Karen’s Oregon Garden Through the Seasons

Hi GPODers!

Today we get to see another garden transform over the course of the last year. (If you missed yesterday’s 2024 garden highlights, check that out here: Phyllis’s Garden in New Jersey) Karen Safford has submitted an incredible month-by-month tour of her new rock garden in Bend, Oregon. In just three years with this space, you’ll be amazed at what Karen has been able to create.

Hi. I saw your call for photos and decided to be brave and send some along. This is just a section of my garden—I’m sending photos that start in early spring and end just yesterday (Nov. 15). We moved into our house 3 years ago and the backyard was a blank slate other than established trees and massive lava rocks and a large slope. We had a lot of structural work done and I did all the plantings. This section can be seen the best from my kids bedrooms—so I’ve really focused on butterfly and hummingbird plants that they can watch from their desks. Also, being in the high desert, I’ve really concentrated on low water— I’ve installed drip irrigation on all of these plants and run it between 30-60 minutes, 3 times a week depending on how hot it is. I am also working on keeping everything deeply mulched to try to help conserve water and protect the roots.

The first photo is mid-April. You can see all the rocks I’m dealing with (I have even bigger ones in other parts of the yard). The snow has cleared and things are really starting to green up.

Next photo: Mid-May. Plants: Helen von Stein lambs ear (Stachys byzantina ‘Helen von Stein’, Zones 4–9), bearded iris, Raspberry Wine bee balm (Monarda ‘Raspberry Wine’, Zones 4–9), Royal Candles veronica (Veronica spicata ‘Glory’, Zones 4–9), FlowerKisser® After Midnight English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia ‘WWG002’, Zones 5–9), Siskiyou Blue fescue grass (Festuca idahoensis ‘Siskiyou Blue’, Zones 5–9), Princess Louise oriental poppy (Papaver orientale ‘Princess Louise’, Zones 3–8), poet’s daffodil (Narcissus poeticus, Zones 3–8), Globemaster allium (Allium ‘Globemaster’, Zones 5–8) and creeping veronica (Veronica prostrata, Zones 4–8).

End of May.

Mid-June.

Early July: Big blue Bryngium (Eryngium × zabelii ‘Big Blue’, Zones 5–9) and my favorite geranium, Ann Folkard (Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’, Zones 5–8). Darlow’s Enigma rambling rose (Rosa ‘Darlow’s Enigma’, Zones 5–9) climbing the tree in the background.

Mid-August: The bee balm and hollyhock (Alcea rugosa, Zones 4–8) are putting on a show.

Late September: Blue Boa agastache (Agastache ‘Blue Boa’, Zones 5–9) still going pretty strong along with PowWow® Wild Berry echinacea (Echinacea purpurea ‘PAS702917’, Zones 4–9).

Mid-October: The tree that I got for free that I don’t know what it is is putting on a great show.

And finally, mid-November.

Thank you so much for this glorious tour of your garden through the seasons, Karen! It’s amazing what you’ve accomplished in three years in this space.

Have you documented your garden through the seasons this year? We’d love to see how your landscape has evolved over the course of this year. Follow the directions below to submit your photos.

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To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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