Cold Spring Days and Berry Botanic Garden
Debbie Teashon
We Northwesterners recognize that the month of April is typically chilly and damp; however, this year is noticeably colder. In exchange for this unusually cold season, we ought to receive a long, warm summer that extends halfway into fall. The weather owes us a pleasant summer, don’t you think? Everyone I chat with is complaining about the cold; yet the new season is showing signs that springtime is here, in the face of our crabbiness.
I toured Berry Botanic Garden in Portland on Sunday. Balls of Primula flowers danced on the cool breezes, pink or white blossoms covered bare branches of early flowering trees, and the rhododendrons were popping color in their opening trusses. Even with the wind and rain squalls passing through, it was pleasant to visit again.
The garden is a gathering of Rae Berry’s (known internationally as a serious plantswoman in the 1920s) plant collections, rhododendron forest and alpine rock gardens. Trails take you through the rhododendron forest and native plants. The most important aspect of the garden is that it houses a seed bank of rare and endangered native plants, plus programs that help with recovery projects.
If you are in the Portland area and haven’t visited this garden, I encourage you to do so. A five-dollar donation is well worth the cost to stroll the grounds surrounding the Berry house.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton
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