Return to the Hillside Desert Botanic Gardens

The second stop on our recent trip to Yakima, WA, was the Hillside Desert Botanical Gardens, a private garden with a big name. I'd visited twice previously first in 2012 and then again in 2019.

The 2019 visit was a special one. I was there to interview the garden's creator, Ron McKitrick for my book, Fearless Gardening. Ron and I spent a couple hours sitting in the sun talking about how he got his start in gardening and why he was so drawn to desert plants. He was a force for good in the horticultural community of Yakima, spreading the word about how the area's arid climate (it's the "Palm Springs of Washington") was great for growing these hardy, low water plants. Sadly Ron passed away before the book was published, before I could share it with him. 

I'd heard one of his sons was keeping the garden open for visitors, so I looked it up online, and was happy to see the website was still active. I reached out to see if Andrew and I could stop by for a visit while we were in town and received a quick email and then text from Brian McKitrick confirming.

Late September isn't the best time to visit a garden like this if you're looking for flowers, which was a concern of Ron's. To my eye these plants look fantastic no matter when you visit, no flowers needed.

This looks to be a baby Yucca brevifolia developing at the base of one of the tall ones.

A spiky clumping yucca.

We found Brian working in the larger greenhouse, putting together mixed planters he sells at a local farmers market.

The spikes! The fruit!

The two tall Y. brevifolia are definitely taller than on my last visit.

There's still plenty of cresting on Ron's crested Cylindropuntia.

A lot of the larger agaves I remember from the garden have bloomed (and thus died) in the past few years, but Brian has been planting others, specifically some different Agave utahensis.

I love this angle on the garden, with the greenhouse and the hillside beyond.

Delosperma sp.

Agave parryi?

The green lawn still gets me. Such a strange juxtaposition with the plants.

A few more spiky Agave utahensis...

And another very "fruitful" Opuntia.

I couldn't help myself, I had to snap all the angles...

And all the agaves.

Yucca elata I believe.

Where a Yucca elata was removed and babies keep popping up.

What beauty. It's leaf margins are so dark.

Hesperaloe parviflora in bloom.

Ron kept a small nursery onsite, so people could purchase plants to take home.

I was glad to see that was still there as well.

This expired Agave bloom spike was a new addition since the last time I was there.

It was secured to the back of one of the greenhouses. 

If you're going to be in Yakima and would like to visit HDBG get ahold of Brian and set up a time. The website has a "contact us" feature, but Brian says giving him a call is better, the number on sign at the top of the post works (1-509-248-1742) or try him on his cell at 509-930-7419. 

I brought home this interesting piece of metal (the possibilities!), and a small but spiky Opuntia... a big thanks to Brian for both the time he spent with us, and for keeping the garden open and looking great!

The drive to and from Yakima is a beautiful one. Lots of big sky and long views. I only took one photo from the road though, as we were headed home. It's looking across the Columbia River towards Lyle, Washington.

The Bit at the End

Kris, who blogs at Late to the Garden Party, recently noted some issues she's having with Blogger's blogroll feature. In addition to that issue I wanted to mention that I've been having new and frustrating difficulties uploading photos. Thankfully I have enough material saved that I'm usually working a week ahead of time publishing posts, so I've typically got something in the queue. But it all feels so perilous now. Like at any moment Blogger (Google) could make it all impossible. I guess this is me saying I currently have no plans to cease blogging, so if I go away...well, it's not on purpose!

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Let's road trip to Yakima! Leo Adams open studio/home

Today's post is about the power of a picture, or in this case an image torn from a magazine. 

Images have always had a strong influence me. Some people remember movie quotes, song lyrics, facts and figures, numbers. My strongest memories have always been image based. I see something and it imprints on me, I can pull it up years later. Case in point, a moment of déjà vu at Balboa Park (San Diego) that I wrote about back in 2015. 

I shared this image on the blog in 2023...

