What image does the word parasol conjure up for you? A French Impressionist painting perhaps, stage props for a musical, or maybe splashes of color on a beach contrasting with the dark blue horizon. The word itself is a combination of two Latin words: para (shield) and sol (sun), distinct from parapluie which shield us from the rain.
The garden at 831 Garden Way in Ashland delights us with its cheerful array of colorful umbrellas which shelter the tender plants beneath them. This was the creative solution that Michelle Taylor and Ren Kolar devised to compensate for the loss of two birches from disease last year. Rather unconventional but practical and completely in character with these two women who admit to planting what they like because it makes them happy!
The setting is picture perfect – a small garden on a quiet street with attention paid to every detail. Michelle took the lead with respect to layout and the project got started in 2006 when Michelle and Ren personally installed the interlocking paver driveway. The Synlawn ™ was installed fifteen years ago when Ashland first introduced their rebate program and it is outlined in medium sized tumbled river rock which contrasts with the larger pieces of rustic stone which outline the raised planting beds.
The original flagstone pathway connecting the driveway to the front door was replaced with a curved concrete walkway featuring a medallion of inlaid steel and polished river rock to form a compass. The intricate artwork was a labor of love involving many hands. A handsome metal planter box separates a small patio from the entry and compensates for the grade change between the walkway and seating area. The trailing stems of ornamental oregano are stunning against the dark metal. Brett Hassell also fabricated the gate to the side yard. Landscape lighting is discretely tucked along the edges of the walkway.
Long established plantings of rhododendron, lavender and rosemary were masterfully pruned to revitalize and supplemented with pollinator plantings of salvia, lemon balm and bear’s breeches. Spring welcomes the “gorgeous’ nodding heads of the hellebore, followed by the shaggy blooms of the peony, before summer heat brings the vibrant color of the dahlias. The erica ensures a dramatic contrast to the otherwise green foliage in the raised bed and ensures year-round color. Sword-like foliage featured throughout the garden contrasts with fine textured plants including the lacey-leafed Japanese maple planted where it can be appreciated while seated on the patio or porch. Multiple container pots add color accents.
An ancient apple tree bears prolific Sweet Tart fruit which is shared with local wildlife as well as neighbors. In the spring bearded iris screen the neighbor’s retaining wall but then the tree provides a shaded respite for the deer that wander along Garden Way.
Readers are encouraged to follow their path and enjoy other eye-catching venues, including a well-tended vineyard, prolific sunflowers and a rosarium. A picnic in the shade at the Soroptimist Garden at the end of the street and count the silhouetted bear, moose, wolves and fish adorning the playground fence. Hopefully we’ll be needing a parapluie one day soon!
Article submitted by Elizabeth Essex, with appreciation to Viki Ashford of the Ashland Garden Club for the suggestion. All photos by Elizabeth Essex.
The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month from spring through fall for more than twenty-five years. Nominations are gratefully received at gardenofthemonth@ashlandorgardenclub.org. Readers are invited to check out the club’s website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.
It’s fascinating to watch how a parcel of land can be transformed into a community in just a few short years. Ten acres of farmland in Ashland’s Mill Pond district was conceived as a sustainable living neighborhood of fifty-three homes by KDA Homes with site development actively underway by July 2022. Four years later the landscape welcomes the gardener to take a closer look at the careful selection and layout of vegetation to enhance its natural setting. Beach Creek Homes off N. Mountain Avenue has been selected as the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July 2026.
In laying out the building lots and roadways, the developer, Laz Ayala, made a conscious decision to not construct any homes along Beach Creek, instead choosing to preserve the land as a community asset asking Lomakatsi Restoration to restore the ecosystem of native plants and enhance the wildlife corridor. Coordinating with multiple community organizations, including Jackson County Soil & Water Conservation District, more than two hundred native trees and shrubs were planted with the goal to achieve stream bed stabilization, erosion reduction, water quality improvement, and wildfire reduction.
More than four hundred trees were planted on this ten-acre site but placement ensured that view lines of the surrounding hills from each home were preserved. Many of the street trees are columnar in nature, notably the Persian Spire Ironwood, Scarlet Sentinel Maple and Pyramidal European Hornbeam. Trees with broader canopies, such as the Rocky Mountain Glow Big Tooth Maple, Forest Green Italian Oak and Black Tupelo, provide striking fall color. Others offer up their beauty with springtime blossoms: the Satomi Dogwood, Pink Flair Cherry and Japanese Snowbell. Smaller in stature but nonetheless appealing are the Coral Bark Maple and Lace Leaf Japanese Maple with its graceful weeping habit.
