sprig to twig

This first photo gives you some idea of the conditions these plantings have to contend with…cement on all sides and a steady flow of of traffic (and the heavy pollution that implies) with full sun. Maurice Horn of Joy Creek Nursery worked with Reed to develop and oversee the plan, then worked with volunteers on the installation.

The ginkos at regular intervals were already in place, giving the design some structure from the very start. 2-3″ each of compost and crushed basalt gravel were worked into the soil, a mixture that serves to cut through clay soil and encourage deeper root systems. The plantings were watered during the first two years. Now they are watered with hoses once a year, with some supplemental when the temperatures rise into the 90’s.

As you can see, many of the new plants have reached full size.

Foliage color and texture keep things interesting year-round.

Strategically placed boulders are especially handsome with flowering plants spilling over them.

While flowers are not the main attraction, there are enough of them to brighten the design.

These asters were just coming on.

This crape myrtle was the most dramatic plant of all. I had no idea what it was (none of the plants in the strip are labeled) but HPSO always features a display of blooms contributed by members at every event, so I soon learned that it is Lagerstroemia ‘Arapaho’. I had never seen a crape myrtle with anything other than those Pepto Bismol pink flowers, and had valued it mainly for its fall color. This one is truly stunning, dressed in wine and claret.

This bottle brush shrub contributed in its own quiet way.

Pebble mosaic stepping stones allow workers into the border to perform maintenance chores.

The last time I visited was in the spring, when Ceanothus were blooming their hearts out. This time it looked as if there had been a recent work party to replenish the gravel top dressing and spruce things up.

Yesterday was a fine day for a drive in the country. Good thing, too, as I managed to get us thoroughly lost more than once. The garden created by Craig Quirk and Larry Neill was well worth any extra time and gas expended to find it (coming from the opposite direction from the directions can be confusing to the spatially challenged). We feared an extended stay when it took us half an hour to work our way down a short side walkway to the garden proper. There was so much to see…not only spectacular plantings, but artful surprises tucked in here and there and everywhere.

Eventually, we emerged into the Mediterranean garden, where we were greeted by Craig Quirk, who graciously offered to answer any questions we might have. I had to do some self-editing, as everywhere I looked were plants I had never seen before (didn’t want to swamp our poor host right off the bat). In the foreground of the first picture is a yucca just coming into bloom, backed by a stand of Asdenophile with feathery foliage and a plethora of tiny pencil-like buds which open fully towards evening (I liked them like this). I forgot to ask about that spiny character in the lower right corner, but the leaves entering the frame from the lower left are Melianthus major.

And here is the Melianthus in a starring role center stage in a muscular aqua pot with an arrangement of Echeverias and sea glass at its feet. The background blue is not the sky, but a concrete wall backing a pool with a tall column spilling water into it. On the other side is a secret shade garden of which I have no pictures (in respect for its secretiveness).

This grass keeps popping up, and this is the most success I have had capturing the luminous seed heads on long, stiff stems. Stipa gigantea is, I think, the name it goes by.

These guys are not about to be thwarted by lack of color. Once the petals fall, they paint the poppy pods to enhance the carefully plotted color scheme.

This was as close as I could come to an overview of the main garden. It is divided into color quadrants around a grassy center anchored by a tall wind sculpture. The impressive red banana to the right has a fellow sentinel to the left. They reside in giant pots, and are treated as annuals (no room in the greenhouse).

Standing at the back of the blue quadrant, the defining golden cypresses can be glimpsed through a haze of blue salvia.

A whimsical palm tree…can you identify those coconuts?

On the far side of the garden is a shady oasis, where this giant cast concrete Gunnera leaf drips water into a waiting pool.

While nearby a Crinus has formed handsome pods to rival the dramatic flowers that went before, flanked by leaves of glass catching the light.

The tablescape of succulents where we ended our tour also included a platter of to-die-for cookies flavored with exotic spices and lemonade enhanced with basil and mint. We observed that gardeners are invariably excellent cooks, and generous to a fault.

The open gardens feature of HPSO is my favorite of the many perks that come with membership. I urge you to join if you would like to be invited into wonderlands such as this.

After a long stretch of overcast days, the morning of the ANLD tour dawned bright and clear, with a gentle breeze and temperatures in the 70’s. I made a list, but failed to check it twice. As a result, I left behind a very important item…my camera! Oh, well, you will just have to take my word for it: the banners were smashing in the two gardens designed by Mary Baum. Her main garden on the tour featured a formal garden in the front (in keeping with the colonial design of the house). The owner fancies red, so liberal splashes of bright Geum encouraged me to place a red and purple Which Way close to the house. The large expanse of perfect lawn provided a background for several Spinnakers. The broad front porch was furnished with white wicker furniture…what a setup for decorative pillows.

Across the street, Mary has created a garden in perfect harmony with the charming cottage, while avoiding the typical “cottage garden” look. Unusual plants abound, and the tapestry of acid lime greens, deep burgundies and golden ground covers were just the foil needed to display Pistil (the bracket was even already in place).

A couple of Spinnakers in compatible colors flanked the front walk.

Those of us participating in the ANLD garden tour this coming weekend had an opportunity to see the gardens the other day. Cameras were snapping. Mine captured the following pictures, which I will run with no comment, just to whet your appetite.

We had the good fortune to be staying with friends in Carlton OR on one of the rare open garden days held by Windy Hill Farm Nursery in Yamhill OR. Kuon, the owner and chief plant nerd/propagator, was kind enough to show us around the display gardens with a running commentary on the highly unusual plants featured there.

Appetites thoroughly whetted, we were turned loose in the greenhouse. In the green pot on the right, potted up with Phormium ‘Margaret Jones’, is a Solanum that no one can pass by without comment. If you look carefully, you can just make out the long, bright orange thorns that protrude from both surfaces of the leaves. In the smaller green pot to the left is Cestrum parqui, or willow-leaved jasmine. It was tiny and in bloom in early June. It is now tripled in size and blooming again two months later. I guess the folks at Kew Gardens in England were accurate when they proclaimed this one of the top 200 plants of the last 200 years.

Some of the things we fell for in the display garden were unavailable, but Kuon put us on her wish list with a promise to call us whenever they could be successfully propagated. The promise came with a disclaimer: we might wait as long as three years for that call. It will be worth the wait. Every plant I brought home from Windy Hill is thriving and growing to beat the band.

So…what happens when you open your garden (for the first time, mind you) and nobody shows up?

I can hardly blame the Hardy Planters, as the day was bleak. Early in the week, we were promised a day of at least partial sunshine. The day dawned, we flipped on the TV to catch the weather guy, and were served up visions of wind, rain, hail, lightning and thunder…all of which duly put in appearances. To be honest, I appreciated the chance for a “dry run” (so to speak) to test out signage, banner placement, etc.

I had expected the cherry trees to be in full blossom, but they were running late. The only plant life really putting on a show was the Clematis armandii, a batch of daffodils, and Euphorbia wulfenii. What came off really well was the way banners can spark things up when Mother Nature refuses to cooperate.

The garden will be open one day of each month through October, so there will be plenty more opportunities for it to strut its stuff. The schedule, as listed in the HPSO Open Gardens book, is as follows: May 4, June 7, July 13, Aug 10 and Sept 7, all from 11am to 5pm, and June 9 from 4 to 9pm. If you would like directions, or to make an appointment for some other time, please call: 503 248 9670.