I knew there'd be rain in Oregon, but I think we got more sunny days while I was there than I would have here - three out of five days, a record for spring in that rainy state. On Trum's birthday we (all three daughters and this old lady) drove up to Silver Falls State Park and met Trum's best friend, Al Pal and her husband who'd brought a most elegant picnic. The park had 10 magnificent waterfalls, the highest 177 feet, and they really were silver in the sunlight. The park was full of wildflowers and ferns the trees, hemlocks, Douglas firs and cedars, soared even higher than the waterfalls.
The next sunny day we had lunch at a fabulously landscaped lodge called Edgefield, then visited the Hendricks Rhododendrun garden in Eugene where the shrubs were as big as trees and sported blossoms in white, pink, red and one in soft yellow, all still in bloom. I took lots of pictures of the rhododendruns as well as dozens of the waterfalls at the park and probably another dozen at Edgefield. Sad to say, when I downloaded all these photos to my computer they'd somehow disappeared. The only ones to show up were the two at the top of the page of Trum's front garden.
I was planning to write this column about all the spectacular vegetation we saw in Oregon, but without the photographs I think it would be pretty boring. I'm afraid I've gotten lazy, depending on pretty pictures to tell my stories. Since I can't do that, let me tell you a little bit about Trum and Clem's 30 acre farm, located outside the little town of Sweet Home. Can you believe that quaint name?
The farm is set in its own secluded valley at the end of a dead-end road, just like Locust Hill. Along with a large plantation of fir trees they planted when they first moved there, there's an orchard, pastures and a vast hillside of evergreens, wildflowers and walking trails plus a babbling brook leading to two ponds. The house was small and ordinary when they bought the place, but you can always fix a house and Clem has done just that, adding a large master bedroom, an office for Trum, who runs the braille program for the school district, plus a new porch and a deck with a hot tub, heaven at the end of the day!
The rest of the property is a copycat of Locust Hill - several small outbuildings which used to house sheep and a pony, but nowadays includes a llama, five pygmy goats, lots of chickens, three dogs but no cats as Trum loves the dozens of songbirds that flutter around her many birdfeeders. They also have a huge vegetable garden, asparagus, raspberries, plus the apple, pear and plum trees that they inherited with the property.
It was a treat to see Trum and Clem's place in all its spring beauty. I'd never been there in May before, but now I know why. Let's face it, New England gardeners shouldn't leave home over Memorial Day. Besides being absolutely THE DAY to plant the vegetable garden, neglected lawns, weeds, and a dozen other aspects of gardening get totally out of hand at this time of year. And in a wet spring like this one, everything got ahead of me. It was finally dry enough to mow the lawn, but then another rain made it too wet to rake, so it's looked this ugly ever since.
The weeds popped up, the iris and the Asian lilies fell down, the asparagus turned into tall feathery stalks that I hope to cut down whenever the rain stops so I can get some asparagus to freeze. It was only on June 6th that I finally planted a few vegetables -peppers, tomatoes, onions, cutting flowers and zucchini. Mother Nature let go with another downpour before I could plant the carrots and Swiss chard, more lettuce and radish seeds.
Yikes! I'm afraid this is a pretty dull column. Sorry about that. I always try to include at least one item of useful information, but I think my brain has become waterlogged with all the rain.
