Our hearts go out to those affected by the devastating wildfires in the Santiam Canyon. As many of you know, I grew up here and attended Cascade High School, not far from the Santiam River where it flows out of the Canyon and into the pastoral farms and fields between the hamlets of Aumsville and Turner. I know many people who lost everything in the fires as many of my classmates lived and worked in that area.

I spent many summers up in the Canyon fishing with my Dad, resulting in my lifelong love of the pursuit. We had a favorite fishing spot just outside of the town of Idanha that was always good for a stringer full of rainbow trout. The season opener each May found us among the towering Doug firs, delicate vine maples, and verdant ferns that lined the river canyon. Many a day was spent jumping off the cliffs at Elkhorn into the clear, cold waters of the Little North Fork with friends during those endless childhood summers. I’m thankful for those memories.

We lost some historical icons in these fires that are irreplaceable.

In June, 1929, Dr. Skiff asked Lord & Schryver to provide a design plan for the resort. Their detailed Landscape Development Plan of Breitenbush Resort tract divided the space into 5 areas. Visit our storymap to learn about Lord & Schryver’s work at the hot springs. Scroll to garden #27.

Sadly, reports say the Historic lodge and soaking pools were mostly destroyed in the recent massive wildfires, despite valiant efforts by the firefighters.

Another devasting loss of historical value was the Thetford Lodge, the summer home of Charles A. Sprague, someone that Edith and Elizabeth may have known socially.

After his death, Sprague donated the Lodge to Willamette University. When my sister was a recruiter for Willamette’s Atkinson School of Business, she was able to reserve the lodge for several days each year, often on the Thanksgiving Holiday. Once while visiting, I found a signed copy of Chet Atkin’s greatest hits on vinyl inscribed “To Mr. Sprague, thank you for the wonderful accommodations, Chet.” We will always have cherished memories of Thetford Lodge.

Although we can’t bring back these historical icons of the Santiam Canyon, going forward I hope we make smart decisions about the environmental changes happening right in front of our eyes.

With deepest sympathies for those who have lost,

Mark

From Elizabeth Lord’s Garden Journal:

August 20, 1936

“Returned from Seal Rock on 15^th; garden looked pretty good. Harlan did watering, outskirts not well done – on the whole not so bad.

Big hole back of white lilac. Delphinium not grown. Place Iris there.

Main walk not bad. Purple Petunias. Flesh Zinnia pumila & [Zinnia elegans] ‘Polar Bear’. Gladiolus. Another year try – blue Ageratum, Pink Zinnias or Yellow and White Petunia. Believe stock could be planted in Reserve garden for picking.”

One really can’t blame Elizabeth and Edith for escaping Salem’s summer heat for the cool ocean breezes.

The late summer flower walk this year with a nod to the journal entries of the 1930’s. The second bloom on the Delphiniums together with colorful heat-loving Cosmos and Zinnias have provided a steady show. Visitors are drawn to the Annabelle Hydrangea with her oversized pom-poms as well as the large Dahlias.

I love mining knowledge and advice from older, more seasoned gardeners. Early in my career I worked beside Jack Poff, Mrs. Berry’s longtime gardener. Jack often rambled on about Mrs. Berry’s persnickty gardening ways. I learned it to my advantage to let Jack ramble on as I always picked up a nugget of advice. That ability to extract little nuggets of knowledge has served me well throughout my career. Like the Greek philosopher Diogenes said, “We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.”

As the busy work in the garden starts to wind down, we look forward to cooler autumn temperatures as we begin the fall cleanup process. In the meantime, we enjoy the many blossoms and fruits of our spring and early summer labor.

Mark

After vacation, it was back to work finishing up the fall bulb orders for Deepwood and Gaiety Hollow. I had one European company tell me that some bulbs are in short supply this year. This may be due to the early Covid-19 lockdown in Europe and reduced international air travel.

Here is an interesting anecdote from my recent catalog research on recreating Gaiety Hollow’s 1956 historic bulb planting plan. I noticed that Wayside Garden’s 1944 catalog had a tiny quarter-page listing for tulips. In contrast, the years before and after had pages and pages of the ubiquitous bulbs so loved by Edith and Elizabeth.  

It so happens that during the last winter of World War II, the Allied forces participated in the failed Operation Market Garden, otherwise known as the Battle of Arnhem. The Allies attempted to retake the area by the Dutch/German border utilizing paratroopers and ground forces. Ultimately, the Nazis stopped the Allies before the Rhine River, resulting in the deaths of 500 Dutch civilians, 15,000 allied troops and 8,000 Nazis.

The winter of 1944-45, later known as the Hongerwinter or “Dutch Hunger Winter”, found civilians in the famous bulb growing region facing starvation. The population was forced to live on rations of 400-800 calories per day; to survive, people ate grass and tulip bulbs. As the season’s tulip crop had not yet been planted, people turned to tulip bulbs as a carbohydrate-rich food source. Tulip bulbs were promoted by food agencies as a surrogate for potatos, and local newspapers shared recipes for tulip bulb soup, porridge, mashed tulip bulbs, vegetables with tulip bulbs, fried and roasted bulbs, and savory and sweet tulip bulb cookies. 

