Inviting Vines 2026

Sauvie Island Garden Tour

Sunday, June 14, 12:00‒5:00 PM, $35

Tickets available at the Inviting Vines booth at Cistus Nursery & Sauvie Island Natives

  • Visit four private gardens and two nurseries on Sauvie Island

FLICKER FARM GARDENS
Explore the gardens at Linda Wisner and Chet Orloff’s 1.3-acre Sauvie Island home. Walk through metal gates sculpted by Ray Huston into the magical world of Flicker Farm, the heart of which is a Mediterranean-meets-Pacific-Northwest grapevine-covered courtyard. Wander through the bird bath garden and on past berms, perennial borders, rocky xeric gardens, meadows, vegetable gardens, meadows and native plantings, and a dahlia bed in the orchard. Circle back past the barn, under a fig tree, along blueberry and strawberry beds and the bird-filled East Courtyard. Discover the purple door in a tall boxwood hedge that leads to the front woodland gardens where ferns and other shade loving plants abound. You'll also find plenty of places to sit a while, from a dry-stacked stone bench in front, to a cluster of Adirondack chairs under the contorted mulberry, to the Heritage birch grove.

Accessibility: The property is flat. The gardens are accessible on gravel or wood chip paths and across mowed lawns. Parking will be along the road and across the road in a neighbor’s meadow. It can accommodate 15-20 cars. Overflow will need to park about 1/8 mile away at the boat launch ramp parking lot on Ferry Rd.

LOST LAGOON FARM | SAUVIE ISLAND NATIVES NURSERY
See what happens when a botany nerd (Jane Hartline) and a seasoned gardener (Mark Greenfield) create an arboretum of Oregon native flowers, shrubs, ferns, and trees! Pathways lead around a large pond through various plant communities and micro-ecosystems ‒ a fern glade, an oak savannah, a coniferous forest, and a Willamette Valley prairie. Signage explains various gardening practices that attract more birds and wildlife. As a bonus, you are welcome to visit the nursery to take home native treasures of your own.

Accessibility: The front of the nursery is accessible by wheelchair, but narrow paths once inside make it difficult to negotiate. However, the plants can be brought to you for a closer look. There are chairs near the pond with a lovely view that could be accessed by a sturdy wheelchair. The path around the pond is more challenging.

SOULE/HORN GARDEN
Located just 13 miles downriver from Portland, the garden of George Soule and Maurice Horn nestles in a remnant of oak savannah on Sauvie Island with views of Mount St. Helen to the east and the Tualatin Hills to the west. The hilly, 10-acre site is hugged on the west and south by Wapato State Park. This natural backdrop influences how they garden. They welcome both our native flora and fauna.

The garden is a quarter-century old. A formal knot garden beside the house anchors the ornamental beds. From there the borders look out to the park, a neighboring farm, and distant mountains. Collections of Clematis, Ferns, Daphnes, Hydrangeas, and Pieris are integrated into the design. A 240-foot berm created from fallen poplar gives the central garden a sense of privacy. The recent loss of eight Incense cedars has given new life to a formerly shady border.

This is a strolling garden. You are encouraged to meander the mown paths along a Rhododendron border and through a Japanese Maple grove. Be sure to visit the fenced orchard and vegetable patch to see their collection of small-flowered Clematis.

Accessibility: Parking will be in the mowed fields at the side of an eighth-of-a-mile drive. The drive is only one lane wide so please be attentive to other attendees and to local wildlife. This is a country strolling garden with a 40-foot change in elevation. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

RANCHO CISTUS | CISTUS NURSERY
The garden of Sean Hogan and Preston Pew is part learning laboratory, part show garden, and also a source for propagation for their nursery. The garden comprises seven parts: the Rock garden (desert island bed) that is in the drive is mainly summer monsoonal or periodic drought plants; the Chaparral garden at the front with a mix of western natives and other Mediterranean climate plants; the Crevice garden is divided into different eco-geographic areas (for plants that need excellent drainage and cool soil); the Meadow garden with a mix of large scale grasses and bold textured perennials; and the Wedding Walk with Camellias, Mahonia, Pittosporum, and Hydrangea to name a few. The Terrace garden is an event space and features palms and other bold textured plants and many container specimens. The Figgery features a collection of 20+ fig cultivars and a collection of Oak and other woody species. We aim for no bare ground as we love to fill every place we can with plants and open spaces are just places where weeds can pop up. Rancho Cistus is a diverse garden that showcases what can be grown in our climate with various amounts of summer irrigation and that has something to enjoy any day of the year.

Accessibility: Graveled pathways throughout the garden

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