16 CapitalPress.com
August 21, 2015
Nursery specializes in rare perennial plants
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
PEDEE, Ore. — Leon-
ard Foltz, owner of Danc-
ing Oaks Nursery with Fred
Weisensee, pulls out a scrap-
book of the 1920s-era Priem
farm, a dairy that once oper-
ated on the land now home
to native and exotic nursery
plants. The barns and build-
ings have been since leveled
by time and by World War II
Camp Adair war games. The
Weisensees have owned the
land since the 1960s.
While Fred was grow-
ing up on his family’s land,
across the Willamette Val-
ley in the Cascade foothills,
Leonard Foltz was growing
up on the Jordan farm his
great-grandfather had es-
tablished east of Scio. His
father and grandfather were
mill workers and mechan-
ics. His sister still lives in
the 1884 house on the Jor-
dan property.
Fred eventually became
a doctor, and continues to
N15-4/#5
practice in Corvallis. But
it wasn’t until Fred and
Leonard attended a series
of garden lectures near
their former Oregon City
home that they began to
dream of operating a gar-
den with a nursery on Wei-
sensee land.
“We thought we would
move back after retire-
ment, but it was getting too
crowded for our rural blood.
We thought: Why not now?”
Leonard said. Because of an
opening at Good Samaritan
Internal Medicine in nearby
Corvallis they decided to
make the move within a few
months.
In August 1995, the two
moved into a mobile home
on the property and be-
gan planting a garden and
starting the nursery which
opened officially on 1997.
They’ve only recently torn
down the trailer and built
a wood frame and E-crete
(energy efficient concrete)
house, a few hundred yards
from the nursery.
The nursery started
small, specializing in wa-
ter plants — many of which
they had started in Oregon
City. At their Pedee-area
nursery, they sold the seeds,
and divided and propagat-
ed the plants they owned,
including a tree peony that
still grows in the middle
of the gardens. Today, they
gather plants from all over
the world and test their
abilities to endure Oregon
weather before reselling
small amounts to homeown-
ers. The nursery doesn’t sell
wholesale.
The gardens, which
demonstrate
landscaping
design ideas, includes wa-
ter features, a prairie garden
area, a pergola for roses and
vines, a spreading oak tree
with shade plants, and se-
cluded areas with benches
and tables surrounded by
shrubs and flowers, accent-
ed here and there with art
pieces. Most of the items
‘We thought we would
move back after
retirement, but it was
getting too crowded
for our rural blood.
We thought: Why not
now?’
— Leonard Foltz
growing in the gardens can
be purchased from one of
the five greenhouses. The
nursery sells around 1,500
different items throughout
the year.
Leonard manages the
nursery full-time with help
from Fred in the evenings,
weekends and his days off
from medical practice.
About 10 years ago, Fred
and Leonard had an open-
beam pavilion built in the
middle of the gardens to
accommodate visitors who
want to sit for a spell on
the veranda surrounding the
building. The water features
followed.
Although there are many
native plants available
for sale, Leonard said his
mainstay is unusual pe-
rennial plants — some of
which are surprisingly du-
rable. Along the walks is all
manner of flowering plants
— from gardenias to gun-
nera, dierama to sinningia
— from the Himalayas to
the tropics to the Oregon
coast.
The company’s web-
site,
www.dancingoaks.
com, has a user-friendly
catalog that helps narrow
choices based on catego-
ry, exposure to sunlight or
water, and even deer-re-
sistance. The nursery is
open Tuesday through Sun-
day through Oct. 31,
then reopens March 1,
2016. During the off-sea-
son appointments can be
made by calling 503-838-
6058.