Skip to main content

Featured

A Closer Look at Winter Damage

But first, take a look at this gorgeous rainbow that we had on Friday! The five-day stretch of warm temperatures last week really jump-started the garden. Now that plants are putting out new growth, it is easier to see what kind of damage the winter left. Back in mid-January, we experienced five straight days of below-freezing temperatures. This caused much damage in Portland and areas where frigid winds were a factor. Here, we were fortunate to not get the wind and the cold temperatures were dampened by a blanket of snow. That said, it was a tough time for the garden and there are noticeable casualties but no outright deaths that I have seen. The bottlebrush ( Callistemon 'Woodlander's Red') did not like the cold at all. It was planted six years ago, in the north-facing garden no less, and I've not experienced die-back on it until now. A local expert said to cut it all the way back so that is what I did. If it doesn't make it, I won't be too distraught. It is

Trillium Hollow


I think I've covered everything on my recent Portland trip and wanted to conclude with a post about Trillium Hollow, the place we stayed at while we were there. Trillium Hollow is a co-housing community. This was a new experience for me and it was absolutely wonderful. It was one of the most beautiful places in Portland and a treat to retire to every evening.


This is the driveway leading down to the main house (not ours). Like the name says, it is located in a hollow. Behind the house is a deep ravine with a running creek below. It was deeply forested.
This is the community house, located right behind the house in the earlier photo. This is a 3-story house on stilts that sits directly above the creek. Our rooms were in the lower section of the house. It was absolutely incredible, like being in a tree house. The house is also used for community dinners and meetings for the people who live on the property.
The back part of our house was surrounded by decks.
I had a balcony off my room that overlooked the creek.
Looking back toward the house from the far end of the deck walkway.
A bird was nesting over one of the doorways.
The owners were aware of this and had marked off the area to protect her.
This wonderful room was right off the community kitchen. This portion of the house juts out from the rest of the house, an octagon surrounded by glass. It was like being in a glassed-in tree house. We were told that laws current laws forbid building houses over places like this now. This house was built back in the 1970s before that law took effect.

 
If you look closely, you can see that room to the right.


On the upper region of the property were units that are owned by individuals. Notice the community gardens. Plants were also growing all along the balconies and walkways inside this complex.
 
Most of the gardens at Trillium Hollow were vegetable gardens but there were some ornamentals as well.









The entrance to Trillium Hollow from the street.





Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. What a great place to stay! I'm going to check it out online. I'm pretty sure your unknown plant is Aruncus dioicus, aka goat's beard. It's a Missouri native, so I bet it will grow in your area.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alison, of course that is it. I knew it, just couldn't remember!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like they put a lot of thought into co-existence with nature. Good, that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a restful place and an interesting living concept! Leave it to Portlanders to think of something so cool!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never heard of such a place. This one is beautiful. What a neat experience.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was going to take a stab at the plant ID, but I see Alison beat me to it. I hope you did not run into any dirty hippies.

    ReplyDelete
  7. what a marvelous and beautiful community...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just the name - Trillium Hollow - relaxes me! What a beautiful concept AND place.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts