Garden Tour

Explore eight extraordinary gardens in Tigard and Tualatin featuring an exciting mix of styles and purposes.  From the whimsical to the classic, look for ideas on plants, water features, edible gardens, amazing art, and kid friendly design elements.

Visit the new Healing Garden at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center, created as a quiet space for patients and their visitors to share and enjoy.  Presentations on the therapeutic uses of the garden will be made throughout the day.  Learn more about planting a successful edible garden at Tualatin Elementary's Sustainable Garden.  Shop the Art Show and Plant Sale.

Garden hosts and OSU Extension Service Master Gardeners will be available at each garden to provide garden expertise and insight. Come rain or shine and be inspired by the work of some of our community's most talented gardeners and local artists.

Be sure to Like us on Facebook at The Foundation's Seeding Our Future Garden Tour.

Enjoy the gardens from 2010.  Coming mid-May: A sneak preview of the 2011 gardens.

Sneak Preview

A Children's Garden

A unique enhancement to learning, this school garden provides students with the opportunity to experience the basics of mulching, composting and water run-off management while reaping the benefits from their own veggie garden. OSU Master Gardener and designer Paul Taylor, facilitated the students and volunteer crew in the planning, building and tending which has led to Salad Wednesdays in the school cafeteria with spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and edible flowers from the garden contributing to the salad bowl. The garden becomes an outdoor classroom when teachers incorporate it in science, writing and math curriculum. An Eagle Scout candidate coordinated and built the garden shed centerpiece. Various components of the garden hardscape are re-claimed building materials form the former Tualatin Elementary School. The entrance gate, fencing, culverts (up ended for planters) and brick paths are all salvaged from the old 1930's school.

Woodland Whimsy

A cheerful front porch provides support for show-stopping window boxes overflowing with colorful annuals. A turn toward the back reveals peonies, vegetables basking in a sunny spot and a first glimpse of the truly park-like setting. The dramatic expanse of lawn, flanked by giant firs was proportioned to accommodate volleyball games. A woodland stream bordered by ferns, lady's mantle and hostas cascading into a koi pond might fool you into thinking this area is a naturally occurring stroke of luck. It actually was conceived and built by the owner. A beautiful arbor expertly crafted by one of the owners joins a family-built garden shed nestled near a corner. Five varieties of grapes, a 'bendover' plum tree, hydrangeas, variegated iris and ligularia, join the cast of garden surprises. A keen eye will find an band of gnomes some new, most vintage hidden amongst the leaves.

Featured Artist: Alan Honc and Vickie Green

Northwest, Naturally

A meandering flagstone path set in gravel defines your journey through this idyllic Pacific Northwest garden and its selection of native shrubs and trees. The bordering properties all enjoy the shared canopy of a grove of massive limbed-up Douglas firs making dappled shade the order of the day. Huckleberry, rainbow leucothoe, ferns, pacific wax myrtle, and vine maples all happily co-exist beneath the giant firs. Weather permitting, daily use of the space was one goal of the homeowners. Garden designer Paul Taylor addressed the homeowners desire to extend their living space with an amply proportioned deck. With its wonderful tree house effect and an arbor to frame the view, it is the perfect vantage point for watching the many species of birds that frequent this garden. The owners have infused their personal touch with cozy seating, fun garden art, found objects and pots brimming with colorful annuals.

Featured Artists: La La La Jewelry and Richard Armstrong

Mid-Century Magic

Catch the graphic touches and the Mad Men vibe as you arrive at this classic mid-century home and garden. A crisp boxwood labyrinth greets you at the street as you take the side entrance. Pass espaliered fruit trees, bountiful vegetables, herbs and playful topiaries that welcome you into the garden for the first glimpse of its multi-mountain views. Water bowls, a bubbling fountain, and lily pond invite closer inspection revealing an amazing array of tropical beauties including red banana, cardoon, cannas, gunnera, and asian lilies. A charmingly rusted 'sphere of gears' and one-of-a-kind sedum chair draw visitors across the elegant lawn to the swimming pool and patio complete with mod white chairs and fire pit. A secret dining spot, awaits those who venture to the upper deck for the best opportunity to admire the panoramic view.

Colorful Exuberance

A parade of perennials fully outfitted in colorful profusion march up the walk to the red front door. Not to be outdone, annuals compliment and fill in with their own nonstop show, some in pots, others in the ground. A stroll through the arbor reveals the shady side garden overflowing with astilbe, ligularia, hostas, foxglove and brunnera giving the space a peaceful, almost painterly, quality. A wonderful touch of reality - a children's play structure - is right at home in this family's garden. Their inviting deck, well appointed for both casual dinners and fortunate visitors, provides a front row seat to the adjacent green space and the neighborhood’s nibbling deer. The back garden also is home to an Autumn Gold ginkgo tree, hydrangeas, Royal Purple smoke tree and Abiqua Drinking Gourd hosta.

Featured Artist: Chris Keylock Wiliams and Burt Walter

Internationally Water-wise

Born, with a shovel in his hand, this gardener has been playing with plants since he was a child growing up in Burundi, Africa. Owner of garden design/build firm Winterbloom, his extensive, water-wise collection of colorful and unusual plant varieties is not only a nod to his early surroundings but also serves as his personal test garden. Alstromeria in every color, golden heathers, ice plant, and kniphofia are just a few of the varied plants lining the rock and gravel pathways. Notice the creative drainage solutions that direct rainfall through the beds, and be amazed at how lush a garden can appear with minimal watering. Backlit red begonias glow like fire while fuchsias, hydrangeas, penstemons, and hardy geraniums create a rich tapestry. A Ville de Lyon clematis weaves its way up through a clerodendron as you climb the stairs to the spacious flower-filled deck. Pass the hardy palms and banana tree on your way to the vegetable “room” that includes hardy macadamia and Asian pear.

Featured Artist: Jen Ellsworth

Artist's Retreat

In the owner's words, his challenge was to create a meandering environment from a small rectangular space. This enticing, private retreat - a perfect extension of this home's living space - is the dramatic result of an artist who exchanges his paint brush for a plant palette. The elegant outdoor rooms are defined by a pleasing mix of flagstone, brick, tile and cobblestone anchored by strikingly planted pots. An abundance of roses enhance a grand arbor and an espaliered alee' provide architectural interest. A variegated golden hosta, Painter’s Palette persicaria and hardy fuchsia nestled beside the pond is one of many stunning plant combinations found throughout this garden. The maturing katsura, kousa dogwood and over-all lushness belie this garden's relative youth of just 5 years.

Featured Artist: John Herbst

The Healing Garden

This very young garden is a sanctuary for visitors, patients and staff from the busy hospital environment where they can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. The butterfly garden, Pacific Northwest garden, perennial garden and alpine garden are intended to be spaces where patients can rehabilitate and participate in a nationally recognized horticultural therapy program. The garden is a life-affirming place. As you stroll through its grounds, take a moment to use all your senses to refresh body and mind.

Gardens Wanted for 2012 Tour

If you know of a garden that is too lovely to keep secret, including your own, please tell us about it! Gardens should lie within or close to the 97223, 97224, or 97062 zip code areas. Chosen a year in advance, gardens are selected to ensure representation across the school district, showcase a variety of garden features, and represent gardeners of all ages and skill levels. For more information please contact Paul Taylor at 503-679-3086 or PaulTaylorOCNP@aol.com.