Plant Name: Amelancier alnifolia
Common name: Pacific serviceberry
Plant type: Deciduous Shrub/Tree
Height: 15’ – 30’
Spread: 15’ – 20’
Bloom Time: Spring
Flower Color: White
Exposure: Sun or Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Good Drainage; Sandy or Loamy
Water Needs: Irrigate 1x/Month after establishment
Attributes: Easily Pruned to More Erect Form or Flatter, Rounder, Open Shape; Food Source Birds; Attracts Bats, Caterpillars, Larval Host for some Butterflies; Berries for Mammals; Shelter for Animals; Fragrant Flowers; Flavorful Edible Fruit used fresh or in baked goods
Note: Fruits in Summer; Fall Color Foliage; Root Suckering is Common; Diseases/Insects: Rust, Leaf Spot, FireBlight, Powdery Mildew; Aphids, Thrips, Mites,
Uses: Hedge; Pollinator Garden; Shrub Border; Woodland Gardens; Naturalized Areas
Native to: Some Canadian Provinces; Midwest to West United States
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 – 7
Photo by: Walter Siegmund, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Common name: Western columbine
Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
Height: 2’ – 3’
Spread: 1’
Bloom Time: Late Spring to August
Flower Color: Red, Yellow
Exposure: Full Sun to Deep Shade
Soil Requirements: Good Drainage, Organic Material
Water Needs: Low to Moderate; irrigate once a month once established
Attributes: Nectar in Flower Blooms are appealing to Hummingbirds;
Seed Heads provide Bird Food; Deer Resistant; Supports Bats, Birds, Butterflies, Caterpillars
Note: Self-sows, but Deadheading controls spread
Uses: Containers; Native Plant Gardens; Pollinator Garden; Rock Garden
Firewise: YES
Native to: Lower 48 state, Alaska, Canada
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 9
From SOU News: “The Buzzway map helps visualize pollinator habitat connectivity – a vital element in helping native pollinators such as butterflies, bees and moths to navigate the urban landscape. The map also encourages people to create new gardens by showing areas with no certified pollinator habitat, and shares stories about how existing gardens were created.”
Plant Name: Allium acuminatum Common Name: Hooker’s onion Plant type : Deciduous Perennial Herb Height: 0’ – 2’ Spread: 0’ – 1’ Bloom Time: May – July Flower Color: Purple, White, Pin Exposure: Sun to Part Shade Soil Requirements: Dry, well-drained; sandy/loamy Water Needs: Occasional Summer Water Attributes: Bulblets reproduce easily; strong onion smell; deer resistant; attracts pollinators: bats, butterflies, birds; nectar source for butterflies Note: Flowers appear on long stalks after leaves have died; goes dormant in summer after going to seed Uses: Rock Garden; Dry Open Meadows; Habitat Restoration; Green Roof Native to: Western United States Oregon Native: YES USDA Hardiness Zone 5 – 9
Cleome, peonies, and Japanese maples line the walkway to the front door. Photo by Tim MacCurdy
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.
Cleome and echinacea, with yuzu in the background. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
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.
Lavender and bee balm by the mailboxes. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
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.
Peonies and ceanothus bloom along the walkway in May. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
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.
Hachiya persimmons hang from the house rafters to dry when the MacCurdys first bought the house. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
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.”
Cleome and purple Shiso. Photo by Tim MacCurdy.
Article by Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chair
