Debbie Kogan of Portland takes in the beauty at Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens while soaking up the sunshine. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
WOODLAND — The historic Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens opens for the season today and will welcome visitors through Mother’s Day.
The nonprofit botanical garden specializing in lilacs has been a Woodland treasure since the early 1900s, Executive Director Mari Ripp said. Visitors can tour the property and on-site museum, as well as purchase plants.
Hulda Klager, a German immigrant, moved to America with her family in 1865 before settling in Woodland in 1877. Klager went on to marry her husband and have four children.
Klager found she had a knack for hybridizing when she wanted to create larger apples for the pies she made. She found the smaller ones annoying to peel. Klager crossed a mild Wolf River apple with a Bismarck apple. After that, Klager began hybridizing lilacs and by 1910 she had created 14 new varieties.
A decade later, she developed enough new varieties that she decided to host an open house each spring to showcase her garden’s bloom. This earned her the name “The Lilac Lady” from the townspeople. She often named her lilacs and other creations for family members.
In 1948, the gardens were flooded and only a few of the larger trees survived. But the community rallied together and gave Klager starts and seedlings to replant the garden. Klager eventually developed over 250 varieties.
After her death in 1960 at the age of 96, her property was sold. The property was scheduled to be bulldozed when the Woodland Federated Garden Club saved it by seeking its designation as a state and national historic site. Over time, the nonprofit Hulda Klager Lilac Society was formed.
Ripp said the gardens ordered about 14,000 plants for this season. Visitors can purchase the plants, which helps the nonprofit sustain itself through the off-season. Last year, the property opened an on-site museum that tells Klager’s story.
Ripp said Klager’s legacy lives on in the greenery planted on the property.
“This is truly a gem in the state of Washington and in the United States,” Ripp said. “We wouldn’t want this to go away. It does take lots and lots of time and people to keep the place going but the love for lilacs and the garden motivates us to keep going.”
If You Go
What: Lilac Days.
Where: Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, 115 S. Pekin Road, Woodland.
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