Crater Lake in Spring

On our way to Bend, we took a side trip to the Crater Lake National Park in Central Oregon. Crater Lake National Park was just transitioning from deep winter to the summer season. The resorts and motels were opening, the road to Rim Village was plowed but not Rim Drive, and snow was still on the ground at higher elevations (52 feet of snow was recorded this year). It was off season, with fewer crowds and cool temperature – just the way we like it!

Mill Creek Falls

 Mill Creek Gorge

We approached the park on Highway 62 from Medford, Oregon, and checked into our rustic cabin in the historic Union Creek Resort (opened in 1922 to serve visitors to the park). We explored the area, visiting Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls. The weather was beautiful and warm, and the Douglas Fir forest and understory provided wonderful shade. The Rogue River and its tributaries meander through the area, providing many waterfalls. Some require a hike, but many are accessible after a short walk. We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Beckie's Café (they are known for their hospitality and their pies), and then retired to our cozy cabin.

Union Creek

Union Creek Resort

The next day was also beautiful and warm. We drove the 20 miles to the Crater Lake Visitor Center on clear roads, but quickly got into snow country as we ascended to 6,000 feet. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Park Headquarters for the introductory film about the park and its origins, and marveled at the snow banks. It was fun to see so much snow after our years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I observed more than a few adults ball up a handful of snow and toss it playfully.

Crater Lake Visitor Center in June

Wizard Island from Discovery Point

Crater Lake

We stopped at several overlooks to view the lake, but ended up at Discovery Point for the best views of Wizard Island and the lake. It was surprisingly busy, with a continual stream of visitors. Several chipmunks and birds entertained the visitors. After exploring and picture taking, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the beautiful Crater Lake Lodge and then headed back to our rustic cabin at Union Creek Resort for the night.

Crater Lake Lodge

Crate Lake Lodge Lobby

The following morning, we packed up and checked out of the hotel, and lingered over a final breakfast at Beckie's Café. We stopped at the nearby Rogue River Gorge for a look at the falls, and a walk through the forest. We saw the Living Stump (its roots are grafted to the roots of living trees, so could heal the wound where it was sawed, and continues to live). The walk by the falls is fenced, with several outcrops provide better viewing (you could feel secure hiking with a young child). We left the area and headed to Beautiful Bend by way of Highway 138 (with a quick stop at Diamond Lake), and Highway 97.

Rogue River Gorge

Predictions are that the Rim Drive won't be completely plowed until mid-July because of the heavy snowfall this year. We still enjoyed the beautiful vistas of the lake, and the chance to see part of the park, even if access was limited by the snow. The visit brought back good memories of when my sister, young son, and I camped at Crater Lake many years ago. We pitched a tent, explored the area, and enjoyed being together!

McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Garden

While on our way to Bend for the graduation, my husband and I stopped at the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Garden, which is situated on the Sacramento River in Turtle Bay Exploration Park, located in Redding, California. Two years ago, we stopped to see the Sundial footbridge and the riparian forest in the same park (see Sundial Bridge in Redding).

Bridge Gate Entrance

Shady Oak Forest

The arboretum and botanical garden occupy 200 acres of land from which sand was quarried to build the Shasta Dam. From pictures, it looked like it was a wasteland afterward, but some forward-thinking folks planted trees and native plants and reclaimed the area. Now the arboretum supports a riparian forest of mature oaks that provide deep shade for its visitors.

Medicinal Garden

Chilean Garden, with Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana) tree

The botanical garden is a series of "rooms", each with a different theme, interspersed throughout the arboretum along paths that wander in and out of sun and shade. Benches are everywhere and provide shady respite from the hot sun and bright light, and great views of the garden rooms.

Meadow

The main theme is Mediterranean, with gardens for each of the five zones: South Africa, Mediterranean, Chile, Australia, and California. Additional gardens include the Butterfly Garden, Children's Garden, Meadow, Sounds of Water, a wonderful native California Garden, and more.

Sounds of Water

California Coffeeberry

The plant collection is not extensive, but they have chosen wonderful examples for each region. The plants have room to grow and spread, and they thrive in the hot climate of Redding, tempered by proximity to the Sacramento River. Another feature is the presence of art throughout the garden. I enjoyed Earthstone by Colleen Barry, and the mosaic pyramids by ceramic artist Paul Rideout, both local artists. A mobile app and informative signage provide information.

Pyramid, by Paul Rideout

Earthstone, by Colleen Barry

I especially enjoyed the native plant garden with its healthy plants thriving in the Mediterranean microclimate; and the Chilean Garden, with its monkey puzzle tree and Chilean Palm tree.  I also enjoyed the water garden, and its stone water structure and water ways, feeding several interconnected ponds where water plants, like lily, Iris, reeds, and grasses grow.

