Gaiety Hollow is right across the street from another Salem historic house and property…the home of Asahel Bush II, a beautiful Victorian house museum built as the Bush family home in 1877-78, and lived in by family for 75 years.  The house was once an estate in the center of a working farm, but is now a city park with walking paths, an art center, an historic greenhouse.  Here’s a vintage photo of the house…

In the 1930’s and 40’s Lord and Schryver planted many crab apple trees on the edge of the Bush family farm, with Sally Bush’s blessing.  As the property was right across Mission Street, Lord & Schryver could observe the growth patterns and hardiness of the various sample trees, which helped them in choosing the right tree for the right client garden.  These days the Bush house is a museum, housing much of the Bush family material, furnishing, photos, etc.  As part of the volunteer structure that supports the museum, there is a committee that oversees restoration efforts, acquisitions, etc.  Tuesday they came across the street to take a tour of Gaiety Hollow…both house and garden.  They were welcomed by Bobbie Dolp, president of the L&S Conservancy, and garden designer, Lord and Schryver historian and plantswoman Gretchen Carnaby.  Bobbie is the woman in the red coat (so we could keep track of her)…

It was a cold and damp Oregon day, but a very good time to visit the garden as the garden structure…”the bones” if you will…are apparent.  And here Gretchen Carnaby points out a crab apple tree by the front door which will be receiving a heavy pruning this winter…

Then we took a look at the “allee” planted with broad leaf evergreens so it has both a distinct Spring and winter look.  At the far end, from the planning of the garden until 2011, there was a beautiful 300 year old oak tree…

a tree that has been sadly lost…

…but that is really the essence of any garden, perhaps the lesson that gardens teach us…individual plants die and then we make a plan taking into consideration the new set of conditions.

Here’s a vintage photo of the flower gardens in their hey-day…

and the blank slate the Conservancy has to recreate the gardens as designed (the planting plans exist)…

We moved into the house…where we got an over-view of the house construction (Architect Clarence Smith, date: 1932) and we were reminded how masterful the garden design was as there is a beautiful aspect from every window…

We also talked a bit about the boxwoods…original plants to the garden and now VERY overgrown.  They will be heavily pruned this spring, and to get ready for that “windows” were made in the tops of some of the hedges to encourage light into the dark interiors of the plants…

the ribbon boxwoods will probably lose a full foot in the pruning…

we’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, we wish you a very happy holiday from the Lord and Schryver Conservancy.  Consider including the Conservancy in your year-end donations so this good work can go on.