No matter how bad the current times seem, and even if we have a shortage of tulips this year for the garden display, I feel it’s important to take time to be thankful for what we do have. Times may be tough, but it’s not 1944 and we aren’t having to eat the tulips stored in the Gaiety Hollow garage for the coming planting season. I’m thankful to work at an organization with so many dedicated volunteers and under the leadership of a kind and thoughtful executive director and a board with diverse talents. I’m thankful for my health and the health of my family.   

Mark

I took some time off last week and headed to the coast to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. While there, I took a side trip with my family to visit the Gerdemann Botanic Preserve, a hidden gem of a garden along the Central Oregon Coast just north of Yachats.

The garden was started in 1981 by Jim and Janice Gerdemann as a place to test the hardiness of rare and unusual plants. Jim was a renowned mycologist, with a PhD in plant pathology from UC Berkeley. He studied Rhododendrons as well as other unusually species with a focus on the interaction between mycorrhizae and plants.

After the Gerdemanns passed away, a portion of the property was put into a conservation easement with trails connecting to the neighboring national forest. The house and rest of the gardens are open by appointment only so while I missed them this visit, I plan to return next spring. What a great place to observe and study for those interested in preserving the gardens of Lord and Schryver.

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What a way to preserve a garden legacy! The naturalistic areas are open to the public year-round, the manicured gardens may be viewed on docent led tours, and the home may be rented through Airbnb!

Assuming we are no longer sequestered at home in spring 2021, the Gerdemann Botanic Preserve will be on the volunteer gardeners’ field trip list!

Stay well,

Mark

With temperatures hitting nearly one hundred this week, many of us are yearning for fall. At the Lord and Schryver Conservancy, fall preparation is already underway. We work hard to share the designs of Lord and Schryver by recreating several each year. One area requiring significant prep work is our annual Tulip display.

Remember Gaiety Hollow’s wonderful, early Spring Tulip display planted after a 1934 plan? Recreating the annual flower bulb show takes months of planning, from the proper harvesting and storage of last year’s bulbs, to selecting one of Edith and Elizabeth’s planting plans, finding cultivars and color matches, and placing orders. For 2021, we will be recreating the 1956 bulb planting plan.

Each year brings a new challenge and a design to create. I will be busy pouring through some of the old flower bulb catalogs searching for the appropriate color, height, and character of the 1956 bulb plan to match it as closely as possible. We are lucky that Edith and Elizabeth kept such great records of their home garden displays.

It was a fun week filled with the sound of kids laughing and learning at Gaiety Hollow. Straub Outdoors brought a small group of science summer students to learn about Lord and Schryver, carnivorous plant biology and pollinators in the garden.

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The big oak tree at the top of the West Allee was a hit with the students, and a lot of fun was had dissecting the stomach contents of the Carnivorous Sarracenia purpurea and leucophylla plants that were chock full of insects when viewed under the microscope. The students participated in a pollinator scavenger hunt around the garden as well.

We were pleased to partner with Straub Outdoors to offer this student learning opportunity and hope to work with this organization again in the future. What a great opportunity for the Lord and Schryver Conservancy to be a resource for learning in the community!

Sometimes even the weather doesn’t want to admit that summer is actually here! What an interesting weather pattern we’ve had the past week, from highs in the 90’s, to rainy and in the 50’s…I guess this is Oregon’s way of announcing that summer has truly arrived.

No matter what the weather, Independence Day is rapidly approaching and with it a plethora of flowers!

Elizabeth was a keen observer of the weather and how it effected flowering:

June 28, 1937

“Weather turned hot up to 90 degrees after heavy rain of one week. Garden hurt somewhat by storm. Erigeron lovely. Delphinium nice, but too tall. Center ones front should be taken out. Put Lamartine [Delphinium ‘Lamartine’] in front of Chinese Jar. Take out Hemerocallis along by pink Lupinus.“

Some random garden journal notes from Mark:

At Deepwood, the Phlox in the Teahouse Garden seems early as it pushes into full bloom. Powdery mildew was trying to show up with the alternating heat and rain, so the Azaleas and Phlox received a fungicide treatment to stave it off. The Heliotrope seems to be struggling, despite being from the same batch that has done so well at Gaiety Hollow. This is the never-ending challenge to a horticulturalist…some plants do so well while others, despite the coddling and attention, just decide to up and die.

At Gaiety Hollow, the Reserve Garden fence work continues with a reinforcement post set in the fence panel. The temperature seems to have moderated and we look forward to a spell of decent weather for the Fourth of July weekend.

Cheers,
Mark

The Old Brick and Mortar Compass Rose at Deepwood got a Makeover!

