PHOTOS: First blooms of spring delight visitors at Gaiety Hollow

Spring may be a bit slow in arriving, but the flowering trees and the first brave bulbs were putting on a beautiful show for the attendees of the first Lord and Schryver open garden tour Saturday.

The tour started at Gaiety Hollow, which was the home garden and personal home of Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, the first women in the Pacific Northwest to own and operate their own landscape architecture firm. The firm designed over 200 landscapes and gardens in the Pacific Northwest region between 1929 and 1969.

Bush House and the front gardens greeted the attendees who were on their way to view the Tartar old rose and ornamental tree Gardens on the Open House Garden tour. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

The next stop was across the street to Bush’s Pasture Park to view the Tartar old rose and ornamental tree collection. Both of these gardens were also designed by the Lord and Schryver partnership. Currently, the Mission Street Parks Conservancy and the City of Salem care for both gardens and are seeking funds for their restoration.

The last stop on the tour was to view the Lord and Schryver designed gardens at Deepwood Museum and Gardens. In 1929, Lord and Schryver began a 10-year collaboration with Alice Brown, designing a series of garden rooms on her five acre property with its 1894 Queen Anne House located just two blocks east of Gaiety Hollow.

The Lord and Schryver Conservancy cares for the historic gardens at Deepwood, and the most notable of these gardens includes the Tea House and Scroll Garden.

Gaiety Hollow is the home base to the Lord & Schryver Conservancy, who are responsible for organizing the open tours every year. Future dates are Saturdays from April through September. More information can be found at https://lordschryver.org/programs-and-events.

Hannah Curry, head gardener for the Lord and Schryver Conservancy, discusses a variety of clematis with Open Garden tour attendee Nancy Burr at Gaiety Hollow. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

Melanie Rousseau, a recent arrival from Austin, Texas, enjoys the early tulip offerings at the Gaiety Hollow during the Open Garden tour. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

The garden nooks at Gaiety Hollow provided refuge from the intermittent showers for Anna Sevruk, a garden aficionado who was visiting from Corvallis for the Open Garden tours. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

Gretchen Carnaby from Mission Street Conservancy gives an overview to Open House Garden attendees about the ornamental features in the Tartar old rose garden that were designed by Lord and Schryver. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

Russ Strohmeyer, resident of the Salem Auto Club Council, sits in his car at Deepwood Gardens before leaving to participate in the annual Salem Auto Club Cherry Blossom Poker Run. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

Abigail and James Milton from Portland enjoy looking at the blooming Erythronium lilies at Deepwood Gardens during the Open Garden tour. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

The Erythronium lilies were a highlight of the Open Garden tour at Deepwood Gardens. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected].

JUST THE FACTS, FOR SALEM – We report on your community with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Get local news that matters to you. Subscribe to Salem Reporter. Click I want to subscribe!

By Laura Tesler - Special to Salem Reporter

Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.