Hortlandia Fling Garden Tours / Day One, Garden Two; Dairy Creek Meadows

This visit (like the last), occurred on April 3rd. Friends came to town for the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO) spring plant sale and we set out to see gardens—a visit to Dairy Creek Meadows, the home of Craig Quirk and Larry Neill, was requested. 

No matter how much you warn folks from a warmer climate that things are slower to start here, it still comes as a bit of a shock for them. From Gerhard's post about this garden: "When I got off the plane in Portland, it felt like late winter rather than the early spring we’d been enjoying in Davis. As a result, I had to moderate my expectations of how gardens would look. Indeed, Dairy Creak Meadows was very much in what I would consider winter mode."

C'est la vie. Up here in Portland we were all feeling pretty good about where are gardens were, things were growing and it was definitely spring, blooming Trillium for example...

This dark container grouping was in front of Craig and Larry's garage, extreme crevice gardens—the work of Chris Dixon—filled a couple of them.

The meadow/perennial garden around the greenhouse was just beginning to wake up for the growing season. I think that's our entire group for the morning in this photo, left to right: Craig, Max, Steven, David, Gerhard, Judith, Darren and Larry.

Of course the greenhouse is spectacular no matter the season.

Ditto for the crevice garden (a bit of the "making of" here). The plants come and go with their blooms, but the rocks are spectacular on their own.

An "inside and outside" shot.

Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget'

Fritillaria

Globularia

Action shot! Gerhard photographing, Steven, David, Max and Craig intently looking at something, and Darren and Judith on the move.

In his post(s) on the garden Gerhard took a step back and included big-picture details that I just don't think to include anymore, since I've visited, and written about this garden, and the owner's previous garden, Floramagoria, so many times. If you're curious Gerhard's posts are here and here.

The grain bin and potting shed structures...

One of two Agave ovatifolia that flank the back entrance to the greenhouse.

And one of a pair of Dustin Gimbel sculptures.

The cactus collection...

There are also aloes and bromeliads.

And rhipsalis...

Part of the greenhouse is designed as a living space.

There's also a propagation space, but I didn't get good photos of that area.

Back outside and moving towards the potting shed.

Pleopeltis lepidopteris 'Morro dos Conventos'

The carnivorous plant playground! (that's how I think of this area).

Fern table in the making...

Dairy Creek, the garden's namesake, was running fast and furious back in April.

Just a couple more photos as we walked to the upper pond...

Marcia Donahue's work...

The upper pond and its zig zag boardwalk.

And that's a wrap!  For a look at this garden last June, click here. Craig and Larry are so generous in opening their garden for HPSO members that I suspect I may have another chance to visit this summer...

The Bit at the End (kind of)

After finishing up at Dairy Creek Meadows we made an extremely quick stop at Blooming Junction, on to McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse for a late lunch (and garden walk), and then on to the reason for the gathering, the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Spring Plant Sale, Hortlandia. It was a very full/fun day!

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