I'd come across it in my files, when I was trying to decide what to do with the large stock tank that had been full of water—growing water lilies and such—but needed to be drained due to raccoon tampering. I was taken with that stock tank table in the center of the scene. The image (likely from a story that appeared in Metropolitan Home magazine some time in the 1990's) was one of hundreds I'd cut from magazines and filed away, back before electronic images became the norm. I forget exactly how I came to know that it was an image of artist Leo Adams' Yakima home—most likely it was thanks to Lorene or Naomi. Once I had that information, I joined a FB group focused on Leo Adams artwork and hoped to someday visit one of his rare open home and studio days that were publicized there.

Are you thinking, "why?" Why would one image from a magazine have that much pull on me? Honestly I don't know. I read about Leo and his work here. I read about his collection of "historic" houseplants here. That single image just continued to draw me in and I vowed if given the chance I would visit this man's home and see it for myself. 

And so there we were, on September 20th, pulling up to a home on the Yakima Indian Reservation with no idea what we would see.

It was billed as an Open Studio and Home / One Day Art Show. Those who wanted a chance to purchase one of Leo's paintings were there when the doors opened at 10am, we didn't pull up until 12:30 (Yakima is a 3 hour drive from Portland). From my reading I knew Leo was 83 years old, what were the chances there was even still an outdoor or garden component to the home? 

Andrew isn't always up for a road trip, especially when it means 6 hours of driving in one day. It was the travel through the Columbia River Gorge and the wide open sky of Yakima that convinced him to join me on this one.

 These views (above and below) are what we saw upon our arrival.

Walking up to Leo's home...

The double bin planter seemed familiar. If you page up to my saved image you'll see part of it was used in that vignette.

Moose antlers.

This large rope ball was also present in my original image.

While I primarily wanted to tour the outside parts of the home, I was also thrilled to walk around inside. I didn't take many photos indoors however. There were a lot of people in the small spaces and I wasn't sure photography was okay, or who to ask for permission. I eventually saw Leo Adams himself, but he was surrounded by people and seemed pretty overwhelmed by it all.

This ginormous Epiphyllum anguliger (aka Disocactus anguliger) was in a bedroom.

The view from that room's large window...

The HistoryLink.org story I shared above mentions a fireplace surround Leo built from an old refrigerator he found and hauled home, it had been used for target practice. I'm not sure if this surround is part of that salvaged find or not, but it's fabulous.

These plants were in a dining nook off the kitchen.

Then we were outdoors, in a semi-covered area that was a series of adjoining spaces.

Turning away from the above vignette I was stunned by the wide open view beyond. And then I saw the stock tank table I realized and where I was.

I intentionally did not look up the saved image (the one I shared at the top of this post) before our visit. I didn't want to spend my time there hunting for something that was captured in print some 30 years ago. I wanted to experience the space as it currently was, as I was seeing it with my eyes, for the first time. Yet I also was thrilled when I had that strong sense of déjà vu wash over me.

Forgetting the history behind why I was here, and just objectively enjoying this space. I can't help but find it surprising that I'm in Yakima, Washington. The average high temperature in December is 37 F, the low, 24 F (source). This area reads as a year round indoor / outdoor space—but I can't imagine much time is spent outdoors in the wintertime.

Is it wrong to covet a metal bin more than any of the artwork that was for sale? Gosh I wanted this!

I walked out into the area just beyond the house.

Something was happening here. Was it more of a destination back in Leo's younger years? Or was it an area he'd been developing, but just hadn't been able to get any further on?

I really wanted to ask him.

Looking back at where I walked down...

This angle is probably the one that most approximates the image that started it all for me, minus a few people, chairs, and plants.

Here it is again, just because...

Moving on...

I have no idea what these berries are, maybe elderberries? Their color was fantastic.

And to think I feared there wasn't going to be a garden.

Yes, that is a rock on a pedestal.

The colors of everything inside and outside the home were all so perfectly subtle.

Just in front of this wall was a table with food and drink and people. I wish I could have got a pulled back shot, but I didn't want to make any of them nervous by pointing a camera at them.

This was the best I could do.

Simple perfection.

Back out in front of the home now.

Another vintage galvanized tub. Be still my heart.

Verbascum

And just 30 minutes later we were walking back to the car.

Was the 3 hour drive worth it? Most definitely. Plus we still had one more stop to make before heading home...

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