Over time, the brick flatwork feature that is a focal point of the path junctions between the lower walk, the Scroll Garden and the stairs to the terrace had been sinking below grade. Thanks to a generous donor we were able to hire Riverdale Landscape Construction to return it to its proper grade and location. This marks the completion of the Lower Terrace renovation that has taken place over the past year and we are excited to have this project wrapped up.

The below 1945 drawing shows the proper location of the Compass Rose.

A big thanks goes to Robert Crown and the crew at Riverdale Landscape Construction. They were great to work with and really understood the significance of the historical landscape. They were meticulous and careful and their dedication to fine work was visible in the finished product.

Others have contributed to the recent restoration projects at Deepwood, making it feel like a team effort. I’d like to take a moment to thank them.

First and foremost, I would like to thank our anonymous donor who made this work possible, without the money in the bank account none of this would have happened. Thank you so much for your contributions to Salem’s gardens. Your efforts at restoration are making a lasting contribution to the rich history of this place and we are so grateful for you.

I’d like to thank David Lichter for his tireless efforts to preserve the historical accuracy of the garden projects. We have him to thank for the perfect alignment of the north arrow on the compass rose and countless other details that might have gone unnoticed.

A big thanks to Russell Schutte for his work with the City of Salem historical preservation folks, making sure we are doing things the right way.

Thanks to Brian Smith with the City of Salem for his contributions to these projects, from working with contractors, to provide access for tools and equipment, to bringing in loads of gravel when we came up short. Brian and his teammate Amanda are great to work with.

A huge thanks to the Lord and Schryver Conservancy gardeners at Deepwood, the regulars Lysa, Karen, Sue, Donna, and a bunch of folks that might not make it all the time but whose contributions are much appreciated. Without you keeping the gardens looking great, I wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to these special projects that really make our organization a unique piece of Salem’s historical gardens.

And to the rest of you who make this possible through your continued support, I can tell you that in the many hours I spend at Deepwood, the “ooh’s and ahh’s” as a visitor turns the corner to take in another vista in the garden really do make it all worth it. Thank you All!

It’s that season again where the boxwood must be sheared. A time that will leave any Lord and Schryver gardener with burning arms and an aching back. But the reward is a worth it as the backdrop of tightly manicured hedges perfectly frame the colorful summer annuals and perennials. This year we are closely watching the boxwood due to a rapidly spreading blight. Boxwood blight is caused by the fungus Calonectria pseudonaviculata which can cause rapid defoliation of even large and apparently healthy boxwood in a very short time.  It is usually fatal and once a garden is infected the main course of action is removal and destruction of the plants. We are undergoing a very rigid inspection process, followed by proper cultural controls and a regular chemical treatment program to try to keep this destructive disease out of the gardens.

In between icing sore muscles from pruning the miles of boxwood maintained by the Lord and Schryver Conservancy, I’ve been pruning the Rhododendrons now that they have finished blooming. We will utilize the newly restored Reserve Garden to keep a steady supply of blooming plants on hand to fill in the garden as needed throughout the summer. For a fun rotation of long season color, we are planting summer bulbs like gladiolus and acidanthera in pots at two week intervals. This allows us to stagger the bloom time and also fill in spots in the garden that need color tweaks as we move through the season.

The weather has been perfect for doing boxwood this week, highs in the 70’s so not too hot. Never shear boxwood on high heat days in the full sun as opening up the new tender foliage underneath can lead to sunburn. Cooler, wetter weather is on its way…conditions that can encourage the spread of boxwood blight.

The delphiniums, foxgloves and roses are following the peonies into full bloom and looking spectacular in the garden!

Happy gardening,

Mark

 

 

May 21

Laburnum beautiful this year. Bechtel crab [Malus ioensis plena] lasting well. Hawthorns good color. These tree(s) bloom together. Iris in bloom by May 12^th. Poppy not yet started. Color combinations good are:

Side Garden.

Red Star Columbine [Aquilegia coerule] pretty with Hawthorn

Cherry Tulips [ Tulipa ‘Cherry Pink’?] tall & lovely just about gone—color not good with Hawthorn.

Iris pale lavender & I. ‘Susan Bliss’ good together – get darker shade near rock wall to place with this Iris. Purple violet nice with this Iris.

Elizabeth Lord Garden Journal 1937

 

It was a soaker of a Monday with sporadic rains so far this week.  The recently planted summer annuals welcome the moisture as they get established. One thing I have noticed from reading the journal entries is that a many of the biennials and perennials including Digitalis, Papaver, Peonies and Delphinium bloomed much later for Edith and Elizabeth. In the journals,  these flowers are often mentioned in June and sometimes into July. Surely makes one wonder about the changing weather patterns and the phenology study one could run comparing the bloom times listed in the journals to the dates we see today.  I would love to have the journals for the missing decades (1945-1965) as they might provide some insight into the changes over the years.

 

Happy Gardening!

Mark