Out and About

Paradise in the City
Leach Botanical Garden
By Marie Sherlock

Picture this: A gray stone cottage sits nestled in foliage and tucked into the side of a hill that slopes down to a meandering stream. Cobblestone paths leading to its sturdy wooden door create a labryinth amid the ferns and evergreens. Who lives here? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

No, this is Leach Botanical Garden in southeast Portland, and this fairy tale setting is just one of its many delights.

I’ve lived in the Portland area most of my adult life; my husband has lived here all of his 45 years. Yet neither of us had ever visited this Portland treasure until recently.

Well, better late than never, because the garden, a 16 acre urban oasis with over 2,000 different plant species represented, is not to be missed. Leach Botanical Garden has something for everyone: Flora and fauna, history, botanical information and environmental lessons, whimsy – even romance.

Not the least of Leach’s charms are its knowledgeable and friendly volunteer guides. Ours, Gayle Mirkin, meets my husband and I and our two sons in front of the Manor House on a sunny Saturday morning. Gayle starts the tour by giving us some background on the Leaches and their garden.

John Leach was a phamacist and civic leader; his wife Lilla was a botanist. John courted Lilla by promising that she could continue to perform her botanical studies – at a time when married women weren’t encouraged to have their own careers – and that he would take her places where she could hike, explore and perhaps even find new plants.

John was true to his word. The couple spent a good deal of time in the Siskiyou Mountains in southern Oregon where Lilla made several of her discoveries (she ultimately applied for patents for five different plants). As their home base, the Leaches designed a five acre garden off southeast Foster Road in the early 1930s which they named “Sleepy Hollow.” (The Garden, through acquisitions, now encompasses about 16 acres). The Leaches ultimately donated the land and their home to the City of Portland to be used as a botanical garden.

Gayle takes us first to see that magical cottage, where the Leaches lived while their larger home – the Manor House – was being built. The cottage, which sits across Johnson Creek from the main house, is not more than 500 square feet yet, as Gayle points out, it had everything the couple needed – a Murphy bed, a diminutive kitchen, fireplace and toilet Shaded by towering firs, it’s enchanting; I half expect pixies and brownies to appear. Near the cottage, an outdoor dining area is equipped with benches, a large fire pit, running water, even electricity for the Leaches’ many parties. (Note: The cottage area is closed except during tours.)

Gayle leads us back across Johnson Creek and we begin an easy walk through the garden on the north side of the Manor house. It’s time for some serious plant identification. On trails that crisscross Lilla Leach’s collection of plants, Gayle urges my sons to create names for plants. Trillium become “baby moon glow;” fiery orange jack-in-the-pulpit are dubbed “Halloween corn.”

Soon we reach the Metro Home Composting Demonstration Center, a display of various types of compost bins. Gayle fearlessly digs her hand into the red worm bin, inviting us to inhale. She’s right: it doesn’t smell like garbage. The worms have worked their magic.

Gayle asks Scotty Fairchild, Leach gardener, who is working nearby, if my kids can meet him. He readily obliges and asks the kids if they’d like to see some carnivorous plants. Are you kidding? Scotty shows them a Venus flytrap and several other varieties that we’re surprised to learn are native to the Northwest. The kids watch mesmerized as a small ant is “captured” by the sticky hairs of a “pitcher plant.”

I ask Scotty if spring is Leach’s busiest season. Well, yes, he acknowledges but fall is also beautiful. In fact, Scotty tells me, “the fall is when this garden shines. It’s the best autumn garden in the city.” Along with the fall colors, migrating birds – always kid-pleasers – are plentiful.

“You’ll see some incredible stuff when you come back,” he promises.

If You Go:

Location: 6704 SE 122nd Ave. Take I-205 South to the Foster Road exit. Follow Foster Road East to 122nd. Turn right at 122nd. Leach is about 1/2 mile on the left. Parking is across the bridge, on 122nd, on the right.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm. Sunday, 1 to 4 pm. Closed Mondays and major holidays.

Cost: Free (donations encouraged)

Tours: Regularly scheduled tours are Saturdays at 10 am. The garden holds its annual Children’s Nature Fair in May each year. Call or visit the Web site for details.

Information: www.leachgarden.org; 503-823-9503.

Marie Sherlock is the editor of Metro Parent. This article first appeared in Portland Parent in 2001.

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