Plant Name: Physocarpus capitatus
Cultivar: Pacific Ninebark
Plant type: Deciduous shrubs
Height: 6ft to 15 ft (depends on the amount of sun it gets)
Bloom Time: May- June
Flower Color: White dome-shaped flowers
Exposure: Sun Sun or Shade ( it grows along stream banks)
Soil Requirements: Humus rich soil
Water Needs: Moist to wet
Attributes: NW native plant, Attracts bees & butterflies, Showy flowers, Seeds for birds
Notes: No Pests
Uses: Permaculture landscaping, Winter Interest (bark & seeds), Erosion control
USDA Zone: 4-10
Garden of the Month: June 2015
The lovingly tended Victoria
n house at 386 B Street, at the corner of Third, is now surrounded by colorful gardens. After purchasing the 1886 house in 2011, the current homeowners replanted the front in 2013 with design and labor by Banyan Tree Landscape and the back in 2014 with partial design and labor by Sage Hill Landscape. But the gardeners who live there are having fun developing the gardens themselves.
The gorgeous colors in the front and side, including an extra wide planting strip 
between the sidewalk and Third Street were chosen to blend with paint colors of the house—blues, pinks, purples, and whites. They were also chosen to provide color throughout the early spring through late fall, with heather blooming first, then lobelia, then phlox, and finally germander and thyme. Dwarf daphne, lave
nder, and Santa Barbara daisy add to the colorful display in season. They have also added trees; peely-bark maple, crepe myrtle, Japanese maple, redbud, magnolia, and dogwood—a few of which are still struggling to get thoroughly established. All of the plantings outside the fence are drought-tolerant and deer-resistant.
There are recirculating water features in front and back, statues of Buddha and Mary, metal sculpture cranes, and other eye-catching elements throughout the garden.
Older, larger trees on the property include box elder, walnut, and cedar. They have added olive trees at the side and back. Near their guest cottage, there is a gorgeous smoke tree (cotinus “Golden Spirit”) in a huge pot with oregano that spills over the side later in the season. In the side-back area executed by Sage Hill Landscaping, they have added arborvitae to increase privacy and also passion vine, pomegranate, Phormium atropurpureum, Stipa tenuissima, hops, Agastache “Firebird,” Salvia “Hot Lips.”
by Carol Walker
Horticulture Report: Clerodendrum Trichotomum
Plant Name: Clerodendrum Trichotomum
Common Name: Harlequin Glorybower
Plant type: Deciduous Shrub or Small Tree
Height: 10 ft – 20 ft
Bloom Time: July to September
Flower Color: White, Jasmine-like Tubular Flowers
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
(hardy but needs some protection)
Soil Requirements: Rich Well-Drained Soil
Water Needs: Average, do not over water
Attributes: Unique Leaf Aroma smells like Peanut Butter, Fragrant Tubular Flowers, Showy Iridescent Blue Fruit Surrounded by a Fleshy Red Calyx
Note: Seeds & parts of plant are poisonous if ingested, Handling plant may cause skin irritation or allergic reaction.
Uses: Hedges, Showy Ornamental, Late Summer Flowers, Summer Interest
USDA Zone: 7a-9b
36th Annual AGC Plant Sale
Date: Saturday May 9th, 2015
Time: 9am ’til Noon
New Location: ELK’S PARKING LOT – Lithia Way & First Street
(across from the Ashland Post Office)
Fabulous Mother’s Day Bouquets
Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs, Irises, Herbs, Mums, Daylilies, Siberian Irises, Euphorbia, Crocosmia
Vegetable Starts: Zucchini, Heirloom Melons, Summer & Winter Squashes, Pumpkins, Tomatoes
Proceeds for S.O.U Scholarship
Plant Sale Flyer (.pdf) by Carlotta Lucas
Garden of the Month: May 2015
There is a spectacular 
garden at 777 Jacquelyn Street where Claire Marie has her home and runs a Waldorf preschool aptly called The Children’s Garden. Inspired by Tasha Tudor who was the creator of magical gardens as well as children’s books, Claire aimed to achieve a woodland paradise and fairy habitat, and has made huge strides toward that end on her ¾ acre property that edges Clay Creek, since she moved to Jacquelyn Street 15 years ago.
Claire had help from landscape designer Ian Wessler, who drew up plans for the hardscape from Claire’s ideas. She also credits Carol McBride and Micheline Wessler for their help, and Victoria Eckart (of Bi-Mart’s plant department) for advice on plant selection and help with planting. With assistance from many willing hands, Claire planted 4,500 bulbs in 2012.
The front yard is anchored by a large maple tree; redbud trees; a gorgeous Japanese maple; a prolific cherry tree that many people enjoy, including her graduates who return at cherry-picking time for the bounty; mock orange; fringe plant; and foundation plantings of otto luychen laurel. There is a low privet hedge behind the white picket fence and a Cécile Brüner rose on an arbor near the garage. There are peonies, rhododendrons, daffodils, narcissus, and Mariposa tulips that deer don’t eat!
The side yard has English laurel, crepe myrtle and a crab apple tree plus many varieties of bulbs, including bridal pearls.
The back yard is anchored by many large trees, including ash, aspen, and spruce, plus six varieties of apple trees, and blueberries. There are helleborus, oriental poppies, bleeding heart, columbine, roses, ferns, snowdrop, lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-not, lilac, dogwood, anemone, clematis, photinia, and allium—just to name a few.
There are far too many different plants to even begin to list them all. Among the more unusual are fritillaria meleagris, epimedium, erythronium, eranthis hyemalis, camasia quamash, ornithogalum, and calochortus.
In addition to the lush plantings, there are charming arbors (one covered with wisteria), gates, playhouses, a sandbox, a large deck, and a tree house for the enjoyment of her students and other visitors to the garden. There are sculptures of angels, mushrooms, St. Francis, Buddha, and other charming features throughout the landscape.
by Ruth Sloan
Nan Quick’s Diaries for Armchair Travelers
All:
My newest travel article has just been published. Here’s the link:
Nan Quick
Nan Quick’s Diaries for Armchair Travelers