It was a busy week at Deepwood as we welcomed the start of spring. A very generous donor made it possible for the Conservancy to contract Elwood’s Tree Service to clean up the tree canopy. This long overdue task is a responsibility that should fall on the City but for some years now they have not had arbor work done in the parks. After seeing the difference that Elwood’s arborists made in three days of deadwood removal, maintenance pruning and shaping the trees in the Lord and Schryver gardens, the contrast is remarkable.

I stayed busy helping Elwood’s crew drag brush to the chipper and, in between, worked on regrading the paths in the teahouse. The brick edging had sunk over the years, and the paths were well below grade. They are now back to where they should be just in time for the spring season.

Elwoods arborists in the Big Leaf maple on the edge of the great room.

the teahouse paths before renovation

teahouse paths after renovation

resetting the brick edges in the teahouse

Elwoods arborists transforming the old crabapple into a shapely tree once again.

The paths in the teahouse were regraded and the brick edging reset

Some of the wood was saved for our volunteers that do woodworking to craft out of.

I have been with the Lord and Schryver Conservancy for just over a year now and I want to say how proud I am to be able to be a part of this organization. The work is very rewarding, even though it may be frustrating at times working in a park like Deepwood with fewer resources than I wish we had, and the sometimes-conflicting priorities of the City Parks Department and other organizations involved.

What a positive transformation has taken place in the Deepwood gardens this past year! It has been amazing to work with our volunteers who give and give tirelessly. The generosity of the donor who funded last year’s renovation work is greatly appreciated. It shows that a community of people who care about a place can truly make a difference.

Thank you for giving your time and attention to the Lord and Schrvyer Conservancy. I feel fortunate to be a part of an organization that is making such a significant contribution to our community.

Stay healthy and happy,

Mark

“May good luck be with you wherever you go. And your blessing outnumber the shamrocks that grow.” (Irish Blessing)

With warm days filled with sunshine, it’s feeling like spring as we hit the middle of March. The flowers are coming on strong now, with the cherry trees in full bloom and the Camellias and Hyacinths well represented too. The Tulips will be along shortly, and the Daffodils are looking lovely.

Our new cedar and stainless steel potting bench at Gaiety Hollow

The reflection of the Cherry tree in the pool, so beautiful on a crisp spring morning

The daffodills are up around the garden now.

The magnolia’s are starting in as well.

We have a beautiful new potting bench at Gaiety Hollow, thanks to the wonderful craftsmanship of volunteer Chet Zenone! Just in time for the warm weather to push the seedlings and transplants along.

Cheers to a warm and healthy spring!

Mark

It’s been a busy winter here at the Lord and Schryver Conservancy. We are pleased to have wrapped up some large winter projects and are eagerly awaiting the return of spring.

The primary project was the restoration of the Reserve Garden at Gaiety Hollow. This area served as much more than a tool shed and storage area for Edith and Elizabeth. Their journal entries frequently mention plants being lifted from the garden and set in the reserve. Edith and Elizabeth used this area to hold plants while they worked on the ever-changing color schemes of the flower garden at Gaiety Hollow. We are delighted to have this area restored to its former functional purpose.

A big thank you goes to Premium NW Landscape for the work they did on this restoration project. We will be adding a custom-made potting bench to the Reserve Garden in the next few weeks.

In other garden news, Mark spent much of the winter months at Deepwood working to restore some of the brick work in the Teahouse garden. Moss was removed, bricks were cleaned, and brick joints were resanded. Much of the settling brick edge was lifted and returned to the proper grade to better define the flower beds.

The Late Winter light on the evergreen garden.

The Hellebores are coming on strong in the late winter garden.

The maintenance of the brick work at Deepwood was a major winter project.

The winter garden.

The Reserve Garden Restoration is mostly complete, we will be adding a custom made potting bench to complement the cold frames and nursery area.

The wonderfully restored concrete walk in the Reserve garden.

The Camellia’s of the Reserve garden have all been propagated via seed, cuttings and air layers. Some will be transplanted to Deepwood this spring.

The Reserve Garden Camellia’s have all be propagated

We are excited to welcome spring which, with last week’s warm and sunny weather, appears to be hiding just around the corner!

Cheers,
Mark

Edith and Elizabeth were well known travelers, as noted by the many lectures they gave to Garden Clubs and other interested groups. I was fortunate to follow in their footsteps this winter, as I joined Jane McGary, a good friend of mine and longtime botanical editor for Timber Press, on her eighth trip to Chile.

