Monthly Archives: March 2017

First tour of the season

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Gaiety Hollow, Garden, Lord & Schryver, Spring, Tours

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This past week was a whirlwind of activity at Gaiety Hollow. We had our first tour scheduled for Saturday and we wanted the gardens to look their best. Many, many thanks to the volunteers who put in over 60 hours of work to make the gardens shine.  Carpenters worked on the Pergola and cut plywood for guests and volunteers to walk on to avoid damaging the lawn. Garden volunteers filled up four large City compost bins with debris and needed to stash extra in the Service Yard.

Every day, we clean up more Camellia blossoms. You finish raking and turn around and there’s another one!
The morning of the tour, the gardens looked fresh and clean.

3_25 morning

Bobbie placed photos around the gardens so that guests could view the gardens in different seasons or years past.

3_25 tour

A sampling of camellias float in the pool.

3_25 camellia blossoms

And daffodils and grape hyacinths were at their finest.

3_28 grape hyacinths

We have more Garden Tours and Open Gardens coming up! The first Open Garden is April 9th, 1-4pm. More information on the website. We hope to see you in the gardens.

Deepwood: what’s blooming now 3/21

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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A few photos from Deepwood this morning. Many of the Gaiety Hollow plants are repeated at Deepwood. Here are a few new plants and a few that were too pretty no to include a second time.

In the Tea House Garden.

Bergenia
Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’
Spirea
Hyacinthus
Anemone
Pulmonaria
Pulmonaria
Ranunculus

Walking down to the the Scroll Garden.

Chaenomeles (quince)
Magnolia
Erythronium (lamb’s tongue)

Near the entrance from Mission St.

Clusiana tulip
Skimmia japonica
Arabis

Camellias by the house foundation

Oemleria cerasiformis (Indian plum), a native plant common throughout the Deepwood natural areas.

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Gaiety Hollow: what’s blooming now 3/21

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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In an effort to help our docent program answer questions about plants in the gardens, I am going to periodically post a stream of photos of flowers and plants identified. I hope that some of these photos might entice you to visit the gardens.

(Click on or mouse-over the image for the name of the plant.)

In the front garden and West Allee.

Prunus (cherry)
Camellia japonica
Euphorbia
Daphne odora
Skimmia japonica
Pieris japonica

Scattered throughout the gardens are hellebores.

Helleborus
Helleborus

In the Flower Garden.

Bellis perenis (Bellis daisy)
Narcissus (daffodil)
Hyacinthus (hyacinth)
Narcissus (daffodil)
Leucojum (snowflake)
Erysimum (wallflower)
Muscari neglectum (grape hyacinth)

In the Drying Garden.

Viburnum bodnantense
Primula (primrose)
Hyacinthus (hyacinth)

A Wet Spring…

18 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in Bill Noble, Drying Garden, Gaiety Hollow, Garden, House, Lord & Schryver, Spring, spring annuals

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I was in the garden today…dodging raindrops on the way into a meeting…and I reflected on how beautiful this garden is…even on the very dreariest of wet spring days…

I noted some boxwood trimming had begun…

the pergola construction was well underway…

making us glad that this structure will be there providing shade next summer…like it did last summer…and for many summers to come…

the rain has helped the new lawn in the drying garden flourish…

and once inside…the fire was going and Bobbie was welcoming Bill Noble to the meeting.

Bill is here in Oregon lecturing on the Cornish Colony in New Hampshire.  His lecture in Salem is this coming Sunday (March 19th) at 2:00 in the Dye House at the Willamette Heritage Center.    I KNOW you won’t want to miss this one.   Bill formerly was with the Garden Conservancy and now works as a consultant to many famous gardens, including our own.  He is a knowledgeable and lively person, pictured like this for publicity purposes…

and here are my meeting notes…

but today we had a little fun…

See you Sunday!

Sunshine and volunteers

11 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in Bill Noble, Gaiety Hollow, Garden, Lord & Schryver, Spring, spring annuals, Vintage Photos

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Yesterday felt like the first true day of spring. The sun was shining and we could see blue blue sky between the white fluffy clouds. For the first time this season, the volunteer gardeners were able to get some work done at Gaiety Hollow. Not only did they finish planting all the spring annuals, but they also tackled the hellebore leaves. What a weight off my shoulders!

Primrose
Pansies
Bellis daisy
Hellebores
Grape hyacinth

The carpenters were also out working in the sunshine. One crew on the Pergola; one crew repairing the garage doors. If we get a spate of nice weather, we hope that both projects can be finished before the tour and open gardens begin.

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Chris and Tom work on the Pergola

In other news, we are really looking forward to Bill Noble‘s visit this coming week. Before starting his own consulting business, Bill was Director of Preservation at the Garden Conservancy and worked closely with noted gardens such as Longue Vue, the Gardens at Alcatraz, the Ruth Bancroft Garden, the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden, and Hollister House Garden. He has been a great resource for the L&S Conservancy for several years. He will  be meeting with the board and committees this coming Friday and Saturday. And then, on Sunday, March 19, he will give a presentation on the Cornish Colony at 2pm in the WHC Dye House.

Bill

Edith Schryver cut her teeth at the Cornish Colony while working for Ellen Biddle Shipman. Shipman was one of the foremost designers of her time and known for her formal gardens and lush planting style. She was of the first generation of women to break into the male-dominated landscape architecture profession. There is no doubt of her influence on Edith Schryver.

Charles Platt Garden
Charles Platt Garden
Charles Platt Garden
Charles Platt Garden

 

Don’t miss this presentation! Not only is Bill a dynamic speaker, not only will he tie the Cornish Colony to the story of Edith and Elizabeth, but…There will be birthday cake!

Edith’s 116th birthday is on March 20th, but we are celebrating a day early with everyone who attends Bill’s lecture. Come for an energetic and lush presentation, stay for the cake! We hope to see you there. Don’t forget to register online.