Garden Tour 2008

Enjoy a sneak preview of the beautiful gardens selected for the 2008 Seeding Our Future Garden Tour & Art Show.

Purchase Garden Tour tickets for $20 each.

Salmon-pink Alstroemeria, golden oregano, ‘Moonraker’ cape fuchsia, and pink roses pop against sky-high Douglas firs. ‘Avalanche’ evergreen clematis scrambles across the front of the home, as if leaping out of one blossom-filled border and racing towards another. Colorful blooms and rustic garden art fill the sunny side garden. Behind the waist-high picket fence lies a garden of a quieter nature. Blue-violet hydrangeas, ‘June Bride’ hardy fuchsia, hostas, astilbe, and flowering maple reside near the fence and under a green-leaved Japanese maple. A Tole-painted, pale blue bench sits tucked against a hedge; nearby rhododendrons and lily-of-the-valley shrubs provide early spring color. Ornamental grasses flow around the edges of a bubbling stone fountain that fills the air with gentle sounds. Rustic birdhouses and feeders provide for feathered visitors, viewable from a two-tiered deck.

Earth, rock, leaf, petal, water, and metal meld into an art-filled, welcoming retreat. The gardener’s quest for a seasonally interesting, wildlife-friendly, and easily maintained garden is guided by her passion for foliage, bark, and berries first, and flowers second. Almost 200 feet of rock retaining walls hold garden gems, including ‘Quicksilver’ hebe, paperbark maple, ‘Sutherland Gold’ elderberry, ‘Gentsch White’ hemlock, and ‘Sundance’ Mexican orange. The owner is a native plant author and advocate, so her garden boasts many natives, including hairy manzanita, twinflower, Lewisia, and star-flowered false Solomon’s seal. A pond and waterfall, built by Hughes Water Gardens, and a lean-to greenhouse, built by the gardener’s husband, are among the garden’s newest additions. National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat. Featured in Sunset, Nov ‘02, The Oregonian HGNW, Oct ‘04, The Times, Sept ’04. Kym Pokorny, The Oregonian’s garden writer, will be on hand the day of the tour.

A forgettable, almost inaccessible backyard presented daunting challenges to these homeowners. A two-story tall, weed-filled slope connected the backyard to the front garden. The shallow backyard offered no sanctuary or pleasure, and no opportunity to enjoy the neighboring greenbelt. Enter Christine Ellis, from Gregg & Ellis Landscape Designs, who transformed the seemingly insurmountable obstacles into an inviting, enjoyable garden. Generous stone steps gently zigzag past ferns, hostas, fuchsias, and other gems tucked in among large boulders. A circular, furnished patio at the gravel path’s end beckons one to pause and admire hydrangeas, purple-leaved and variegated elderberries, and vine maples nestled against the woodsy backdrop. Two decks offer delightful, leafy views.

Featured in Landscape Construction, January 2006. Christine Ellis will be on site the day of the tour.

NOTE: Sure-footed tour guests only. Access to stairs and back garden will be regulated for safety.

Elementary School Garden

Woodward Gardens, an outdoor extension of Mary Woodward Elementary School’s Science Program, provides hands-on learning experiences in art, mathematics, science, social studies and writing to its students, while meeting statewide educational benchmarks. The garden’s ecosystems also offer opportunities to study the environment, ecology, horticulture, geology, wildlife, and to explore career opportunities. Students learn to propagate and grow plants in the garden and in the greenhouse, install and maintain wildlife feeders and nest boxes, and compost at the on-site compost-demonstration garden. Cultural studies are encouraged through the study of the native plants associated with those cultures. Students are guided by Garden Coordinator Nancy Ross, parent volunteers and “Gardeners in Residence” Jo Noren and Michael O’Loughlin (2007-2008 grant funding from The Foundation for Tigard Tualatin Schools).

Certified National Wildlife Foundation Schoolyard Habitat. OSU 4-H Wildlife Steward member school. Featured in Sunset, Sept 2003.

Visit the website of the Mary Woodward Elementary School garden.

This garden gives new meaning to the phrase “chewing up the scenery.” More than 45 fruit trees, bountiful berries, vegetables, herbs, and exotics such as olives, lemons, limes, and pineapple guava are on the menu of this scrumptious garden feast. Despite the culinary emphasis, aesthetic beauties aren’t given short shrift. Fifty-five heirloom roses (and counting) decorate the garden, along with hydrangeas, boxwood, lavender, hebes, and vines. And all of it is grown organically. A greenhouse and potting bench, and numerous mason bee nests (our native pollinators) support garden endeavors. A grape arbor’s cool retreat offers respite and sustenance to this “gentlewoman farmer.”

