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Lookie-Lou’s Guide To Gardens

There’s Only One Springtime

Portland Tribune “HOME”

Springtime is a once a year celebration in the garden, and this year seems very different. The cherry, crabapple, lilac, dogwood and plum trees are so “poofy” they can hardly hold their flowers up. Have you noticed that every single branch is so covered with flowers it obscures the top framework of the trees? The flowers look as if they’re a cloud floating on a pedestal. And that’s only one example of nature’s bounty this year. I see lots of plants in my one acre garden that are way ahead of schedule. The early sunshine gave so many plants a head start. And when there’s early leaf growth that usually means early flower production too. Which is just swell in my book.

 

Lookie-Lou Trips

So because this is such an extraordinary year, there are some excellent gardens you must see. This may just be the year of crowning glory for these gardens, which are always perfect even in a “down” year. My suggestions require a :45 minute trip from Portland, but you will see beauty in such abundance it is breathtaking. (Bring your camera!) I call these “Lookie-Lou” trips because public gardens are just about the only place you can slow down and lollygag without someone behind you honking.

Trip #1

This is the perfect time to see roses; May through June is the peak season at Heirloom Garden Roses (not far from Champeog Park along the banks of the Willamette River.) A couple years back the magazine Roses and Romantic Garden Flowers voted the viewing gardens at Heirloom roses the best in the United States. And get this, the International Rose test garden in Washington Park was also on the list of “America’s 10 Most Romantic Public Rose Gardens” but at number 10. As I recall, Oregon was the only state with two public rose gardens on the list. So, a trip to the Rose Garden may be in order as well. Both gardens grow roses, but in different ways. Portland’s rose garden provides a more modern historical view of roses. You can stop and smell the most popular varieties from the early 1900’s to today. While Heirloom Roses grows many very old roses rooted in ancient times. The company also specializes in roses grown on their own roots. This takes longer, but can produce a more vigorous rose. So, instead of sticking one kind of rose onto roots of another (for faster growth) these roses grow on the roots they are born with.

Trip #2

Next stop, Irises. Iris’ have a relatively short bloom season compared to roses, so get a gander while their good. And May is peak bloom for Iris. I’ve got two suggestions for you here: Schreiner’s Gardens and Cooley’s Garden.

*Schreiner’s Gardens just north of Salem is spectacular this time of year. You can tell when it’s time for the annual pilgrimage to the iris gardens when you see fields and fields of them blooming right outside your window while you’re driving down I-5 (no “Lookie-Lou’s here please.) Schreiner’s is the kind of place you want to bring a picnic lunch and sit among the splendor. The company grows all different kinds of Iris; tall bearded, beardless, water iris, dwarf, fragrant and reblooming Iris. The display gardens are skillfully planted with other shrubs and flowers. Each vignette looks like it could be in your own backyard.

*Cooley’s Garden outside Silverton concentrates on Tall Bearded Iris. But that doesn’t mean it lacks variety. The flower colors are absolutely mind boggling. And the display gardens are something else! These aren’t the iris your grannie grew. While old irises had about three blooms per stem, today’s iris’ can have almost three times that many flowers. The flowers bloom one after another, which means they bloom longer. And because both Schreiner’s and Cooley’s grow iris right there on the spot, you get a fabulous deal on cut flowers to take home.

 

If you have friends in from out of town, tool them through the Oregon countryside for an unforgettable trip to these gardens. And they are close enough to pile the kids in the back of the car for a family outing too (Great backdrop for Christmas card photo’s….) Mother Nature seems to have quite a show planned this year and I hope you don’t miss it Yes, there’s only one springtime and May is shaping up to be a season to remember.

 

Side Bars:

 

Heirloom Roses Directions:

I-5 South

Exit 278 Donald/Aurora

(R)Ehlen Road

(R) Hwy 219

(L) Champoeg Road N.E.

Champoeg Road becomes Riverside Drive.

 

Cooley’s Iris Gardens:

I-5 South

Woodburn Exit (@ Company Stores)

East (left) to Woodburn

(R) Hwy 99

(L) Hwy 214 to Silverton

Follow “C” St. to Silverton Road. (Signs say: Hwy 213 or “McClaine St)

West 2 miles, garden is on your right.

 

Schreiner’s Iris:

I-5 South

Exit 263 (Brooks)

West on Brooklake Road

(L) River Road

(L) Quinaby Road