A walk around my spring garden

Spring is doing its best to try and make me forget about the damage of winter. I appreciate the effort and I'm enjoying the heck out of it. But I'm still feeling the burn! That said I want to share with you some of the good things happening in the garden right now.

New growth on the daphniphyllum is always bright and gorgeous. Below is the variegated plant, Daphniphyllum macropodum 'Ki Midori Nakafu'—the leaves start out chartreuse and as they mellow the variegation shows up.

And this the straight up Daphniphyllum macropodum...(no variegation).

Another shot of the variegated version, with flowers (they never get much better than that). I had a third plant, non variegated, but was in a container and it looks like the winter storm was too much for it. Bummer.

Doing my annual cut back on the Akebia longeracemosa 'Victor's Secret' (it wants to own the entire garden, plus the one next door) I noticed the fantastic lichen on the fence. 

The fence was built in early 2014, and I still think of it as new. In reality 10 years have passed.

Here's the akebia. I love the foliage almost as much as the flowers (which are on the way).

In the same general area is the Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida’ (Cutleaf Emperor Oak), also dating to 2014 for when it was planted in my garden.

This entire area was newly planted that spring, and then the 2014 Portland Fling happened that July. I look back on how new everything was then and cringe at the fact almost 100 people were here to see the baby plants!

Speaking of baby, the new quercus foliage is adorable, covered with peach fuzz.

One of the mahonia that is recovering from the winter die-back, M. x media 'Marvel'...

Neither of my Schefflera delavayi missed a beat over the winter, and the new growth is always spectacular. 

Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron' with a pyrrosia planting that spent all winter hanging on the fence, except for the week of horrid temperatures when it was tucked into the greenhouse.

Another view of 'Night Heron'.

Fertile fronds of Struthiopteris spicant, aka Blechnum spicant, aka deer fern.

I'm so thrilled that my Convallaria majalis 'Aureovariegata' (variegated lily of the valley) is bulking up. Thankfully the foliage is more important to me than the flowers, as I have only two stems of blooms.

This photo is a couple weeks old now (taken 4/14) and things have already changed, but I love the combo of new fronds on the Adiantum venustum (Himalayan maidenhair) with the Veratrum californicum and Podophyllum peltatum.

Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern) with it's spectacular brown outline—which only lasts a few days before it fades to green.

The fine black lines of Adiantum venustum fronds.

New pyrrosia leaves/fronds are adorable, don't you think?

Paris quadrifolia

Epimedium × rubrum, this plant looked great even after the winter storm, thus I added five more to the garden.

Clematis 'Pixie' blooms.

Blechnum penna-marina, aka Austroblechnum penna-marina, aka alpine water fern

Magnolia  laevifolia

Such a fabulous small flower.

Speaking of small flowers, Saxifraga × urbium 'Aureopunctata' is sending up tiny little flowers all over the garden. Hundreds of them. I am trying so hard to like them and not be annoyed by them. Somedays it works, others—not so much.

Aquilegia viridiflora Chocolate Soldier’

Pacific Coast Iris hybrid ‘Wildberry Shortcake’

Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow' (L) with the blooms of Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Series' (R).

That lewisia again.

And another, so VIBRANT it wants to break the camera every time. NoID.

Last shot, this from inside the house. I cut back my Rhododendron laramie in February, it was leggy and suffering damage from the winter storm.. Naturally I stuck the bits I cut in water, and what do you know, they've pushed out new foliage. No roots, but definitely responsible for weeks of "in a vase" enjoyment. Plants are amazing!

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

No. That is not a funnel holder.

We took down the walls of the shade pavilion greenhouse on April 21st, or as Andrew had taken to calling it, the plant fort. It's such a good feeling, Having all of the garden open again, even if it looks a little empty under there...

Photo from last summer, to show the way I like to see it.

As we were working Andrew caught site of a funnel (used as a planter) that I'd stuck into one of the holes on the metal top of the step, that's when he said the words that I've used to title this post "No. That is not a funnel holder." (I'd been walking around looking for a bit of ground to push it into, where it would be out of the way, and I swear there was a light bulb above my head when I dropped it into the step hole).

I don't think he was so much opposed to the idea of a funnel, as he was anything that would obscure the step. What he wasn't factoring in was that I'd successfully grouped plants at the edges of the step last year. Nobody tripped, nobody was hurt...

Why should funnels be any different? (2023 version above, 2024 as it is currently below).

So in case you didn't get where I was going with this, I'm all in with funnels as planters on the step. It's just too perfect!

There's one filled with a begonia that I received as B. sp. UI64 Michael Wicledon Collection that has been bumping around the garden for a couple of years, it's not fully hardy so it spent the winter months on my desk in the basement.

Hosta 'Cameo'—a miniature hosta with a mature size of  just 4" x 8"—was already in another funnel planter. It spent last summer tucked into a fluted planter with other shade lovers (this planter).

Since two funnels didn't seem quite right I decided to take the cactus that had been in my original funnel planter out (the step [aka funnel holder] is not in a sunny spot, so not suitable for a cactus), and put in something new, a semi shade lover. Three seemed like the perfect number. This one is a vintage motor-oil funnel with a flexible tube attached to the bottom. After years of being used as a planter the tube had rusted and was ready to break apart with just a twist of my wrist.