And while consistency of both architectural and planting design is evident throughout the community each front garden is a testament to the collaborative nature of the design process: home owners working with KDA or landscape designers or both to achieve the desired results. Drought tolerant and bee-friendly native plants are encouraged but as each gardener knows a garden is always a work in progress! Rockrose, salvia, euphorbia, yarrow, blanket flower, liatris, cone flower and Russian Sage all provide abundant blooms!
The plant palette in the Beach Creek common areas strives to be in compliance with Firewise Ashland Guidelines and KDA was commended by AFD for use of river rock as a ground cover rather than mulch. No large conifers were planted in the development and ornamental grasses were planted primarily in the medians, a minimum of ten feet from the foundation.
However, it is in their private gardens behind the fence or gate that home owners have been given the opportunity to express their individuality.
Ornamental metal gates and privacy fencing throughout the HOA are especially distinctive and further enhance the landscape design experience.
In addition, a recently completed community garden with raised beds and an inviting seating area will encourage community gatherings with a pot luck planned at the end of summer.
But it all began with a vision, to aspire to “live lightly upon the land.” Inspired by the setting with its views of the rolling hills an architect set to work and crafted homes that the like- minded would appreciate. Landscape designers reinforced those principles which in turn were nurtured by the home owners themselves. In a few short years those street trees will cast shade over sidewalks. Pollinators will find the nectar necessary to sustain their brief lives and hopefully the salmon will find their way upstream in Bear Creek. Neighbors will come together to share their harvest bounty. And music and laughter will carry over the night air bearing witness to a community supporting one another in their common endeavors.
Submitted by Elizabeth Essex with appreciation to Marko Bey with Lomakatsi Restoration, Marni Owens with KDA Homes, Lucretia Weems with Lucretia Weems Design and Sandi Paris, homeowner. All photos by Elizabeth Essex.
The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month from spring through fall for more than twenty-five years. Nominations are gratefully received at gardenofthemonth@ashlandorgardenclub.org. Readers are invited to check out the club’s website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.
Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month: 2397 Morada Lane, Ashland OR
The Rogue Valley greets us each spring with an abundance of color: the white pear blossoms in April, followed by pink cherry and redbud, before the magnolia, rhodies and dogwood tease us into summer. Much of this color is generated by ornamentals, designated as such because they were introduced to us from places far beyond the Rogue Valley and hybridized to thrive in our soils and climate. Our community is truly resplendent in its spring finery.
Another source of delight are the native blossoms that greet us each spring but you generally have to look closely, at your feet as you traverse the hiking trails in our valley. Some, selected carefully and with a bit of nurturing at the outset, can be grown in our gardens to admire and marvel at their ability to thrive. Planting native plants in our home gardens enhances local biodiversity, reduces water use and eliminates the need for fertilizer and pesticides, all important considerations for the responsible gardener.
This is ‘Fivespot’, Nemophila maculata, a California native that is often sold as seed. https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5835
The garden at the corner of Tolman Creek Road and Morada Lane provided the owner, Julie Kierstead, with the diversity of terrain to hone her considerable skills. A professional botanist, the shaded stream bed, the towering conifers, and sunny corner property all provided her with opportunities to introduce some of her favorite natives. A published author of numerous botanical papers, Julie retired from the US Forest Service after more than thirty years conducting rare plant surveys for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
The low yellow flowers are the native Oregon sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum, obtained from Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds. The tall pink flowers in the front are native showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, host for monarch butterflies. The tall branched sunflower is an annual native tarweed, Madia elegans.
Julie started her garden at 2397 Morada Lane in 2020, removing a decrepit picket fence and existing plants she didn’t want. She set to work adding a custom metal deer fence (essential in Ashland!!) and hardscaping in 2021 and 2022. A handsome rock wall edging the paver patio sets the stage for the fine foliage and color in the beds above the retaining wall. Small seedlings have taken root in the crevices between the stones, softening the gaze. In the span of just three years Julie has accomplished wonders planting a variety of perennials, vines, annuals, bulbs and shrubs appropriate for our micro-climate. She grows numerous natives from Oregon and California as well as Mediterranean plants aware that her choices will provide a good season-long buffet for pollinators as well as food and cover for birds. Julie takes pride that nearly 70% are natives.
