Revisiting Mt. Hood

November 04, 2025

The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...

I visited Mt. Hood back in late August - what a difference it is now! There was barely any snow and now it is piled thick along the sides of the winding road leading up the mountain to Timberland Lodge and dripping from the forests of massive conifers. It is so beautiful.

Our friends Paul and Cindy are visiting from Alabama and we drove up there today before another storm hits tonight. We enjoyed some delicious corn chowder inside the cozy Timberland Lodge and had a magnificent view of Mt. Hood outside the window.