In June the Ashland Garden Club toured Pompadour Lavender Farm in Ashland, Oregon. The lavender farm is owned by Ray and Julia Seidler, who use organic and regenerative soil methods on their farm. Ray lectures on the advantages of regenerative agriculture farming practices.
https://pompadourlavenderfarm.com/
Pictures by: Lynn McDonald, Member AGC
Posting by: Carlotta Lucas, Member AGC
128 E. Nevada
The garden of Kim Larson and David Minter at 128 E. Nevada is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July 2022. When they purchased the property in 2002, the front yard was almost entirely huge juniper bushes and the back was dominated by a large concrete pad with a laundry line plus a photinia hedge. David tore out the junipers by tying a line to the roots and dragging them out with a truck.
Initially, Kim, who loves to work in the yard, created gardens in both front and back without an overall plan but discovered they were very high maintenance. Bonnie (Criswell) Engelhardt of Shooting Star nursery advised the couple, who have two children, on plant selections that would prove much easier for maintenance and require less water. Sage Hill Landscape installed much of the hardscape from a plan developed with Jane Hardgrove. Kim and David average less than two hours per week now, doing all the maintenance themselves.
Among favorite plants are older hellebores that line the walkway beside the house on the eastern edge of the property, autumn ferns, coral bells, and hardy euphorbias. Kim has transplanted shoots from a passionflower vine that they thought had died, and was pleased to discover them doing well in their new location.
They keep chickens in a charming coop and use their droppings in the compost they regularly manage.
Kim, especially, finds joy in gardening. She says that it is therapeutic even to weed and prune, but planting too to make things beautiful.
Article by : Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Coordinator
Photos by Larry Rosengren.
780 Walker Street
Lorraine Vail’s and Ed Smith’s garden at 780 Walker Street is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for June 2022. It is a very special garden in many ways, not least of which is the couple’s desire to share the beauty and knowledge they have gained through creating this garden.
They started with a nearly blank slate in the Fall of 2013. Lorraine took an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) course at nearby SOU, taught by professional landscape designer Fran Adams, during which she submitted a design for the OLLI courtyard garden. Completing that assignment earned the homeowners complimentary consultations on their home garden from Adams and from Seth Barnard of Solid Ground Landscape. Ultimately, Solid Ground installed the hardscape and did the initial planting, working from Lorraine’s design. Solid Ground continues to consult on design and provides seasonal assistance although Ed and Lorraine take care of it day-to-day, averaging ten hours a week.
A second phase began during the pandemic when the couple had time on their hands. During this phase, Ed, a talented woodworker, completed the attractive fence and added gorgeous gates in 2020. This allowed them to plant without worrying about deer preferences. They have had problems with bears trying to climb the fence (and doing significant damage in the process). The side garden provides a more intimate space for relaxation and contemplation, and is very colorful at this time of year.
A unique and charming feature of this Japanese-inspired garden is “The Garden Box;” a display case that they installed to inform passersby about the garden. Changing the contents frequently allows them to describe specific plants, share photos, and enchant with poetry about the garden.
Both Lorraine and Ed enjoy the many changes in the garden throughout the year and look forward to seeing changes between years as plants change and mature. An important aspect of their design is contrast in color and texture. Among the couple’s favorite plants are horny goat weed, the variegated leaves of which stay beautiful all year; spirea in its many forms; brunnera; and weeping redbud.
Peruse the Garden Box and peek through the gate to enjoy this special place.
Last photo by Lorraine Vail, taken in the Fall. All other photos by Larry Rosengren, taken this Spring.
Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chairman
Plant Name: Aristolochia californica
Common name: Dutchman’s Pipe
Plant type: Deciduous Vine
Height: 10- 15 (up to 20 feet), plant requires a trellis, or other vertical support.
Bloom Time: Later winter/Early Spring
Flower Color: Flowers are pale Green with dark maroon veins. Flowers are shaped like curved pipes with a flared bowl.
Exposure: Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Tolerates most soils
Water Needs: Somewhat drought tolerant, but likes moisture areas; in nature is grows in moist wooded areas, alongside creeks and streams.
Attributes: 
Heart-shaped leaves on woody stems. Musty odious flowers attract carrion-feeding flies & gnats for pollination; insects eventually escape after plant attaches pollen to them. Plant is host for native Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly (Battus philenor). Aristolochia californica is the only food source of the Pipevine Swallowtail! Dutchman ’s Pipe provides habitat for other beneficial insects.
Firewise: Unable to determine
Native to: Sacramento Valley, Northern Sierra Nevada foothills, San Francisco Bay Area, Northern Inner California Coast Ranges, Southeastern Klamath Mountains
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8 -10
Report by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member
Photo of Flowers By: peganum from Small Dole, England – Aristolochia californica, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47474436
Photo of Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar by: Joanie Kintscher, AGC Member & Past President
Plant Name: Hesperantha Coccinea
(Previously known as Schizostylis Coccinea)
Common Name: Kaffir Lily, River Lily
Plant Type: Herbaceous Perennial
Flower Color: Pale Pink, Dark Pink, Crimson, White, Orange, Red, Pale Purple
Bloom Time: Late Summer to Early Winter
Foliage Color: Blue-Green, semi-evergreen
Sun Exposure: Full Sun – Part Sun
Water Requirements: Evenly moist soil; do not let dry out
Height: 24-36 in
Spacing: 9-12 in
Hardiness: 7a to 9b
Uses: Cut flowers, Along stream beds, By Ponds & Creeks, Perennial flowerbeds, Borders, Mediterranean Gardens
Attributes: Gladiolus-like flowers appear on spikes; Likes moisture; Tolerates poor soil; Grows in clumps
Native to: South Africa
Goly Ostovar’s Garden, May 2022
