Lovely Day for Portland Area Gardens
Tasha King photographing a drift of fawn lilies
Last Sunday, eight of us headed up to the Portland area for a day of garden visits. While the weather was overcast and gloomy when we met at the Sebring Garden in Eugene, as we drove north, the weather steadily improved, blessing us with a wonderful warm spring day for our trip. It didn’t cloud up and start sprinkling until we headed back down the freeway at the end of the day. Perfect timing!
We started our day at Elk Rock Garden at Bishop’s Close (www.elkrockgarden.com), just north of Lake Oswego, and one of the hidden gems of the Portland area. The garden was as beautiful as I remembered. It was first built by Peter Kerr around World War 1, making it nearly 100 years old, and was given by his daughters to the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon with the stipulation that it be open to the public. It contains an amazing collection of some of the grandest trees you’ll ever see in a garden. Rather than high maintenance perennial borders, it is mostly filled with mature woody plants. Their fresh spring foliage and flowers color the grounds in an elegant manner. Many of the trees were clearly chosen for their attractive bark, and there is an amazing variety of foliage texture from both deciduous trees and conifers.
Some of the group admiring a handsome specimen of Parrotia persica at Bishops Close
Many of the woody plants were ones we’ve grown or seen in pots at garden centers but could hardly recognize in their mature state. Several of us were particularly taken with a handsome specimen of Chinese fighazel (Sycopsis sinensis) with beautiful bark and leaves and an attractive multi-branched growth habit. Beneath the trees and shrubs were easy-care carpets of Anemone nemorosa, Erythronium oregonum and other native wildflowers, and various species of Epimedium. The 13-acre estate sits on a slope above the river with a fabulous view out to Mt. Hood. It is hard to imagine the city of Portland is so close while wandering around this peaceful refuge.
Ginny Maffit showing us blooming Darmera
From there it is just a hop, skip, and a jump to Berry Botanic Garden (berrybot.org). Its diminishing financial situation has forced the garden to be put up for sale, so we wanted to see it one last time, and for some of us, for the first and last time. Alas, its difficult financial state has meant that there is no longer a paid gardener, and sadly, the once fabulous garden is showing signs of neglect. There are still many choice plants in the rock garden and woodland areas, but horsetail and other weeds have infected most of the beds. Portland NARGS member Ginny Maffitt took time out from her busy schedule to give us a special guided tour and pointed out many of the wonderful plants that remain. Several beautiful Kalmiopsis fragrans were in perfect bloom. This is a rare native from the North Umpqua area in Douglas County. An unusual white form of another rare native, Synthyris stellata, also caught my eye.There were some beautiful drifts of Fritillaria meleagris and Primula denticulata. The troughs are attractively arranged and housed some interesting plants including a recumbent species of Cassiope I’d sure like to try. We got to look at the propagating greenhouse which had a whole corner of wonderful pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.). Just outside was a really interesting experimental roof garden set up. It was divided into different sections each with a different soil mix and different types of plants. One section had Lewisia, others had Sedum, and one even had gentians. What a wonderful thing it would be to have dazzling Lewisias blooming on your roof!
trough area at Berry Botanic Garden
Our last stop was Wild Ginger Farm (www.wildgingerfarm.com) in Beavercreek. Truls & Emma Jensen often sell at NARGS events and regional plant sales, but none of us had been to their nursery. We were warmly greeted by Truls and his three happy dogs Kobe, Mokie, and Lucy. There were a number of unusual plants in their nursery including many species of Penstemon and Eriogonum, lots of Lewisia cotyledon just starting to bloom, and some great Arisaema with their wild looking flowers. None of us went home empty handed!