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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2015)
Art in the garden Horticulturist and garden designer Becky Graham has passion for making things better, brighter and beautiful B ecky Graham eats, sleeps and dreams plants — to say she is a gardener only hints at her story. She will share her talents (the plu- ral is correct), including her extensive knowledge of plants, landscape de- sign, containers and the ongoing nur- turing of things that grow, at the Astoria Co-op Grocery’s next food and wellness lecture series, Beers to Your Health. Mark your calendars for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, and head to the Fort George Brewery’s Lovell Showroom. Graham’s landscape business, Harvest Moon Design, has been showing and growing itself in Astoria for over seven years. Fondly labeled “the parking lot gardener” by the Astoria Co-op crew, Graham has transformed the store’s entry. “Somehow she makes it really beautiful. Our customers love looking at the different plants that she rotates seasonally. We get lots of pos- itive feedback,” says Astoria Co-op Grocery General Manager Matt Stanley. Another of her projects involves the healing garden at Columbia Memorial Hospital. And over at Astoria’s Hotel Elliott, John Nelson, the hotel’s general manager, says, “We constantly get compliments about our entry boxes and the Submitted photo The Astoria Co-op Grocery’s parking lot garden is one example of Becky Gra- ham’s skills of creating beautiful container gardens in unusual places. URRIWRSJDUGHQ<RX¶OOHYHQ¿QGWKHPPHQWLRQHG on Trip Advisor. Becky’s skill has led her to oth- er clients in the neighborhood. In my opinion the whole area is looking better because of Harvest 0RRQ 'HVLJQ 6KH KDV D GH¿QLWH SDVVLRQ WKDW would be the envy of most people.” That passion began when Graham was 19 and living in Portland. “I was and am fascinated by plants. I nurture them, and they nurture me,” says Graham. A career in health care paid her bills while an amazing but small home garden DQGDÀHGJOLQJSODQWVFDSHEXVLQHVVWKH&RUSR- rate Jungle, fed her enthusiasm. When her incoming-earning employment became just that, a job, she left. A secure position ZLWKDEHQH¿WSDFNDJHVL[ZHHNVRIDFFXPXODW- HGYDFDWLRQ¿YHZHHNVRIVLFNOHDYHDQGZHHN- ends off was history. She’s never looked back. “I took the master gardener’s program, got a de- gree in horticulture from Mt. Hood Community College and enrolled in any plant class I could ¿QG´*UDKDPVD\V³,JRWDMREZLWK'UDNH¶V 7 Dees in Portland — working every weekend, QREHQH¿WV²DQGLWSDLGVHYHQGROODUVDQKRXU I loved it — I had a blast! I got another couple of jobs on the Mt. Hood college campus working on the grounds with the horticulture department. I had so much fun. Everyday work felt like play.” 1H[W FDPH D ¿YH\HDU SRVLWLRQ DV D SODQW buyer in Portland at West Coast Plant Compa- ny; a high-end haunt for unusual and the unique plants. “I had the greatest job in the world. I brought in tropical plants from Florida and Ha- waii, or got in a pickup truck and headed way out in the country discovering wonderful plant YDULHWLHVDQGH[FHSWLRQDO¿QGV´*UDKDPVD\V “I don’t call myself an expert at anything, but plants are my strong point.” One day, an online ad for property for sale in the Astoria area caught her attention. “It was for an acre of land; more or less a dump with a run- down manufactured home and some boulders out in front,” Graham says. “It spoke to me. I had a growing passion to live in the country and have a large garden to call my own. The layout Beers to Your Health: The Art of Gardening with Becky Graham, of Harvest Moon Design 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14 Fort George Lovell Showroom 426 14th St., Astoria Free Photo by Joshua Bessex Becky Graham waters plants in her front yard garden in Knappa. was perfect. I wanted a small home and a large JDUGHQ,ZDQWHGWREHHQHUJ\HI¿FLHQW,ZDQWHG to grow my own food. And I wanted to be able to afford it. It was wonderful. So, she bought it. Located in Knappa, a few years of owner- ship and lots of grunt work has turned Graham’s dump into something to behold. Like a cover on a home and garden magazine, the garden bursts with cascading colors. Multiple raised beds in- clude an artful mix of harmony and harshness: HGLEOHV IROLDJH ÀRZHUV DQG IRXQG REMHFWV DOO complementing each other. Bees buzz, birds chirp and Graham’s two beloved dogs reign over it all. “When I’m designing or gardening, I feel like I’m playing. I call my garden my playground, my classroom and my sanctuary,” Graham says. “I hunt and gather things that make me weak in the knees. I have an old copper washing ma- chine, and I know I’m either going to make a Photo by Joshua Bessex Graham repurposes various metal pieces she recovers from scrap yards to use as planters, decorations and stepping stones in her garden. water feature out of it or a planter.” In the mean time, she’s got a full spring plant- ing schedule in Astoria that she’s ready share with an appreciative audience. the arts VISUAL ARTS • LITERATURE • THEATER • MUSIC & MORE Story by MARILYN GILBAUGH May 7, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9