine and graceful dipping branches of White and Turkey Oaks.
The Styrax japonica is the most dramatic curtain of all spanning 25' across three windows. Two of the windows are flanking the fireplace in the living room.
I love the play of shadows in the afternoon on portions of inside walls as I take a short rest to put my feet up before making dinner.
This house is situated in a doughnut hole of an opening in the native forest. It was cleared for three years by the previous owner. The bare woodland became my playground for adding interesting supporting plants. I focused on the understory trees to bring the natural soaring canopies down to human scale.
Inadvertently my placements (10-20' from the house) have become lovely curtains in the vignettes of the gardens just outside the windows. Looking through the screened window of a bedroom, Stewartia monadelpha drapes over Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' . A moss path carries your eye into the distance. Both masses were planted as gallon plants and as mail order bare root from Camellia Forest Nursery and Woodlanders successively.
It's time to take another walkabout to look at some other outside curtains.
A graceful Oaklahoma Redbud takes center stage 20' from my office window.
A Dwarf Variegated Hinoki Cypress dresses up with a yellow fringed edge on its fan shaped needles next to the porch.
The tree is a Coral Bark Japanese Maple.
Quite a while ago I had the idea to paint all the views from the dozen windows of the house. This is one that I painted with the entry arbor as canopy. The Mermaid Rose that grew on the arbor at the beginning if its life has long been replaced with native twining vines of Carolina Jessamine and Coral Honeysuckle and the Art Gate by Carol Stein is now in another location in the garden.
WHO NEEDS CURTAINS IN MAY!!!!
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