Enchanted gardener

Even though spring has just arrived, color is everywhere in Hortense Miller’s garden.

The enormous coral tree is blooming orange in the driveway, the blue wisteria is wistfully fragrant, the Belle of Portugal climbing rose and camellias are delicately pink.

Hortense ? whose eyes are pale blue ? has tended the garden around the Modern house she built overlooking Boat Canyon for almost a half-century.

“I like the easiest kind of plants, a garden that grows by itself,” she said. “That’s the kind I like.”

That may seem a simple philosophy, but it was “revolutionary” in 1959 when she began to create her home’s surroundings, garden manager Marsha Bode said.

Back then, neat and tidy tract homes were multiplying in post-war neighborhoods, with neat and tidy yards around them.

Miller and her husband Oscar moved to Laguna Beach from the Midwest, because, according to Hortense’s own account, she fell in love with bougainvillea while on a trip to Mexico.

Oscar died of a lengthy illness only months after the house was completed, leaving Hortense to live on for many years.

“He wanted her to have the house,” Bode said.

Hortense had her own ideas about gardening and, at 50, was ready to put them into practice in her new California home.

Born in St. Louis, Hortense had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, developing a meticulous folk-art style that is found throughout the house and gardens.

Her artwork decorates the house and the patio walls, and some furnishings. Murals and wood carvings of mermaids ? her favorite motif ? astrological signs, and symbols of air, earth, fire and wind are found throughout the property. Colors are earthy rather than bright.

“She was mostly self-taught,” Bode said of Hortense’s art. “The house is frozen in time. It has not changed since she moved in.”

The house’s modernistic style is evident with its open courtyards, huge windows and lean lines. Meandering pathways with stone and railroad-tie steps crisscross the slopes below and above, leading to solitary benches with wonderful ocean views.

The garden home ? and the gardener herself ? has a magical quality, a presence that is not lost on visitors, who have numbered in the thousands since Miller opened the gardens for public touring in the mid-1970s.

In the master bedroom, a large mural ? “The Middle West History and Folklore Made by a Native of St. Louis, 1953-1957” ? depicts the geography and history of the Midwestern states, with an emphasis on strong, independent women like Calamity Jane and Carrie Nation.

Miller’s talents also shine in her writing, which have been gathered in a book published in 1989, “The Garden Writings of Hortense Miller.”

The writings are beautifully observed, often comical, learned in botany and many other subjects, and peppered with tales from mythology and history ? and quotations from her favorite writer, Mark Twain.

Although no longer able to verbalize her wit and knowledge, Miller is still a lively companion and clearly enjoys company when she is up to it.

Bode says Miller’s artistic talents ? her ability to recognize and use color ? is what makes the garden so special.

The garden has some 1,500 varieties, including some exotics, but Miller also uses many common plants grown and situated in such a way as to provide spectacular results.

“She is very much admired by those who like to garden,” Bode said. “Her garden is Mediterranean with an English garden feel.”

Miller’s garden has been widely publicized, and the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden in San Marino gave her a cherry tree after the 1979 Boat Canyon wildfire destroyed some of the major plantings.

The house and garden have been owned by the City of Laguna Beach since the mid-1970s, and the garden is maintained by volunteers with the Friends of the Hortense Miller Garden, and gardening devotees from a Master Gardener program sponsored by the county.

Marv Johnson, a longtime docent, said that people come from all over the world to tour the gardens. He’s led serious British horticulturalists and Swedish tourists. A few years ago he tallied the number of visitors since the tours began and totaled 7,000 ? a conservative number.

“Some people won’t stop talking and you can’t get a word in, then others don’t crack a smile,” Johnson said.

While the garden has become a regular stop on the horticulturalist route, Hortense herself has always been part of the attraction.

“She has an interesting way of looking at things,” Johnson said. “She is fiercely independent, an early-on feminist, and up until a few years ago she was out there every day herself. She’s also wonderfully educated and well-read, and could talk on any subject.”

Miller has the right to dwell in the house for as long as she lives, and now requires a caretaker’s help. She fell and broke her hip at the age of 92, and since then her abilities have been severely restricted. She gets around by wheelchair and can no longer garden.

“Up until five years ago, she would go up on the roof to rake off the leaves,” Bode said.

Now, visitors take their chances, as she is not always up to receiving company, but the gardens and house are open with a reservation and a guide.

Johnson said that the Friends group is able to raise enough money through donations and special events to keep the gardens going, but that much more is needed ? $15,000 to $20,000 ? to bring the property up to date.

Bode said the Friends are hoping donors will come forward to pay for a new, automated sprinkler system and a new water pump.

“And after that, we’ll need new plants,” she said.

In addition to tours of the house and gardens, the Friends are sponsoring special brunches, “Coffee Mornings with Hortense,” with a suggested donation of $35 per person.

The brunches, limited to 25 participants, are being scheduled for the first Saturdays in May and June.

If enough attendees respond, additional brunches will be scheduled, Bode said. The brunches on May 6 and June 3 are firm, and spaces are available.

To reserve a spot, call (949) 494-1205.