Penstemon ‘Margarita BOP’, bush monkeyflower, (Diplacus species), red and white forms of Jupiter’s beard, Centranthus ruber
Sitting in one of Julie’s faux bois chairs, one can appreciate the care and attention she has exercised in choosing plants that delight the senses. When viewed from eye level, every detail comes into focus: the colors and textures that play off one another, the stems that trail over the handsome rock wall, and the abundant insect activity that feasts on her pollinators. A small Trex deck in the side yard is shaded by a pergola supported by gluelam posts stained to enhance the chunks of laminated recycled redwood. Native Oregon grape hybrid vines planted along the fence provide both privacy and radiant fall color.
The vine is ‘Roger’s red’, a hybrid of the native California grape, Vitis californica and a European wine grape. The small tree in the center is a Chinese quince, and the silver foliage is Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’
After first preparing the site by removing invasive vegetation, Julie broke up the local soil to provide good drainage for her seedlings. Since native plants thrive in local soil no fertilizer was added but Julie supplemented with a good organic compost from a local vendor. Watering is by hand, so plants were chosen that are low on the water-needy scale.
The red flowers are native California-fuchsia, Epilobium canum, and seaside daisy, Erigeron glaucus, both readily available in the nursery trade
Plant selection is adapted as one explores the shaded back side of the residence. To supplement the vine maple, native hazelnut, oak leaf hydrangea and Oregon grape which were already well established when she moved in, Julie added flowering currant, ninebark and thimbleberry accented with cyclamen, hellebore, viburnum, Pacific coast iris and spirea. A network of decorative stone paths weave through the riparian vegetation, passing by a small pond created from the natural creek which flows across the property. The path crosses a small bridge before climbing the hillside via timber steps filled with tumbled stone steps stabilized to ensure safe footing.
A second story deck provides Julie with a favored resting spot to enjoy the bird life in the towering Ponderosa pines and Incense Cedar that shelter her home. Mature native oaks (Garry oak and Kellogg oak) are native to the site and host birds and squirrels. A variety of native shrubs from Plant Oregon were introduced to the site in 2023 to improve bird habitat.
Julie Kierstead’s garden is a testament to what can be accomplished in a few short years. There is no doubt that her long knowledge of plant material and careful site analysis definitely gave her an advantage. But we are blessed in the Rogue Valley to have numerous plant nurseries with knowledgeable staff to help the novice make selections. Get started on-line with excellent resources provided by the US Forest Service – Native Gardening Guide as well as the OSU Extension Service – Native Plant Gardening for information pertinent to your specific micro-climate. Fall to early spring are the best times to plant, when the temperatures are cooler and hopefully we have more rain. Your patience and hard work will be greatly rewarded.
Red and white flowered Jupiter’s beard, seaside daisy, Penstemon ‘Margarita BOP’, santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus). Faux bois chairs from Artist and Garden in Jacksonville.
In the meantime, take a hike and get inspired! At higher elevations where the temperatures are cooler there are still meadow flowers to enjoy well into summer. Check out the Ashland Hiking Club as well as the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy for organized adventures featuring our native wildflowers. You won’t be disappointed!
References:
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/ec-1577-gardening-oregon-native-plants-west-cascades “Gardening with Oregon Native Plants West of the Cascades”
Submitted by Elizabeth Essex with appreciation to Julie Kierstead for sharing numerous photographs, making the selection difficult. And to Viki Ashford of the Ashland Garden Club for the recommendation.
The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month from spring through fall for more than twenty-five years. Nominations are gratefully received at gardenofthemonth@ashlandorgardenclub.org . Readers are invited to check out the club’s website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.
Sacred Datura, planted from seed. Flowers open in a half hour window from bud stage to full bloom at dusk, they have a heavenly aroma and last for a day.
The amaranth, also started from seed, have tassels that are growing fast and getting longer every day. Amaranth is a great plant to let go to seed for wintering birds.
Canna lilies are putting on new shoots.
The Zinnia patch in doing well with some new Benary’s Giant varieties.