During our adventure, we drove over 1,500 miles from north of Santiago all the way to the Lakes District in the south. We met some wonderful people, saw amazing birds and wildlife, enjoyed some local gardens and observed many beautiful plant species in their native habitats. Chile has a fantastic diversity of habitats. Our travels took us from arid steppe to subtropical forests and from sea level to over 11,000 feet in elevation.

We encountered orchids growing on recent volcanic lava flows, dramatic waterfalls covered with ferns and gunnera and mountain slopes with giant araucaria trees. The diversity of wildlife was amazing as well, with birds from burrowing parrots to the giant Andean condor, I was even lucky enough to see wild culpeo fox!

Calceolaria at the Laguna De Maule

Oxalis adenophylla at the Laguna de Maule

Rhodophiala are a wonderful bulbous plant in the Amaryllid family

Saw 4 different species of Rhodophiala on this trip

Fuschia magellanica growing in habitat , on the edges of Nothofagus Southern Beech Forests

The Orchids of Conguillo National Park were absolutely stunning

Chile has some phenomenal evergreen trees and the Monkey Puzzle stands out as a centerpiece among them

Embothrium coccineum in habitat at the Rio Bio Bio

The Dog Orchid-Codonorchis at Conquilla National Park growing among Berberis darwinii

A Chilean Fishing village

The Rosulate Violets of the Alpine region are stunning

Nassauvia is a wonderful alpine plant found growing above the tree line.

The Lakes District with its many waterfalls, Rivers and Stunning lakes was a real treat. Not unlike Oregon in many respects.

Saw 12 different species of Calceolaria on this trip

Rhodolirium montanum

Chile has some amazing plants!

Saw several different schizanthus species

The Alpines of the Andes are so beautiful

Stachys

A juvenile Andean Condor

Juvenile Condors at Valle Nevado

The route, over 1500 miles driven, down the Central valley with trips out through the coast range and up the mountain passes

I have about 3,000 photos to organize! I’m working on a lecture that covers this amazing trip which I plan to share with supporters and friends of the Lord and Schryver Conservancy this February.

Stay tuned for this don’t miss event!

In spring 1971, an aging Elizabeth Lord wrote about the Seal Rock Cottage in her garden journal:

“I had Ivan cut the alders – down the path way, that part has changed so much, a sweet little garden wild things growing along the wood edging – but 2 years and no attention became a mass of salal [Gaultheria shallon] & salmonberry [Rubus spectabilis] and no trace of a trail.  Kurt took out the wild planting of salal [Gaultheria shallon] where the honeysuckle [Lonicera] had entwined itself – this left a larger space I immediately filled with Marguerites and Digitalis. I shall keep it such in memory of Montague’s love of wild flowers. This was a trying year. I do not have the pep to do the heavy work about the place down here. Nature grows at its will and nothing can hold it back. “

Nature has been working on the Lord property at Seal Rock for a very long time. The constant moisture from the neighboring Pacific Ocean provides each plant with plenty of water. The coastal thickets of salal, salmonberry, and sword fern are dense underneath the canopy of spruce and shore pines. It defies imagination how the elk, such a large creature, can navigate these impenetrable seeming thickets with such ease.

The cottage tucked in among the shore pines, salal and sword ferns.

Swallows on the weather vane for the little cottage at Swallow Drive.

The hand pump for the well is still mounted and plumbed on the front porch though long ago the property had city water plumbed in.

Gigantic 100+ year old Rhododendrons grace the property

A custom made stained glass adorns the bathroom

The old ice box is still on the front porch next to the well pump, reminders of a time before electricity and modern amenities

It would be amazing to see the huge Rhododendrons in bloom.

The garden is a collection of massive century old Rhododendrons

The patina shows on the buildings dating back to the late 1800’s.

High enough to be out of the Tsunami zone and with views looking out onto the pacific ocean.

The hand built fireplace made with rocks carried up from the beach

You can still see Barnacles on the rocks of the fireplace.

The Seal Rock Cottage and Garden was an often used getaway for Elizabeth and Edith, mentioned frequently in Elizabeth’s journals from the mid-1930’s to the 70’s. Reading through the journals, one sees their desire to escape the Willamette Valley’s summer heat to revel in the cooler coastal conditions where plants such as heather, rhododendron, calla lilies and coastal natives thrived during the dog days of summer.

