Our 8-year-old hillside garden is perched above Hwy 30 on the edge of Forest Park in NW Portland. On clear days, our expansive view shed includes panoramic views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and sister Cascade peaks. The garden is organized on three levels connected by stone staircases. Beds and borders reflect our naturalistic, layered style of planting. Showcased are shrubs and perennials that thrive in Portland's dry summers. Featured are Arctostaphylos, Ceanothus, Cistus, Hydrangea, Mahonia, Ribes,and Vitex accompanied by long-blooming perennials Agastache, Agapanthus, Kniphofia, lavenders, penstemons, salvias, and Zauschneria (Epilobium). Pollarded willows, snake bark, and vine maples provide flaming winter stem color.
Ornamental grasses, sedges, and rushes knit and harmonize plantings--we believe that soil and mulch are not to be seen! A large English walnut (Juglans regia) that once provided dry-shade died in 2018 but remains as an organic sculpture now planted with evergreen, early-blooming Clematis armandii and cirrhosa. Planted containers cover the front deck, spill out of our greenhouse, and punctuate the garden.