Ohme Gardens: Oh My

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Ohme Gardens is really spectacular.

Perched atop a hill overlooking Wenatchee, Washington, Ohme (pronounced "Oh Me") is far from your typical showy botanical garden, in a very good way – at least, this time of year it is. It's pure hardscape and texture. It's so very… vertical… and it made me feel kind of like I was in A Sound of Music. That, and like I was a mountain goat. Hey! There were mountain goats in The Sound of Music, right? Puppets!

I guess kind of like that.

Anyway, I can't recount just how many times I've driven by over the years, peered up at the green oasis gripping the side of an otherwise desert-like hill, and idly wondered what it's really like up there. Last weekend, we stopped by on a whim to check it out. Yeah. Spectacular. 

With countless stone paths winding up, down, and all around, the construction of Ohme Gardens began back in 1929, when Herman Ohme purchased the property and began to work on the landscaping. He soon married Ruth and they had plans to build on the property – but this was during the Great Depression, and loans were nearly impossible to come by. So they kept plugging away at the land.

Reportedly, Ruth has said, "We just wanted to build a nice backyard." The "backyard" eventually grew to nine acres.

The single most impressive aspect is what they did with stones. With the use of crow bars, donkeys, and army stretchers, they moved and placed stone paths, benches, pits, even a couch with arms! How cool is this?!

Creative seating like this is built into the landscape all over, inviting visitors to sit and ponder. And what better place to ponder, than by one of the tranquil ponds? Pond, ponder? … sorry. Here are a couple of pond photos to distract you from my dorky attempts at humor.

The Ohmes worked on the gardens for 40 years, pretty much until Herman passed away.

One of my favorite parts is the Vista House.

… And the panoramic view of the Wenatchee Valley and Columbia River from the inside:

Oh, and a wishing well! I think wishing wells are so romantic.

And a campfire pit. Can't you just see the family roasting marshmallows here? Oh, and there would totally have been a guy with a guitar. There's always a guy with a guitar.

So that's a taste of Ohme Gardens. Though I think you've really got to see it in person to fully appreciate it. But they're only open six months out of the year, so you'd better skedaddle! Washington State Parks owns the property now, and charges only $7 admission. You can learn more at www.ohmegardens.com.

(Yo del laydee yodelaydee yodeloo.)