I looked around at my assembled crew of possibilities (all the plants I've bought that don't yet have homes) and decided this sweet little Pyrrosia davidii from Far Reaches Farm was just the thing.

Once I'd planted it up and grouped the trio for their photo-shoot, I realized there was a already a third; this one much larger (too big for the step holes) and planted up with a Pyrrosia polydactyla. That funnel is tucked into a very heavy metal base Andrew found for me.

So, back to the funnels in the step—the step which is NOT a funnel holder.

I love them.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop’s Close, now home to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon

Back in January of 2023 I wrote about visiting the Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop's Close for what I feared might be the last time. The property had been put up for sale and it looked prime for a developer to buy the large parcel and divide it into smaller lots.

Thankfully (surprisingly) that's not what happened! From the Spring 2024 edition of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Quarterly magazine: "Elk Rock Garden is the legacy of Peter Kerr, a grain merchant originally from Scotland, who moved to the land in 1893 and purchased it in 1905. The 1916 manor house was built for Kerr and his family on a site selected for its Mount Hood view. Although Kerr hired John Olmstead of the Olmstead Brothers landscape architecture firm to evaluate the site and Portland’s first superintendent of parks to develop a planting scheme, it is understood that Kerr largely followed his own inclinations in creating what now may be the oldest private estate garden in the Pacific Northwest. It features an extensive plant collection, including rare and native trees, shrubs, and perennials, many of which are labeled. A winding stream, edged with lush plantings, ferns, and moss-covered rock, is a particular highlight."

"After Peter Kerr’s 1957 death, his family made an endowed gift of the estate to the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. The diocese occupied the two-story mansion for more than six decades, a period during which the public was able to enjoy the magnificent gardens. In late 2022, the diocese announced that it was selling the property, then known as Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop’s Close. For several months, the future of the garden appeared to be uncertain. Then in July 2023, Kerr descendants, through the Elk Rock Garden Foundation, purchased the nine-acre estate, saving the historic garden and generously ensuring public access to this botanical treasure."

My visits have always included a look at these trough planters that came to Elk Rock Garden after the closing of another local garden that I was never able to visit, the Berry Botanic Garden.

As as you may have inferred from the title of this post, the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon has a new home at the garden. This is very exciting news for society members! The HPSO has moved offices a few times over it's 28-year history, most recently to a less than inspiring (but affordable!) office off a main street in South Portland. Now the offices (and someday the lending library) are in the manor house at the garden. It's just such a perfect match. 

My visits to this garden have always seemed to take place in the fall and winter, after all spring and summer are just too busy in my own garden and often include travel plans. In February this part of the garden is alive with color as the hamamelis (witch hazel) are in bloom.

It was such a change to see the trees all leafed out and the area alive with spring green.

The reason for my April visit was a tour with the HPSO Eastside gardener's group. We all descended upon the garden, had a good walk about, and then met up inside the home for a tour and tea. Yes, inside the home! After visiting for over 10 years and wondering about the home I was finally able to go inside!

But first, a few more photos in the garden. I usually catch this Wisteria sinensis 'Alba' after it's lost its leaves and is just a gnarly old trunk. This visit I got to see (and smell) the flowers!

The Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' here look better than in many gardens around town (winter damage).

Pacific Coast iris

This pedestal (and it's twin across the pathway) is usually topped by an urn, recently planted with a sculptural dark-leaved astelia. 

Well, at least it's still nearby.

Looking across the front parking area...

Maybe Rhododendron 'Medusa'? A Facebook friend posted a photo of his blooming plant by that name and it looked quite similar.

The house from across the garden.

Loropetalum chinense 'Pipa's Red'

I couldn't decide which photo I liked better, so you get both.

Even though I live in the land of ginormous rhododendrons it still inspires awe when I see a house-sized one.

Much smaller than the rhododendron, this pieris was certainly just as impressive, with that blood-red foliage.

A look east across the Willamette River towards Mt Hood, that's a million dollar (+) view.

Laburnum

Their Rhododendron sinograde was looking quite sad too (like mine and many others here in the PNW), still, it bloomed.

I didn't catch the name of this purple rhody, it's color change from the typical shades of pink was appreciated.

Okay, a couple of photos from inside the house. First off, the front entry door is behind me, but the hallway shoots straight through to another door that opens next to the huge white wisteria I shared earlier at the back of the house.

It's a door to that opens to the million dollar view of Mt Hood in the distance (it's there, look closely).

The dining room with its long table and wide mantel.

As a person with a background in historic lighting I couldn't help but be horrified at the many florescent box lights that had been mounted throughout the house. There were several questionable choices made throughout the years as updates happened. What were they thinking!?! 

Ending on a better note, this piece of furniture (which had me thinking of a baptismal font—after all the mansion had very recently been the home of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon—but no doubt I'm wrong) held a great selection of houseplants in a sunny window. 

A big thank you to the Kerr descendants for keeping the property from being sold off and developed. You've preserved a piece of your own history as well as one for all of Portland. I have no doubt there are great things ahead for the match-up of the Elk Rock Garden Foundation and the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, If you'd like to visit the garden it's open (free of charge) Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. More info here.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.