California Native Garden

I recommend this garden if you visit Redding, or just pass through on your way north or south. You can "do" most of the garden in an hour and a half (even pausing to relax under the shady oaks), but you might be tempted to linger longer. Be sure to look for the Italian Ice cart by the Bridge Gate Entrance for refreshment (we enjoyed the sugar-free cherry and pineapple on the day we visited).

Chilean Wine Palm	Blue Puya (Puya beteroniana)
Lamb's Ear	Matilija Poppy
Water Lily	Unidentified

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Beautiful Bend: 2017

I love to visit my sister and brother-in-law on their beautiful 30-acre ranch in Bend, Oregon. Over the past several years, our family from Alaska, Oregon, and California has descended on Bend, Oregon to attend the high school graduations of their four children. This year, my nephew, Lucas, graduated; in previous years, Sarah, Thea, and Joe graduated. Not only has it become a tradition for celebrating and launching some great kids into adulthood, but it has become a wonderful opportunity for some mini family reunions.

Go Cougars - Class of 2017!

Dessert Bar

This visit the weather was cold, with intermittent sun, clouds, and rain. This is fitting after a long, cold winter with many feet of snow that stayed on the ground, nine "snow days" from school, and blocked driveways (where we got rain in the Bay Area, they got snow)! We heard many harrowing snow stories about folks getting stranded, staying indoors for days, and coping with daily life with so much snow.

Red tractor

Lava rock path	Fire pit by Lucas
Raised bed with annuals	Raised beds and bench storage

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The ranch looked beautiful and green under the changing, and dramatic skies. Current occupants include one cow, three dogs, and a cat (recall from past visits cattle, goats, chickens, and a show llama have resided on the ranch). I love to see all the great gardening ideas (and I know Bend has a challenging climate for gardening)!

BLM land under cloudy skies

The Bureau of Land Management land that borders the property looked lush and healthy; the frogs and birds seem to be just "waking up" from the long winter with croaking and chirping. We saw large birds being driven off by smaller, determined birds protecting their nests, so life is returning.

Sunset House

Big sky over the ranch

Over the graduation weekend, our family had a chance to catch up on each other's lives. The nieces and nephews are working on higher education (Sarah just completed her Master of Arts degree in Education – woot woot). Several spouses, boyfriends, and fiancées have joined the family and bring a new dimension. We learned more family history from Ompa, about growing up on the farm in the Netherlands (Holland), World War II, immigration to Nova Scotia to start a new farm, and then to the United States.

Irrigation lines

Distant mountains

More great conversation occurred around the fire pit that Lucas welded out of an old water compressor. It burned beautifully, and put off a perfect heat. With a full moon and dramatic clouds overhead, heavy blankets and coats supplied by my sister, and s'mores and cigars, three generations (soon to be four) shared stories around the fire, as has been done through the ages.

Fire pit stories	Comradery
Family ties	Generations

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Color in the Garden: The Blues

To continue with our theme of color in the garden, this month we are focusing on the blues. Our guide is Penelope Hobhouse, and her book, Color in Your Garden, is providing ideas and inspiration. In the process, we're developing a palette of plants to add blue to our gardens here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Blue is a cool and restful color, with a short wavelength that forces the eye to refocus from its normal focal length (which favors yellows, greens, and whites). Distant colors in the landscape tend to fade, due to light rays scattering in the atmosphere. Dark blues and violets seem to blur and blend, and appear to recede into the distance. The gallery includes native plants, Mediterranean plants, and some that can thrive in a Bay Area microclimate.

Spring

Wisteria	Tulips
Bluebells	Iris
Ceanothus (lilac)	Ceanothus (dark blue)
Lupine	Unidentified

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The blues include shades of blue, violet, and purple (there are few truly blue flowers). Blues can be pale and luminous, or dark and glowing. They can appear cool when pure or greenish, or warm when reddish. Some blues are bright and intense, blues in the distance may appear dull and muted.  The blues herald Spring in my yard, with Muscari and Bluebells in mass, but they can be found throughout the Bay Area in all seasons.

Summer

Delphiniums	Lithodora
Hydrangea (acidic soil)	Agapanthus
Echium (starting to bloom)	Plumbago

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Gray may make light blues luminous, and blues may appear to glow at twilight. Carpets of blue can also be luminous (remember the blue forget-me-nots from Filoli in Spring). Blue flowers can be intensified with white, or with contrasting colors, such orange or yellow.

Fall and Winter

Salvia	Unidentified
Rosemary	Muscari

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Foliage and grasses can also be bluish, especially succulents and Mediterranean plants that are water wise. Trees like Deodar Cedar and Sitka Spruce have needles that are blue (but few of us have big enough yards to support their grand size)!

Foliage

Agave	Beavertail Cactus
Echinara	Echinara
Echium (foliage)	Yucca

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To find more about blue flowers and foliage that thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area, see Wildflowers of the East Bay Regional Park District. Another good source is Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates.