The BigJohn Hicks Oasis, during Study Weekend

The BigJohn Hicks Oasis was the last garden my friends and I visited on Saturday of the HPSO Study Weekend last June. We were hot, we were tired, and we were thrilled to be there! This is what you see as you enter the property.

A little step to the side and you're rewarded with luxuriously draping fronds of Woodwardia unigemmata. 

I had the pleasure of visiting Megan BigJohn and Mike Hicks' garden back in 2020 (Part One of that visit here, Part Two here), so I was super-thrilled they'd decided to open for Study Weekend—more people were going to get to enjoy what they'd created! BTW if you're thinking the name Mike Hicks sounds familiar it might be because I've written of him when visiting Little Prince Plants, he's the production manager there.

These first few photos are from around their front garden and were snapped quickly as the sound of friends gathering in the back garden was pulling me that way.

The garden's description from the tour brochure: Mike and Megan’s garden, a quarter-acre oasis in West Linn, Oregon, is an evolving testament to the couple’s creativity and dedication. Established in 2009, when the landscape was a blank slate, this lush, Zone 8/9 garden reflects their shared passion for plants and deep appreciation for the Pacific Northwest climate. Yet, they are always pushing those boundaries. Over the years they’ve recreated its topography to add height, character, and vantage points…

This garden, lovingly described as “cramscaping done right.” Is a thriving mixture of exotic and temperate plants that captures a tropical ambiance. It is a vibrant mix of treasured finds and is home to tree ferns, bananas, a carnivorous bog, Tetrapanax papyrifer, schefflera, canna, gunnera, and countless other plants that lend a distinctly tropical feel despite Oregon’s winter chill.

In each season, Mike and Megan’s botanical paradise offers inspiration and a welcome escape—a blend of hardiness and exuberant beauty, built one plant at a time. This garden was recently featured in The Spirited Garden by local photographer, Doreen Wynja.

Standing in the driveway looking towards the lawn circle we just walked.

I think this is Blechnum gibbum 'Silver Lady'.

I don't want to confuse things in what is going to be a very long post (57 photos!), but I should add there are a few images from a visit I made to the garden later, in July. So if something seems off, that might be why. I've kept the order flowing as you walk through the garden, but some plants were much bigger a month later, like these Colocasia.

And the castor bean.

On the opposite side of the driveway from the sunny lawn circle is this rich, lush border.

Following that pathway takes you around to the back garden. 

On the way you pass tree ferns (!!!)...

And a mosaic of scrumptious foliage at ground level, including this Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT'.

The thin dark leaves are Arthropodium candidum 'Maculatum', a Little Prince plant that I love, but only have limited success with in my garden.

Mike is a big fan of Arisaema, thanks to his generosity I'm starting to amass a decent collection of my own.

Also thanks to Mike's inspiration (and a few other local gardeners) I've finally decided to put my tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in the ground this spring (as I wrote about here). Just look at these beauties!

Looking over my shoulder...

Entering the back garden...

Pretty impressive right?

I've tried to proceed through the garden in a way that makes sense for you, first we'll look at some of the plants at the base of the tall bananas (Musa basjoo)...

Then we'll walk up the pathway at the far side of the garden, across the top and back down the other side, to eventually end up where we started. There are a lot of plants so hang on!

Pyrrosia and logs, a really great planting that I didn't manage to get a good photo of.

Up at the far corner, a hidden spot. Did I squeeze back there and check things out? Nope. I wish I had though.

The garden shed.

Plants on the way to the shed. To the left of the purple oxalis is Arisaema candidissimum.

Coniogramme emeiensis 'Golden Zebra'

Blechnum brasiliense

Pyrrosia sheareri

Excellent cramscaping, wouldn't you say?

The variegated plant on the far right is the much sought after variegated Daphniphyllum, perhaps D. macropodum 'Ki Midori Nakafu'.

More tree ferns!

A nicely planted bowl of carnivorous plants, featuring some gorgeous Heliamphora. 

An illuminated Arisaema (I'm not sure of the species).

It looks a little, well, naughty.

I think this might have been the plant I most cooveted in Megan and Mike's garden, Paris polyphylla var. stenophylla 'Luquanensis', so dreamy...

Pyrrosia lingua 'Hiryu'

Sarracenia bog

And we're back to the tall bananas at the entrance to the back garden.

Just how tall are they?

Humans for scale...

The potted opuntia was so perfect it almost looked fake.

A particularly lovely patch of Blechnum novae-zelandiae at the base of the bananas.

Impatiens omeiana behind the water bowl.

Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla, note the fabulous custom plant labels Megan made from bamboo...so on theme!

Just a few more photos as I rambled about...

This! When I visited back in 2020 I told Mike I was disappointed he didn't have any agaves. Not this time! Thanks Mike.

What a fabulous garden, lovingly made by two very serious (but fun) plant people!

The Bit at the End

Megan and Mike recently appeared on Donna Avallone's Over The Fence Landscape Tours, both tours (Part One, Part Two) are definitely worth watching for another look at this great garden!

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