The Kwanzan Flowering Cherry Tree, is the showiest of all cherry trees. It’s light and dark pink blossoms are doubled, so its petal production creates more blossoms than any other flowering tree. Its blossoms are large thick clusters of 3-5 flowers, which look similar to carnations, and loads the tree with stunning flowers! This is an ornamental cherry, so it does not produce fruit. Kwanzan Cherry Trees bloom in April.
500 Parkside Drive
Since 2000, the Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Ashland gardens as Garden of the Month, from April through September. From late fall through early spring, no gardens are chosen because most gardens don’t look very good at that time of year. The garden at 500 Parkside Drive is the exception. It looked good all winter, looks great right now, and is being honored as Garden of the Month for April 2019.
This property is owned by Terry and Barbara Oldfield. This year
they spent the coldest months of the year near grandchildren in Arizona, while
the Ashland house and garden were looked after by family and neighbors.
Terry usually does the garden maintenance. The side and back yards were
designed by Banyan Tree Landscape about three years ago and the front was
designed by Solid Ground Landscape five years ago.
Mostly this garden is attractive because the plants were chosen to look good
all year and/or because of their early- or late-season beauty. Among them
are hellebore, nandina, pieris, and heathers. The colors are especially
nice right now. The plants are also situated nicely, with larger plants
framing smaller plants. In the back yard, a magnolia is blooming now, the
daffodils are just finishing up, and strong shoots herald a lovely display of
peonies in the coming months. There are many comfortable spots to sit and
enjoy the view.
There are surprising features in this yard which are small lawns of artificial turf both on the side and in back. While some Garden Club members applaud its water-wise qualities, artificial turf is not without its detractors, and a garden with fake grass has never been selected as Garden of the Month before. While air pollution caused by power tools to mow, blow, and trim real turf counter the oxygen-providing benefits of real grass, fake grass contains known allergens, potentially harmful substances that leach into the earth beneath it and into waterways from runoff, and is not, at the end of its approximately 25-year life, biodegradable. It’s difficult to remember drought after the wet winter and early spring we have had, but it must be anticipated, and this is certainly one way to maintain an attractive green space.
Article submitted by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chairperson
Today in the garden: October 2, 2018
Fall Flowers:
Asters – Chrysanthemums – Coreopsis – Salvia microphylla- Dusty Miller
995 Park Street-
The selection committee for the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month program has had its eye on D’Anne and Steve Shaw’s charming garden at 955 Park Street for a very long time. The first time we approached them, they said that the back yard was not ready for prime time. The next year, the giant incense cedar in the front yard was felled. The year after that, they were remodeling the house. Every year something happened because these homeowners are never idle. Finally, the time has come: This is the July 2018 Garden of the Month.
The wedge-shaped garden is gorgeous, both front and back. D’Anne and Steve both love color and work hard, each averaging ten hours per week despite their busy careers. They share responsibility for design and maintenance. They consider it a work in progress, continually making changes. The garden is entirely organic and is a designated pollinator garden. Don’t miss the Pollinator Garden tour on July 15 (https://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=17460). The Shaws were part of the tour last year but have made way for new gardens this year.
Steve reports that he was introduced to gardening as a child by his father who taught him the value of hard work from an early age and gave him a deep appreciation for gardens. Three pretty Gingko trees were given to D’Anne in one-gallon pots a long time ago and she cared for them in the pots for years until settling on this property. 
You will see how much they have grown and thrived in the 18 years since being planted in the ground. The unusual round metal arbor in the corner of the front yard was made for them for their wedding.
Among the many beautiful flowering plants are roses, hydrangea, peonies, lilies, foxglove, columbine, ground orchids and dahlias. Walk or drive by to see how prettily these things and many others look together.
Article by: Ruth Sloan
Photos by Larry Rosengren
Southern Oregon University Botanical Tour features 107 trees, pollinator gardens, and the SOU Farm. Some trees on the tour are older than the school itself.
In 2014, the Arbor Day Foundation accredited SOU with its Tree Campus award, and in 2015 the University became the first Bee Campus in the nation by providing pollinator beds and bee habitats throughout the campus. SOU has pledged with the Friends of the Earth Bee Cause Campaign to stop the use of all neonicotinoids on campus in an effort to help protect pollinators . Neonicotinoids are harmful systemic insecticides.
SOU offers guided tours and self-guided tours. Brochures can be picked up at the SOU Landscape Services located at 351 Walker Avenue. Tel: 541-552-6117
https://landscape.sou.edu/sou-botanical-tour/
Ashland Garden Club members on a guided tour with Mike.