Several of us were fortunate to visit the Seal Rock Cottage and Garden on a recent stellar winter day. Carmen Lord, Elizabeth’s relative and the property’s owner, has the site up for sale. The hope is that the property is not sold to a developer but instead to someone who appreciates the history that runs deep and who wants to preserve what can be saved.

“Staying the 2 weeks at Seal Rock knowing the wet weather in August was helping the garden here and as the year of ’68 was an off year and about finished as far as gardening was concerned. I was happy knowing that I did not have too much to do, but could plan now for the year to come.”

Elizabeth Lord; Garden Journal 1968

The Reserve Garden Restoration project continues! The contractor braced up the shed and used a shoring crane to pick the building up and move it to the other side of the Reserve garden. With the shed out of the way, a mini-excavator is being used to remove the old concrete pad and dig down to make solid base for the new foundation.

The Shed all braced to prevent it from twisting or warping

A shoring crane in place in the alley with a cross bar to pick the shed up straight and level

Holding our breath as the shed is lifted off the old pad

A skilled crane operator picking the shed up slow and easy

Once the shed was moved across the reserve garden the contractor started removing the pad

Excavating for the installation of the new foundation

We are so pleased to see this project coming along nicely!

The weatherman says this is the coldest Thanksgiving in years so bundle up. If you are traveling, we wish you a safe journey.

Happy Holidays!

The much-anticipated restoration of the Reserve Shed and Garden area at Gaiety Hollow has begun! This project will lift the old shed, build a new foundation and floor under it and set it back in place. The concrete flat work in the garden area is being redone with the historical design and finish in mind. We are very excited to see this project underway and look forward to its completion this winter season.

The Reserve Shed prior to renovation

The project will lift the building and set it on a foundation to stop the rot that has taken place all these years.

The old retaining wall for planting bed has been taken down and moved temporarily.

The Camellia’s, Boxwood and various other plants are being balled and burlapped.

The exposed aggregate concrete walk way will be completely redone.

One of the few historic images we have of the Reserve area Edith pointing out Camellia’s in the spring of 1977

The Reserve Garden as a working space in 2007.

A few modern updates will take place as well, with electricity added to the shed, relocation of the water hose bibs, and renovation of the planting bed. After the contractor work is completed, we will add a potting bench and cold frames for propagation.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped clean out the shed in preparation for this project. We are forever grateful for the dedicated support of hard-working volunteers who keep this garden looking great!

Stay tuned for updates on this winter project!

Osmanthus or tea olives are outstanding small evergreen trees and shrubs in the Oleacea family. Gaiety Hollow is home to one particularly outstanding specimen of Osmanthus x fortunei that Edith and Elizabeth planted in the mid-1960’s. It’s a fall bloomer with flowers so fragrant you can smell the blossoms all down the alley on a calm, cool morning.

The plant is named for Robert Fortune (1812-1880), the intrepid Scottish botanist best known for his exploits of stealing tea plants (Camellia sinensis) from China and smuggling them to India on behalf of the British East India company in the mid-1800’s. He introduced this hybrid of Osmanthus fragrans and Osmanthus heterophyllus in 1858. During his three years in China, Robert Fortune sent thousands of plants back to the British Isles in Wardian cases. These were glass terrariums filled with plants and sealed so the plants would survive the long ocean journey back to England.

The Osmanthus x fortunei in full bloom now at Gaiety Hollow

Osmanthus delavayi from Yunnan and Southern China

Osmanthus heterophyllus

Closeup of the fragrant flowers

It’s not surprising that throughout the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, Edith and Elizabeth tried quite a few different Osmanthus in the garden, as these stately shrubs and small trees would have met their many design requirements  including extreme fragrance, glossy evergreen foliage, screening capability, elegant structure and varied habit from shrub to small tree.

Records show Edith and Elizabeth grew Osmanthus armatus, fragrans, illicifolius and delavayi, as well as x fortunei and heterophyllus over the years. If you don’t grow Osmanthus in your garden you should…there is a species or cultivar to fit any size garden. In my home garden, I have the smaller Osmanthus delavayi and Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘purpureus‘, and after experiencing the wonderful tree form that Edith and Elizabeth planted so many years ago, I think I’ll be adding Osmanthus x fortunei to my planting list.

Cheers,

Mark