Lilla Leach

Leach Botanical Garden, located on Johnson Creek in the suburbs of southeast Portland, has many similarities to the famous Butchart Garden in British Columbia, Canada: Women founded both gardens, each garden started out as little more than a plot of land, and over time was planted with thousands of plants. In 1931, John and Lilla Leach bought a four and a half acre piece of property on Johnson Creek. First they built a stone cabin where they lived until their “Manor House” was completed on the upper property. Their garden was filled with seeds and small plants sent by people from all over the world. The purpose of their garden was to test the Willamette Valley for a friendly climate, conducive to the growth of the plants. They also cultivated medicinal plants and at one time had over four hundred.

Plants remained Leach’s lifelong passion. She loved flowers and plants from the time she was young. She often roamed her family’s large property (near Barlow, Oregon) all day, pulling the family dog in a wagon behind her as she studied the plants and picked flowers. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1908 with a bachelor’s degree in science with an emphasis in botany. After graduation, she taught high school science classes in Eugene, and established and taught a botany class. Her love for botany even figured into her choice of a husband! John Leach had proposed marriage several times, and she finally accepted after he told her that he would take her places “…where the flowers were different and cake-eating botanists could never get [to]…”

Over the period of nine summers, the Leaches traveled through southern Oregon and northern California. They gathered plants near little-traveled roads, and gradually explored more remote areas. In the 1930s, Leach claimed seventeen new plants, until then unknown to science, two of them being new genera. In a meeting at a garden club, she described finding a new genera, later named Kalmiopsis Leachiana, saying, “Suddenly, we came upon a breathtaking sight. Before us, beside the trail, lay a patch of low evergreen bushlets, simply covered with deep rose flowers, avidly pink…I felt sure I had found something new.” Leach considered Kalmiopsis as her most thrilling discovery.

In 1938, the Leaches went to an area near Gold Beach in southern Oregon. They discovered that several large areas of Kalmiopsis were being depleted by nursery owners who took the plants to sell. In 1965, over 78,000 acres were designated as the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, and located between two other nationally protected areas. Unfortunately, a massive fire in July 2002 swept through the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, destroying much of the area, but it is reviving and Kalmiopsis Leachiana is doing well.

During WWII, Leach actively supported the war effort. She provided child care for working mothers and rolled bandages. The Leaches stayed mostly around home during the war, experimenting with plant cultivation, and erected several buildings on their property. Leach also used this time to keep up with her increasing correspondence with people and organizations who wanted her to speak to their groups. She also worked on her extensive collection of plant specimens collected over their years of traveling.

Leach was a member of several garden clubs and won numerous awards for her work in botany. She was a member of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in New York City, Arnold Arboretum in Harvard, and the Washington Arboretum at University of Washington in Seattle. In 1950, Lilla’s work and achievements won her the bronze medal awarded by the Garden Club of America. Who’s Who of American Women lists Leach’s accomplishments.

In spite of Leach’s hard work and discoveries, she was not taken seriously by several male botanists. Shortly after her marriage, Leach conducted fieldwork with L. F. Henderson, the curator at the University of Oregon. A specimen proved to be a new variety, but Henderson named it after a friend of his. Another example of disrespect shown to Leach followed her discovery of Kalmiopsis. While the specimen was rotated from one botanist to another, J. W. Thompson suggested that Leach give complete control to Professor Peck, another faculty member at the University of Oregon. In The Botanist and Her Muleskinner, the authors write that Leach “Later stated that she wondered if the older botanists were just waiting for her discoveries so they could name them after their friends.”

The Leach Botanical Garden, which was bequeathed by John and Lilla Leach to the City of Portland, now spreads over nearly sixteen acres. In order to preserve the garden as a botanical resource, a group of people organized the Leach Garden Friends, a non-profit organization. The Garden is largely supported by memberships and fundraising events, including yearly plant sales, English teas, and a Holiday Bazaar. Tours are available March through November, and educational classes are available for adults as well as youth. In May, the Garden hosts a Nature Fair with educational activities for the entire family.

In 1955, Ora Niemela, the editor of “Western Outdoor Quarterly,” wrote that Leach and her husband served “…as an inspiration to thousands of people you have never met!”

Written by Kathleen McMullen