The Simonds’ house on Clinton Street combines beautiful trees and flowers in a feast for the eyes and for the pollinators
By Elizabeth Essex
Tucked between Clinton Street and Briscoe Place in the Riverwalk neighborhood lies the residence of Richard and Laura Simonds, selected as the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for June.
Two splendid dogwoods are in bloom this month. One, one tall and slender (Cornus nuttallii x florida, or Eddie’s White Wonder), is tucked into the entry garden. The second, more diminutive one, (Cornus kousa, Milky Way), is featured to the right of the entry drive at 443 Clinton. Note the size of the bracts on the taller one, nearly the size of a human palm with more rounded tips. The other, with pinched tips and a spot of color on the petals. So special.
Plantings either side of the driveway feature a lovely dwarf Japanese maple (Acer p. dissectum, Red Emperor), an outstanding specimen of viburnum, Pink Dawn, several heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestic, Firepower) accented by Heather (Calluna vulgaris, Firefly and Barcelona).
The cone-shaped taller shrubs are Boxwood (Buxus x, Green Mountain) and dwarf mugo pines (Pinus mugo, Slowmound) complete the picture.
Following along behind the fence line, the entry walk is planted with mock orange (Choisya ternata), variegated red twig dogwood (Cornus alba Ivory Halo), lily of the valley shrub (Pieris japonica, Mountain Fire) and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) trained on a welded wire fence.
The foundation is edged with boxwood (Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa) and two Sky Pencil Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) accent the porch columns.
Several glass flowers add a splash of color to the otherwise classic green and white color palette.
An enclosed garden on Clinton provides a virtual feast for our flying friends. The design features a berm created from the rolled-up turf that was removed to create the pollinator garden envisioned by the Simonds when they purchased the property in May 2019, although they didn’t move in until July 2020. It features a trio of Royal Raindrops crabapple trees, a bloodgood Japanese maple, a young lilac and a serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia).
Two butterfly bushes (Buddleia Miss Violet and Miss Molly), silver artemisia (Powis Castle), St. John’s wort (shrub-form hypericum sunburst), drifts of both French (Lavandula x intermedia, Phenomenal) and English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, hidcote), low-growing germander, gaura and yarrow are just some of the plantings frequented by the bees and butterflies.
Three compact strawberry bushes (Arbutus unedo compacta, Oktoberfest) line one fence and bay laurel stretch along the other.
The Japanese barberry Cherry Bomb was selected to complement the bloodgood maple.
The Simonds engaged Robin McKenzie, owner of Rockbird Gardens in Talent, in March 2021 to design their garden with one stipulation: that the fig tree at the entry on Briscoe be kept.
It has been skillfully pruned to remain proportional in size. Thadeus Espinoza, owner of Southern Bloom Landscaping, installed and has maintained the garden since its inception.
Please stop by and step up to the handsome undulating fence to enjoy the astounding variety of plant material.
The Riverwalk neighborhood, where McKenzie designed several other gardens, is a delight to walk about. Just a few steps north on Clinton is an Ashland city park designated as a pollinator garden by Pollinator Project Rogue Valley (pollinatorprojectroguevalley.org).
The spring blossoms may have disappeared from our gardens but summer has indeed provided us with a cornucopia of images to discover.
The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month, from April through September, since 2000. Nominations are gratefully received at [email protected]. Check out the club’s website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.
