Arbutus Garden Arts

In earlier days, in the garden, exuberant flowering perennials and grand splashes of annuals were my youthful hearts desire. But in the passage of time I am acutely aware that the  maintenance of such once-upon-a-time desires have become increasingly  burdensome.  Don't get me wrong, I have great joy working in my garden but the scales have tipped ever so slightly and changes are in order.

I'll always cherish  my  beloved old timers of hydrangea, lilac, peonies, daisies, herbs and the like.  But my gardens are now beginning to transition like me into a slower gentler stage of living. 

Enter.. the very special and secret hideaway garden of owners Norm Jacobs and Deb Zaveson of Arbutus Garden Arts, my inspiration in bringing to my cottage gardens a more natural, water conscious, and low maintenance habitat. Arbutus is truly a hidden gem. You'll find it so worth the discovery if ever your in the vicinity of the tiny town of Yamhill, Oregon.

 I've been pondering a pond to ponder by ever since I saw this one!

One courageous step in my journey is to embrace moss.   I'm finding I do not need to rid my garden of it's persistent green fuzziness.  Since I  love to live where it lives, we need to get along.  

A Bright green with envy tree among the sage hued forest.  At the time of my visit I was sure I would remember it's name.  Same for the following Northwest Native.  What is your name dear lovely?

The lovely Northwest Native that will remain nameless. 

 Ahh... my redemption lies just behind and to the right of the nameless beauty. See the  deep red/brown trunk back there?  It's the smooth inner bark revealed once the peeling bark has shed of one of my all time favorite Northwest Native trees, the Madrone (Arbutus), the favored namesake of this magical garden.

Norm and Deb designed their gardens as a succession of rooms that are only confined by the walls of an extended woodland.  Here I walked through an arbor into one such tranquil room for some precious moments of reflection and inspiration.

 An occasional hefty pot tucked here and there for interest along a forest path at Arbutus Garden Arts.

My congenial and knowledgeable host and garden tour guide, Norm Jacobs. Conversation with Norm is a riveting litany of botanical history profusely peppered with Latin. By golly, it's enough to make a girl blush.  


I left Arbutus Garden Arts with my hopeful new prospects of Hellebores, Epemedia, and a darling Paeonia Obovata (woodland peony). I also contracted a slight case of Latin- itis, but I'm sure it's temporary. :D


And how is your garden growing?

Native Habitat Nursery

Recently the head hillbilly and I took advantage of an open garden tour in our area. We freshened up after an afternoon of working around the place, grabbed our favorite coffee on the way and prepared to be inspired.

I have to face it. The fact that I have happy danced over the proverbial hill and find myself a bit more fatigued after a day in the garden has made me realize that those exuberant blossomed filled gardens, the staple of my younger years desire, have become a bit much. And I hate to admit it dadgum it!

At Native Habitat Nursery located in the rural outskirts of Dayton, Oregon, we meandered among hardy Northwest native specimens. Those wonderful shrubs, trees and ground covers that flourish in our rainy Pacific Northwest and are changing the way I see my garden in the coming years. A prelude to our tour was passing through this delightful entry. A garden gate made of a hodge podge of recycled garden tools and farm cast offs. Even the latch. Sweet.

We strolled, coffees and camera in hand, along pebbled pathways that wandered around the nursery through groupings of plants, and past some of my favorites like paper birch and mock orange.

Here and there interesting features abounded like this vintage grinding stone, and arched welded arbor of old iron fencing with free flowing bends and rusty chain.

The proprietors specialize not only in Northwest natives but also Bonsai, Niwaki, and original water features.

This fellow brought his own colorful contribution to the garden. His intermittent proud calls permeated the softer sounds of life in the garden.

I loved the wooden light fixtures that fit so naturally in the landscape.

The profuse and defining line of purple creeping thyme adds a bit of color to the gray stones, pavers and wood accents of a terrace. Love it.

~ Summer Blessings ~