Owners Musings – Garden Love
Saffron Fields Vineyad owner Angela Summers leading Japanese Garden private tour, Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon
I have loved gardening for as long as I can remember.
My mom has a photo of me when I was three, wearing a swimsuit and holding a hose in the garden. Our home garden grew tomatoes, okra, string beans, bell peppers, banana peppers, yellow squash, and cucumbers. Every now and then, lima beans and black eyes peas were added to the mix.
When I went to college, a vegetable garden wasn’t possible, so I substituted houseplants and hanging baskets. My houseplants won several ribbons in a South Carolina garden show when I was working on my master’s degree.
After Sanjeev and I married, we bought a house in Houston and a garden tiller from Sears. Several truckloads of dirt and bark mulch later, the front and backyard were transformed into undulating beds of flowers surrounding a koi pond with a waterfall. Later, I added bonsai and moss gardens to the patio and orchids in the windowsills.
Angela Summers raking Zen Garden adjacent to Japanese Gardens surrounding Saffron Fields Vineyards, Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon
When we started designing the Saffron Fields tasting room, the tasting room architect Richard Shugar was concerned about how the land sloped away from it and felt we needed to do something to visually anchor the building to the hillside. I had already started working with garden designer Hoichi Kurisu on the landscape design at that point. I asked Richard for patience. I promised him that the planned garden would be more than planter boxes and pagodas. Instead of anchoring the building to the hillside, Hoichi lifted the garden to surround and embrace the tasting room, allowing the architect to capture the garden and vineyard views.
Nowadays, my visits often demand attention to the business of running a successful vineyard and winery. Nonetheless, on each visit, I love walking and working in the garden at the tasting room and at my residence perched atop the vineyard.
Angela Summers, Saffron Fields Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
