MT HOOD Oregon LODGING

Finding the Quiet

in Gardens of The Hidden Woods B&B

“You look up beneath the bowing structure,” Coni Scott says, “and underneath the leaves, there are little white bells like hearts.”  She’s describing one of her favorite Oregon native plants, the true Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), but that appreciation for beauty and design also shows in the gardens she created at The Hidden Woods, a delightful Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast near Welches, Oregon.

Coni, her husband Terry Hescock, and her sister Mary Ann Coyle run the oregon lodging, located along the Sandy River close to Welches.  Guests stay in a fully restored 1929 log cabin, where they can enjoy the trout pond, the fire pit, and the hot tub.  However, what lingers in most visitors’ memories are the lovingly tended grounds, which have been featured in several publications.

Coni will be the first to tell you that gardens are an art of time.  She’s been fond of gardening since she was 20.  She and Terry moved up from Portland in 1989 to the property next to the B&B, where they still live today, and they’ve been grooming the acreage since then.

Within the grounds, the plantings have been planned and tended to create different spaces like rooms.  There’s the Main Island, with large fir trees and sun-loving plants such as honeysuckles, forget-me-nots and cornflowers.  On the Large and Small Islands, native trees flourish.  There’s a rock garden, and an area designed to provide lots of fragrance and pickable flowers that includes a “Tuscany Garden.”  Daffodils are done for the season, but trilliums and bleeding hearts are blooming now.  Elsewhere you’ll find irises, hardy geraniums, butterfly plants and loose strife, to name but a very few.  All of these are cared for with no insecticide at all, but with lots of weeding, pruning and fertilizing, taking up to 10 hours a week this time of year.  Two pet Scotties, Kelsey and Holly, like to help by playing “I’m hiding” on the mowed lawns. 

Every living thing at The Hidden Woods plays a role in creating a friendly, peaceful experience.  Well, there’s one tiny exception:  “All the other birds get along,” Coni says, “but the hummingbirds are so territorial!”  She has to keep their feeding area away from where all the other wild birds, including purple finches, goldfinches, several kinds of woodpeckers, and robins, share space for dinner.

It’s Good for the Senses

Coni likes to talk with visitors about gardening and reassure them that you can’t really make a wrong move when you’re planting.  “If (a plant) doesn’t work the way you thought, it’s okay,” she says.  Besides, the result is such a pleasure for all five senses.  Visitors to The Hidden Woods are greeted with lovely sights and scents, but they can also take the opportunity to find what different tree barks feel like, or pet the soft leaves of lamb’s ear plants.
 
How about taste? That’s provided by the simple herb garden Coni grows to flavor her guests’ homecooked breakfasts.  (Three words:  Rosemary on bacon.)  Rustling trees, or rippling water, are sounds to soothe and relax, and even the silence of nature is kind to a guest’s ears.

Coni, Terry and Mary Ann have found the perfect way to share their generous hospitality as you seek to get away from it all.  As you walk through the serene beauty of The Hidden Woods, you’ll be surrounded by their welcome, yet you’ll enjoy complete privacy.  They hope you’ll come and refresh your spirits.

Hidden Woods B&B
19380 E Summertime Drive
Alder Creek, Oregon
503-622-5754
coni@thehiddenwoods.com
Oregon vacation lodging.
2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1929 log cabin with fireplace.

Written by Andree Larson

May / June 2009

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