Tag Archives: Garden of the Month

Garden of the Month: May 2023

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784 Park Street

A riot of color greets passersby at 784 Park Street in April and May as many bulbs burst into bloom.  The garden was developed by Lois Breedlove, owner of the condo at that address.  It is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for May.

The landscape was previously entirely water-thirsty grass until Breedlove arrived eight years ago.  A financial windfall allowed her to redesign the space and hire Gustavo Rodriguez and his crew from Alpine Landscaping to install and maintain plantings of Lois’ choice. Daffodils, tulips, and grape hyacinths dominate now, but peonies are on their way.  Daphne, euphorbia, barberry, and spirea provide contrast of size and color.  Lois especially loves older varieties of hellebore.  She has a beautiful “cameo” flowering quince near the sidewalk.

The bulbs thrive because their bloom time coincides with leaves off the maple tree in the side yard that, once leafed-out, provides needed shade in the summer.  She spaces allium plants among other bulbs to discourage deer.

Bulbs are a drought-tolerant way to add color to a garden, Breedlove says. They’re punctuated with other drought tolerant perennials and shrubs. As the garden matures the shrubs will eventually play a larger role. “But there will always be the bulbs for color.”

Breedlove says the garden isn’t a garden retreat, but a ‘garden advance’  — something to be enjoyed by others in the complex, and by passersby as well.

Lois relies on Alpine Landscaping for much of the work, but she tries to walk through the garden daily. “The best garden advice I ever heard is that a garden profits most from the daily touch of the gardener’s hand,” she says.

Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chair

Photos by: Lois Breedlove, Larry Rosengren, and Ruth Sloan.

April 2023- AGC Garden of the Month

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344 Helman Street

While all the rain and snow we’ve enjoyed this winter bring hope of a fabulous spring and along with it fabulous gardens, it does mean that the season of renewal is running a little late this year.  Last year at this time, the garden at 344 Helman Street—home to Suzan and Marshall Malden—was blooming gloriously and lush with plants ready to burst forth.  It’s obviously poised to do that again, but perhaps a little later than usual.  This is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for April 2023

When the Maldens purchased the property in 2001 the cottage was smaller, and both front and back yards were little more than lawns with a few trees, including the wonderful mulberry.  After completing a beautiful sunny addition to the house in 2006, Suzan set about establishing lovely gardens with help and advice from family friend Dave Mizerak.  The bones of that design remain much the same, but Suzan has fun adding and subtracting plants as conditions change over the years or as enthusiasm strikes her.

Lilacs and grapevines at the perimeter contribute to a feeling of privacy in back.  A delightful water fountain is visible from most spots around the yard as well as from rooms at the back of the house.  Among Suzan’s favorite plants are peonies, rhododendrons, daphne, and azaleas.  Fig trees in back not only produce delicious fruit but are gorgeous sculptural plants.  The Japanese maple in front is stunning all year.

A tall flag pole in back features an ever-changing display of flags, some to honor countries where the Maldens have lived (such as Sweden and Norway), some to honor countries of origin for visitors, and some to honor events

Suzan does almost all of the gardening herself, averaging a half-hour to an hour a day in the busiest seasons, with occasional help from Nathanael Brees on the biggest projects.  She sees the garden as her sanctuary and gardening brings her great joy.  As she says, “life is beautiful in the garden.”

September 2022: Garden of the Month

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453 Tucker Street

This time of year, many Ashland gardens are starting to look little tired, victims of prolonged excessive heat and thirst.  Ornamental grasses do particularly well in these conditions and those gardens that feature them continue to thrive.  Elizabeth and Gerard Boulanger’s gorgeous front yard at 453 Tucker Street is a great example and is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for September 2022.  It requires only a modest amount of water to put on a beautiful show year-round.

The Boulangers moved here in June of 2021.  They tidied the front yard, particularly giving room to the Japanese blood grass, the leaves of which are currently a stunning dark purple, so it wouldn’t get lost in the thicket.  Their display of ornamental grasses highlights the varieties of colors (some of which change seasonally), blooms, shape, and blade structure. The large green grasses directly in front of the house turn a bronze color in Autumn.

They have done a lot of work on the side yards during their short tenure here, including a massive restructuring on the western side, terracing the space to make it more usable by creating a bocce ball/horseshoes court and pleasant patio on different levels.  The handsome block retaining walls were created by Jorge Regalado and his crew from Firststone Masonry.  Elizabeth credits Gerard for the design of this area, but admits to making some suggestions.  Dwarf gingko trees border the wooden stairs on one side and buddleia shrubs border the other side.  They have started a hedge along the fence in back, along the north side of the property, to soften the near part of the nice view toward the hills.  Trees include juniper, maple, and ash.

Elizabeth and Gerard personally work in the yard when they can and clearly enjoy the plants.  Particular favorites are Pacific northwest myrtle, hydrangea, sweet peas, dogwood, and lavender.  Christie Mackison of Shooting Star Nursery has advised the Boulangers on plant choices.

Photos by Larry Rosengren

Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chair

August 2022 Garden of the Month

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994 Kestral Parkway

Jill Weston’s lovely garden at 994 Kestral Parkway is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for August 2022.  She has been gardening here for about three years, starting from the nearly blank slate of bare dirt and dead trees of a previously neglected property.

 In late July and early August, black-eyed Susans dominate the front yard, putting on a dazzling display.  Climbing roses, transplanted from a stunning five-acre spread east of Ashland that Jill and her late husband shared before downsizing, thrive against fences surrounding a small patio in back.  The north side of the property, on the Stoneridge Avenue side of this corner lot, holds rhododendrons, clematis vines, and small fig trees.

 Daffodils enliven the front yard before the black-eyed Susans pop up from the ground each year.  Jill refers to the latter as “hardy, determined girls.”  They share the space at this time of year—somewhat unwillingly—with echinacea, rose campion and many other plants.

 Jill spends a lot of time in the garden, loving every minute.  And she thinks about the garden much of the time even when she’s not in it.  She has an eye for design that enhances the overall display. Of plants not already mentioned, Jill loves cosmos, coreopsis, tithonia, and zinnias among many others.

 Jill has had guidance over the years from Tom Scales of the garden department of the Grange Co-op in Ashland.  And her friend Silvino has been helping her in this garden and the previous one for 15 years.

 Jill has only recently learned the benefits of feeding her plants.  She says she’s been slow to adapt to new gardening conditions, and terrible at being practical.  But none those flaws show in the current result.

Jill recommends that, if you want to see the black-eyed Susans in their full glory, you visit very soon because the extreme heat is taking its toll.  This is a neighborhood of many fine gardens.  Nearby, check out 305 Stoneridge, across the street from Jill on Kestral and 336 Stoneridge, across the alley from Jill.

Photos by Larry Rosengren

With thanks to Marilyn Love for the suggestion,

Ruth Sloan, Garden of the Month, Chair

July 2022: Garden of the Month

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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.

June 2022: Garden of the Month

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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