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The Connie Hansen Garden endures as a Lincoln City treasure

Story and photo by Eliot Sekuler

For the TODAY

Despite recent changes to Lincoln City’s Connie Hansen Garden, visitors to the site in these late spring and summer months will be rewarded with a dazzling display of freshly-planted floral color, a new art exhibition and the abiding sense of serenity that Lincoln City’s residents and visitors have cherished for the past three decades.

“A garden is always an ongoing project,” said Karen Brown, who serves as treasurer and all-purpose volunteer at the one-acre Connie Hansen Garden, a relatively small plot of land on the north side of Lincoln City that has drawn wide acclaim for its horticultural design. Funded solely through donations and fundraisers, the garden is operated by the Connie Hansen Conservancy, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its founding this year.

Last year, the garden hit a rough patch with the discovery of a fungal infestation, phytophthora ramorum, aka “sudden oak death,” which attacked some of the plot’s renowned collection of rhododendrons. Over the past year, a substantial number of those plants had to be removed and destroyed. And though hundreds of the rhododendrons remain, parts of the garden, which were shrouded in the tall shrubs’ shadows, are now in bright sunlight.

Re-planting is a work in progress, but on a recent late spring morning, the garden’s irises and rhododendrons were still in bloom. And though they are now fading, the primrose and dianthus were beginning to open, soon to be joined by large plantings of dwarf dahlias and rock roses. Northern red oak, China fir and dogwood trees lined Hansen Creek, which flows through the property and eventually empties into the ocean. The enormous leaves of the gunnera plant spread out at one side of the garden. Mounding heathers were gathered in a circular patch at the garden’s center. And benches, strategically placed throughout the garden, offered visitors a place to sit and serenely take in the beauty of the landscape.

The creek needs frequent attention and has been the object of recent restorative work.

“We’ve cleaned out large parts of the stream and removed weeds,” Brown said. “And we’re bringing in sun-loving plants like hydrangeas. We’ll have things blooming this summer and it will be colorful. There may be smaller plants, because we’ve taken out some of the bigger ones, and the new plants will need time to grow.”

A major consideration that has gone into the garden’s restorative re-planting has been remaining true to the color palette designed by the garden’s founder.

“We have to take these new plants and figure out how to arrange them into the existing beds so they have the same color harmonies that Connie designed,” Brown said. “Connie was an artist. She painted with flowers. To arrive at the same color harmonies is going to be a challenge.”

Hansen moved to Lincoln City from Walnut Creek, California and acquired the land in 1973. She had a degree in botany from UC Berkeley and had spent most of her life working in the horticultural field. The land at the NW 33rd Street plot was just what she was looking for: acidic soil, swampy areas and, of course, plenty of coastal Northwest rainfall. She expanded the garden’s area in 1986 with the acquisition of a neighboring lot and worked the garden until 1986, when health issues forced her to slow her efforts. She sold the land to a friend who, in turn, gave it over to a newly formed Connie Hansen Conservatory.

From now through August, the garden is also presenting the art exhibition “Painted Ladies,” featuring four local artists: Sue Henderson, Doreen (Doe) Thirkell, Roxce Stavney and Ruth Hugeback. The exhibition is contained within Hansen's former home, now known as The Garden House.

“The garden and its gallery room truly lend itself to the exhibition of my paintings,” Henderson said. “The tranquility and peace of this place takes you away from everyday life.”

The Connie Hansen Garden is located at 1931 NW 33rd Street in Lincoln City. Admission is by donation and the garden is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, go to conniehansengarden.com.