I'm pretty easy. Anything chartreuse green lights my fire. Especially how it plays off of white (big surprise there)

WG

This time of year, it is the white birch trees or my red berried holly. When everything is in full bloom, I like a pop of silver artemisia or lambs ears or anything else with a silver foliage. Silver pops out even in low light.

I love the "glow" that chartreuse or golden foliage has in the garden. Plants with that foliage color seem to light up the garden even on cloudy days.

I love my white birch in the back yard-I can see it's slender trunk in the dark from my bedroom window. It is somehow comforting out there-like a white sentinal watching over me.

Great photos, Katy! The second one is an amazing plant - talk about vertical accents. I don't suppose it would do well in New England.

Recently on my way home from work I've seen some stunning variegated iris - or are they really yucca? Backlit in late afternoon, they absolutely glowed. I'd never considered adding them to my garden before, but now ...

Sitting here reading about "What Lights Your Fire" I think it is pretty interesting that everyone has associated the colors chartreuse and white with being lit up by the sun light this brings to mind something Judy Glattstein wrote in "Consider the Leaf - Foliage in Garden Design". "Gardens planted in tones of lavender, violet, and purple with generous amounts of gray foliage are restful in effect. Flowers colored in these shades of purple gain a lambent glow at dusk and, when brought together with gray foliage, create a luminous, sterling display for an evening garden with panache. There is a physical foundation for this effect, as the eye's mechanisms for viewing color alter in lower light levels. There are two kinds of light receptors in the human eye: rods and cones. Cones are used in daylight vision and are best able to distinguish bright colors. As light grows dim, rods become more functional. A color of low intensity may actually appear to increase in brightness as light fades." We have been talking about what impact the presence of light can add to the garden, now I must admit I have never thought about what impact the absence of bright light can bring to the garden. Dusk is the time of day when I most often allow myself the time sit back and enjoy the garden, why not then include an area that would be illuminated by the low light of dusk. I wonder if anyone would be willing to describe or share a photo of their garden at dusk. kt

As I sit here talking to myself this morning I am looking out upon a colony of ilex glabra that were planted as an understory in a wooded area that captures and reflects the morning sun to such a large extent it almost looks as though little white twinkle lights are moving and blinking in the wind. Look out into your winter garden do you have little white twinkle lights? When I planted this colony the thought of how much the suns refection adds to the over all effect never entered my mind. Now that I am noticing how much this effect can add to my garden I wonder how I can purposely create this effect more often? I wonder if anyone has any tips/tricks to better mapping/understanding light in your garden, ie using the black & white option when photographing your garden to help illustrate texture? I can't help but believe that the camera would be an invaluable tool in understanding light in the garden. kt

I am still babbling to myself this morning but I continue to ponder what a powerful role light and the absence of light play in the garden. I was flipping through Rick Darkes "The American Woodland Garden" his study of the woodland garden includes the use of the camera as a tool to better understand many elements including light. By taking an identical photograph of a stream and surrounding woodland at different times of the day as well as different seasons of the year many interesting points regarding light became apparent. One notable thing was depth of field, strong morning sun can foreshorten a scene with deep shade immediately behind the foreground plant that is lit up by the sun. The depth of field can increase with late day back lighting. I am thinking that a year long photo study of one scene in my garden might reveal some interesting insights. kt

"Bare trees gray light
Oh yeh it was a quiet night" ...da doo opp

I am so alone here on this post I can even sing with out the need of the shower to muffle the noise. Examining how different plants capture and reflect light in the garden some with a stronger impact than others is something I will now consider as an important piece in my overall design. I also think that to consider a plant not only for how it captures and reflects the light but on these long winter days but also what shadows (absence of light) it might cast. Grasses might be a great example,the morning light captured in the seed head of their grasses can be a strong impact but I wonder if the winter shadow those plants cast should be considered as another bonus? I have an "Old Man Walking Stick" shrub sited where it receives primarily north shade from my garage, this shrubs biggest attribute is it's curled and twisted branches. I am now thinking that it needs to be transplanted (I know I promised myself I would stop the compulsive transplanting but this one really needs to be moved)to a spot where I can enjoy the long winter shadow of the twisted branches. Do any of you have winter shadows in your yard from plants or hardscape that you love? kt

Hi kt.
I so wish I could sing along with you, but you are way beyond my depth. I am still trying to figure out what kind of sun and soil my plants need, and where to put evergreens and winterberries so I will have something else to look at in future winters. Your post on Ilex glabra did make me think I should add a few of those in hopes of twinkles.
But, sadly, I am not ready to graduate to your level of analysis! I am enjoying eavesdropping, tho.
What's lighting my fire right now? I do have some beautiful yellow/orange/red twig cornus that are so lovely...when I can find them. I need something evergreen behind them!
And...the little birdfeeders near the front windows are full of birds. I'm spending way too long enjoying them.
Best,
ML

Like a flower waiting to bloom
Like a light bulb in a darkened room
I'm just sitting here waiting for you.
mmmmmmmmm "Nora Jones"

Mayalena, I am soooooo grateful you've joined in believe me I don't have a voice fit for a chorus let alone a solo.

I was flipping through Rosemary Verey's "The Garden in Winter" and came across a photo of a lattice fence (pg 24) and what struck me looking at this very beautiful, very English lattice fence with the distraction of plants ect. behind it was not nearly as dramatic as viewing the shadow reflected on the solid green canvas of the lawn. This made such a dramatic statement that if ever in the future I need to install a fence I would consider it's shadow more as a winter art form and not just the shade it will create. Do you have a structure in your yard that casts a shadow that has caught your eye?

This photo is not exactly gardening in the yard - it's the shadow of my houseplants out on the deck, reflecting on the curtain.

Claire

Without question for me, it is the way the leaves of my Fireglow japanese maple light up in the sun. I posted some pictures of it a while back in the Gallery in the Maples Forum. Several other of my japanese maples also have interesting colors throughout the year that get accentuated by sunlight. Pictures of them are also included in that post.