Ashland Garden Club’s Community Service: Thanks to all who helped purchase and plant 80+ new lavenders in N. Mountain Park’s Heirloom Garden. October 8, 2024
Bill Viki Carol Lynn
Heirloom Garden Lavenders
Tag Archives: Attracts Butterflies
October Flowers for Pollinators
Fall flowers for pollinators:
Garden of the Month: September 2024
2025 Green Meadows Way, Ashland Oregon
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Article by Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month
With thanks to Marilyn Love for bringing this garden to my attention.
Zinnia Garden Bliss: Monarch Butterfly, Hummingbirds, and Cooler Temperatures
A monarch butterfly spent the whole afternoon in the zinnia garden, and it seemed like she was deposited some eggs the milkweeds. Several humming birds continue to visit the zinnias and the trumpet vine. The garden is so much happier with cooler temperatures. ~Goly Ostovar, AGC Member
Observing Fall Migratory Birds and Garden Delights
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
Garden of the Month: August 2024
600 Liberty St
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Article by Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chair