Today, Sun, Sep 22, 2024 is the first day of Autumn.
Monarch butterflies are migrating now and today I saw a one visiting my garden. This is the fourth monarch I have seen this summer. It spent several hours getting nectar and resting in the garden. It preferred the zinnia flowers more than all others. This monarch sampled other flowers, but kept coming back to the zinnias. I noticed it liked newer flowers more than the older ones. This suggests it’s a good habit to deadhead your flowers, since cutting back older flowers encourages new buds. If interested, you can report your monarch sightings to journeynorth.org Include the number of monarchs you observed and the length of time they spent in your area.
Miriam Weissberg’s creativity and love of color shows throughout her garden at 2025 Green Meadows Way. This is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for September 2024.
Photo by Miriam Weissberg, August 2023
When Miriam and her late husband Rob first moved to the property in 2018, the front yard was mostly grass and the back yard was dominated by blank space for an above-ground pool that the previous owner removed. Miriam and Rob planned and gardened together until he passed away in 2023. Now Miriam does all the designing and fine-tuning in the garden.
Photo by Miriam Weissberg, August 2023
Carlos and Pam Maya do much of the routine maintenance and larger projects. Miriam estimates that among herself, Carlos and Pam, they spend an average of about 18 hours per month on the garden.
Photo by Ruth Sloan, August 2024
Although she has access to TID water, she doesn’t use it very much because she didn’t want to design a landscape that would be reliant on water that is available such a small fraction of the year. She figures that, with added hardscape and drought tolerant plants, she uses less water than was the case when they moved in. The zoned irrigation system employs about two-thirds drip lines.
Flower beds and walkways in the back yard replacing pool site. Photo by Ruth Sloan, August 2024
Deck stairs with edging for safety, painted and photo by Miriam Weissberg. June 2019
Miriam’s advice to other gardeners is to try different things and see what works best given the many factors in your garden. Also, to encourage maximum blooming, keep your plants well pruned.
Photo by Miriam Weissberg, October 2023
Among her favorite plants are verbena and roses. In the recent past, she has planted many annuals, including beloved zinnias, to add color with the knowledge that her choices don’t require much water. This year, she didn’t have time to plant her usual annuals but the garden is still lovely.
Photo by Ruth Sloan, August 2024
Article by Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month With thanks to Marilyn Love for bringing this garden to my attention.
Fall migratory birds are starting to show up in my garden. I saw this Black headed grosbeaks at the feeder today. Rufous hummingbirds are competing with Anna’s in the garden. Rufous Hummingbirds travel from breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada to wintering sites in Mexico. All critters seems to be enjoying a bit of cool air, And finally the vegetable garden seems to be relaxing from the intense heat and starting to produce. I had a lot of male flowers on the cucumber plants, and finally I am getting some female flowers and some cucumbers. Goly Ostovar, AGC Member
Cleome, peonies, and Japanese maples line the walkway to the front door. Photo by Tim MacCurdy
Tim MacCurdy started gardening at 600 Liberty St in 2018 and this is now the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for August 2024. He lives here with his wife, Tricia, and son, Luca. When they first purchased the house there was little in the yard except a few trees. Now it is dense with food and ornamentals.
Cleome and echinacea, with yuzu in the background. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
Tim has had an interest in gardening since he was a child, growing up in Atascadero California where his father inspired hard work on the family acreage. A kindergarten teacher, whose husband was on the botany faculty at Cal Poly, also encouraged Tim’s interest in plants to the point where Tim was known as the “flower boy” to other students and their families. Later Tim earned a degree at UC Berkeley in environmental sciences. When he was newly graduated, he started his own business tending other people’s gardens.
Lavender and bee balm by the mailboxes. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
After world-wide travels he settled in Japan where, once again, his interest in plants and gardens was piqued although his primary concentration at that time was photography. He has plants now that are generations later of seeds he collected in Japan. Since his professional gardening days, he has gone on to pursue a career in medicine and now practices dermatology.
Peonies and ceanothus bloom along the walkway in May. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
Tim does all the work himself in this garden. He estimates he averages two hours per day—more from May through September—in the garden and considers his plants (soil and structure) as part of his extended family.
The back yard is steeply sloped. Fruit trees, including persimmon, Asian pears, plums, olives, figs, and yuzu are dotted throughout the property. Among his favorite plants are cleome, nicotiana, echinacea, ginkgo, persimmons, and Japanese maples (some from seeds collected in Japan). Trees of all kinds have traveled with Tim and his family to homes in different parts of the western states.
Hachiya persimmons hang from the house rafters to dry when the MacCurdys first bought the house. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
Given current climate conditions, Tim encourages gardeners to lean toward drought-tolerant plants. You should find “clues from your environment” and love your plants. He also suggests that you don’t always have to follow the rules of gardening and garden design, but instead you “should make your own rules.” He says, “engage with your garden, truly engage. Dedicate yourself to knowledge and spirit, and become an expert.”
Cleome and purple Shiso. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
Article by Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chair
Mary Kyman’s beautiful garden at 1160 Bellview Ave. is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July 2024. She started gardening here in 2009. Her garden was on the AUUW Garden Tour in 2014 and it was gorgeous at the time, but she has made many changes and improvements since then.
Mary does all the planning and design work. For many years, she did much of the physical labor as well, but has now turned over the day-to-day maintenance to Molly McConnell and her crew from Bee Kind Gardening. Nevertheless Mary estimates she spends about five hours a week on the garden and continues to be fully involved.
She has to be fully conscious of deer preferences in her plant selections and placement. The back yard is not accessible to those pesky intruders.
The prolific hydrangeas that line the front of the house on the west side are at the height of their glory this month. But many other plants, including rudbeckia, calla lilies, and hotlips salvia are also in their prime right now and these are among her favorite plants.
Both the house and the garden are art-filled. There is a stepping stone and gravel spiral in the front yard.
The garden in back has many fruit trees and berry plants. Raised beds harbor vegetables and herbs. An enormous elm, with fabulous bark, shades a good portion of the patio and back garden.
Mary has kindly suggested that those pedestrians who wish to see the front yard in its entirety, since a hedge blocks much of the view, can walk up the driveway but are asked to stay on the driveway itself.
Article and Photos by Ruth Sloan, AGC GoM Coordinator
