In just a few short weeks – April 7 to be exact – the new season of the HPSO Open Gardens begins! Thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of our members who are opening their gardens, we have a wide-ranging group of beautiful gardens you can visit each weekend, and even some weekday evenings straight through until early October.

This year, approximately 120 private gardens, as well as nursery display gardens, are open for your viewing pleasure. Whether you are seeking design inspiration or you just need a relaxing stroll through a beautiful garden, the tour has something for everyone — from smaller city gardens to spacious country estates, new to established, sun to shade, they show the range of plants and growing conditions we enjoy in our region. Locations vary throughout the city of Portland and Vancouver, and extend as far as Manzanita, Oregon to the west and Kelso, Washington to the north.

HPSO members will receive this year’s open garden book via mail in the beginning of April, and can also access the PDF version of the book on the HPSO website any time by logging into their account: http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/login

If you’re not yet a member of HPSO and would like to visit some of these gardens, become a member today: http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/join-the-hardy-plant-society (new members also receive $10 off at Hortlandia 2018, so this is a great time to join!)

There are approximately one dozen gardens open during the month of April. Some of the April gardens include:

The Wisner/Orloff garden (Photo by Phillip Oliver)

Linda Wisner and Chet Orloff
This 1.3 acre garden on Sauvie Island includes a variety of enticing elements such as an inviting courtyard described by the owners as “Mediterranean meets Pacific Northwest”. Extending out from the courtyard are vegetable and herb gardens, a berry round, meadows and both shady and sunny flower borders. This garden will also be open on specific dates in June, September and by appointment.

Tuttle garden (Photo by Phillip Oliver)

Bill and Charlene Tuttle
Prepare for a sensory overload in the fantastic Tuttle garden in Lake Oswego. This garden features over 300 clematis, fuchsias, hydrangeas, peonies, hellebores and poppies in exuberant perennial borders that are punctuated with Chinese-red trellises (see the featured image above). There is also a large orchard and vegetable garden.

Greydanus/Simmons garden (Photo by Phillip Oliver)

Matthew Greydanus and Darin Simmons
A spectacular garden that is well worth your drive to Estacada, Oregon, “Laurel Hedge” is a two acre estate composed of garden rooms featuring roses, flower gardens, bamboos and evergreens. Enhanced with statuary, rustic structures, fountains and water features, there is something fabulous around every corner. A boutique and nursery is also on site.

This is just a small sampling of the Open Gardens in April, and we’ll be featuring more of the gardens you can expect to see throughout this growing season in future blog posts, so stay tuned!

Note: If you are a HPSO member with an open garden coming up this year, and would like to have your garden featured in this series, please contact us: http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/contact-us