known as a firecracker plant or hummingbird plant. This plant is a deer-resistant drought-tolerant herbaceous perennial with felty blueish-grey leaves that blooms early summer into fall. It has clusters of tubular orange flowers that are a hummingbird’s delight! It’s winter hardy in USDA Zone 8-10, and needs full sun.
Visit the Oregon Gardens, you’ll love it.
~Carlotta Lucas
Read more about the Oregon Gardens https://www.oregongarden.org/about/
AGC member, Carol Walker, provided photos of her front yard where red poppies (Papaver) and Bachelor buttons (Centaurea cyanus) are in full bloom.
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.”
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
A dedicated group of AGC members have been planting and gardening North Mountain Park’s Heirloom Garden for years, The Club calls them ‘The Heirloom Gardeners’. The community of Ashland enjoys the Heirloom Garden in all seasons, but spring is especially delightful.
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