The gardener is a member of Home Orchard Society; she raises mason bees for HOS (mason bees are dormant in June). Vern Nelson, The Oregonian’s HGNW Hungry Gardener columnist will be on site the day of the tour.

Whimsy is at play in this garden, sheltered under towering conifers. From the front garden’s white picket fence to the hand-painted Green Man sculptures that peer from among foliage along the back fence, this garden is chock-full of flowers, color, and fun. Multicolored roses mingle with clematis, their blooms dangling above phlox, lavender-blue lobelia, candy-pink geraniums and white wrought-iron garden chairs. Paths and decks, some of which are painted to resemble piano and xylophone keys, lead visitors through the garden. In the back garden, a white gazebo borders a river of brightly colored impatiens spanned by a cheery footbridge. ‘Limelight’ and old-fashioned mophead hydrangeas, ferns, goatsbeard, garden art, and fanciful touches sprinkled throughout delight the eye and tickle the funny bone. This gardener’s joy, passion, and enthusiasm are proof that gardening keeps you young at heart.

Victorian enchantment meets country charm. Lush lawn leads to an intimate stone and blue star creeper carpeted courtyard, flanked by a pair of urns planted with boxwoods. Hydrangeas, clematis, roses, and ‘Hot Lips’ salvia surround a bench; white lattice accented with burgundy and slate-gray provides a fitting backdrop. An old-fashioned, wrought-iron lamppost, small trees, and a formal pond encircled with more roses and hydrangeas, iris, and annuals complete the picture. A shrub-shaded path opens into a leafy retreat filled with romantic flourishes, birdhouses, hydrangeas, hardy fuchsias, ferns, and vines. Wicker furniture, piled with cushions and surrounded by flower-filled containers and favorite objects, beckons from the deck. A garden swing, reinvented from old monkey bars, and two Adirondack chairs invite relaxation. The side yard contains a cleverly designed potting bench that transforms into a cold frame in winter.

Despite being a garden designer by trade, this garden’s owner isn’t afraid to bend or even break design rules to bring forth his personal interpretation of what a garden can be. Foliage interest and quirky vignettes abound. Deep, lush garden beds provide privacy, space to test new plants, and opportunities to discover novel combinations. ‘Diablo’ ninebark, bronze fennel, coreopsis, Alaska blue willow, and euphorbia softly screen the front garden. Plant passions spill over into the adjacent neighborhood garden, where roses, coreopsis, daylilies, gaura, and heliotrope provide color and fragrance. White flowers, including climbing ‘Iceberg’ rose, and white- or silver-variegated plants, enhance nighttime enjoyment. Bouquets can be cut almost year-round: hydrangeas and cardoons in summer, and nandina foliage and berries in winter. Funky garden art, old doors, and a London plane tree’s fascinating, flaking bark are favorite features.

A welcoming front garden, waterfall, and pond greet those who venture past a berm thickly planted with white-barked birches, ferns, hardy geraniums, ornamental grasses, and shrubs. Along the narrow, sloping side garden, collections of watering cans provide pleasing vignettes, and brightly painted containers spill over with fuchsia, ferns and annuals. Red-flowering currant, rhododendrons, western red cedar, and bamboo blend with tall trees in the adjoining green space to create a shady, cool retreat as perfect for birds as it is for the family and their dog. On the second-story deck, flowers and foliage in sizzling hues cozy up to a pair of Adirondack chairs: a perfect place to bask in sunshine. Throughout the garden, bold color and contemporary touches provide a vibrant beat and imbue found objects with updated twists. The front garden was designed and installed by Matt Sander Landscaping Inc.

Gardens Wanted for 2009 Tour

If you know of a garden that is too lovely to keep secret, including your own, please tell us about it! Gardens must lie within the 97223, 97224, or 97062 zip code areas. Chosen a year in advance, gardens are selected to ensure representation across the district, showcase a variety of garden features, and represent gardeners of all ages and skill levels. Download the 2009 application form.

Please contact Lisa Albert at 503-431-4024
or info@foundation4smartkids.org.