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A visit to Chickadee Gardens

I was excited to finally get to see Chickadee Gardens last week. I have followed Tamara's blog  for years. She and her husband garden on 2 acres in Saint Helens, Oregon.  When you look at the map, it appears that St. Helens is directly across the Columbia River and slightly to the north of us. However, there is no convenient bridge to get over to the Oregon side. You must go north to Ridgefield, Washington (about 30 minutes north of our house) and go across there  or travel through Portland and then go north through Scappoose. Either way, it is about a 45 minute drive. I decided to try the Ridgefield route and I was glad I did. Not only did I not have to contend with Portland traffic (it was Rose Parade weekend), I got to see country on the Oregon side that was new to me.  Tamara used to work at the beautiful Joy Creek Nursery (my favorite, but alas they are now closed) and she now works part-time at Cistus Nursery.  She focuses on native plants and sustainabili...

Open Gardens: The Hyland / Beckman garden


On the way back from the Wisner/Orloff garden, I stopped at another Open Garden, that of  Bob Hyland and Andrew Beckman. It is located on a hillside overlooking the St. Johns area and nearby Sauvie Island with some nice views of several mountain peaks. 

The late afternoon sun was quite harsh and not the ideal situation for good photos. Much of the garden was shaded which helped.

















Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. This garden looks like it is on a hilly area. I like the natural feel of this place. That big ball at the end is a fabulous sculpture.

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  2. That barberry is stunning. And I agree with Lisa; that sculpture is terrific. Perfect scale for outdoors.

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  3. I love how the long border along the driveway frames your entrance and then the rest of the garden unfolds as you walk around the garage. I've visited several times and it just keeps getting better!

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  4. Gardening on a slope seems so challenging to me; they did a wonderful job of it. The rock steps are kind of perfect; love them.

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  5. I visited a few years ago , it's a lovely garden !

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  6. Lovely, Phillip! Thanks for sharing these. Oh that [barberry] and the purple spilling down the hill! Nice to see it after having visited a couple years back, when younger. (The garden I mean! I suppose I was younger too...)

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  7. What a beautiful space. They work hard don't they? How is your Washington garden coming along? I'll go look at your Bloom Day post to see.~~Dee

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  8. I am still loading up on plants inspired by a visit to this garden a couple of years ago. Now if I could only emulate the perfect placement these guys exercise with apparent ease.

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