August 2022 Garden of the Month

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Ashland Garden Club

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

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Ashland Garden Club

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

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Ashland Garden Club

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

Garden of the Month: September 2021

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

85 Winburn Way

Stephanie and Bryan DeBoer have an unusual degree of interest in the spectacular garden of their home at 85 Winburn Way, as well they should. This is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for September.

The DeBoers see their property as a visual extension of Lithia Park which sits across the street. Bryan has a special affinity for the park: His maternal grandfather was a gardener there and, as a boy, Bryan would help him and be rewarded with ice cream from the shop that once sat where the DeBoer home sits now.

Meant to look long-established and thus better to complement the park, the garden was actually installed in stages over 2018-19. The initial planting took 11 days and required a large crane. One tree weighed 7000 lbs. Using mature plants was the key to making the garden look as if it had been there a long time.

Bryan & Stephanie were very much involved in carefully planning the garden and selecting plants. Bryan and Stephanie went from room to room inside the house while plants were being placed outside, to assure spectacular views from every vantage point. Laurie Sager & Associates of Jacksonville were the landscape architects and steered the DeBoers through a fun and creative process. One of Laurie’s many ideas was creating a beautifully landscaped light well to brighten a lower level bedroom, and created an amazing overall result. The building’s architect, Carlos Delgado, took an active interest. Dieter Trost, of Southern Oregon Nursery in Medford—and a family friend, aided in procuring the specimen trees, all grown right here in Oregon.

Mostly the garden is in the Japanese tradition and has many conifers and maples. Bryan has a special fondness for the Chief Joseph pines, “Lovers” Japanese maple, and the ice breaker firs. It’s a good thing Japanese maples are among Stephanie’s favorite plants because there are 29 Japanese maples on the property comprised of 25 varieties including red filigree lace, green cascade, and contorta weeping. A full list of plants, with pictures, is available on PlantsMap (www.plantsmap.com – search on Winburn). Bryan has installed PlantsMap tags at the foot of many of the plants.

Unique sources were found for many of the treasures in the landscape. The Iseli Nursery in Boring, Oregon provided many of the special trees and is world renown for mature specimens found in their Gallery. The gorgeous rocks placed strategically throughout the garden were imported from the Netherlands where a Japanese garden was being dismantled. The giant mid-century modern urn on a pedestal near the front door came from a Frank Lloyd Wright building.

Both Bryan and Stephanie work in the garden and Bryan, especially, has been mistaken as a professional gardener by passersby while he was working outside. He can identify every plant from memory.

Article by: Ruth Sloan

Photos by Bryan DeBoer

July 2021; Garden of the Month

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

1023 Linda Avenue:

The fascinating garden at 1023 Linda Avenue is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July. Owner Sandra Archibald is completely responsible for this garden, including design and maintenance. She does have a guy who mows the shrinking lawn in the back and helps with cleanup in the Fall.

The most remarkable feature of this garden is the living fence of weeping blue atlas cedar that Sandra planted in the northeast corner of the property a year or two after moving in late in 2007 and has trained along the deer fence since then, protecting her raised planting beds and the rest of the yard. She designed the curving paver paths and trellis along the front of the house. There are more curved paths and walls she designed in back as well as a charming gate and peaceful Japanese garden section.

This is her favorite time of year in the garden with coreopsis and poppies putting on a grand display. In Spring, large established iberris plants make a nice show against the conifers. Other times echinacea is a standout. As the back garden has become shadier over the years, she has added mini-hostas and plans to add more conifers since discovering the fabulous variety at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. She loves the Japanese forest grass she has in pots because it’s always beautiful, even when it dries out annually.

Sandra urges persistence in the garden. She adapts readily to the changing environment, trying things and sometimes moving and replacing plants that don’t thrive. She averages at least ten hours per week working in her garden all seasons except Winter. Her hard work and creativity are evident.

Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chairman. (Thanks Kaaren Anderson for bringing this garden to my attention years ago.)

All photos by Larry Rosengren

Garden(s) of the Month: June 2021

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

The Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for June 2021 is unusual. It’s unusual because it is three gardens and unusual because they are back gardens. Gardens selected for GotM honors must be substantially visible from the public right-of-way (street or sidewalk ordinarily) so that usually means front gardens. These three back gardens qualify because they are visible from Ashland Creek Park (on Hersey near Oak) and these three are all in a row.

Directions: From Hersey Street, walk along the right (east) side of the park about half way from front to back and watch for signs. Please stay in the park. You will see some gorgeous gardens.

The first (geographically) of the selected gardens is the furthest south of the three; the back garden of Deborah and Jeff Wihtol of 589 Oak Street. They started their garden with a rounded patio and gently winding path that Jeff designed. Then in 2017 the Wihtols had Solid Ground Landscaping plan and install most of the plants. Since then, they’ve made changes on their own. The recent loss of a large box elder tree brought more sun to the south side of the garden than it had in the past, to which they are adjusting. And most recently they arranged for Jane Hardgrove to refresh the landscape and accommodate the new sun situation. Among Deb’s favorite plants are hydrangeas, daphne odora, cape fuchsia, and orange sedge. Routine maintenance is by Juan Guerrero.

The second selected garden belongs to Ursula and Marvin Webster of 603 Oak Street whose historic 1897 home influenced plant selections. Sage Hill Landscape installed the hardscape and initial plantings in back following guidance from the Websters. As Ursula put it, “What would grandma do?” was her guiding principle. A massive trumpet vine, stone walls, ivy, and treasured perennials survive from the house’s earliest days. Among her favorites are plants that she considers “romantically old fashioned” such as hydrangea, peonies, erigeron, and catmint. The hillside setting dictated stairs, and aspen trees thrive in the lowest parts of the garden, nearest the park. Their quaking leaves add movement to the garden. Ursula handles routine maintenance with assistance from Juan Guerrero. The small building at the back of the garden is a straw-bale office built by EcoNest.

The third selected garden belongs to Susan McKennon of 615 Oak Street. The yard is dominated by a huge old oak that some believe is the tree for which Oak Street was named. That mighty tree is a picture of health thanks to Susan’s care and Canopy’s regular maintenance. Her dazzling stand of iris stems from an early gift from Schreiners, friends of the family—well known for iris cultivation. Susan brought the iris starts from a previous home. Solid Ground designed the landscape in 2013, bringing in tons of boulders to stabilize the steep terrain and installing stairs to help people negotiate the hill between the house and the park. Solid Ground brought in many trees except the old oak, including Japanese maples and a dwarf gingko. A friend’s gift of an elderberry bush draws attention at this time of year with its dark purple foliage and pale pink flowers. Rudolpho Ramirez and his crew maintain this garden.

McKennon’s Tree viewed from Webster’s Garden

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