Dairy Creek Meadows: greenhouse and crevice garden

In my previous post, I showed you the grounds at Dairy Creek Meadows, the 30-acre rural spread owned by long-time gardeners Craig Quirk and Larry Neill outside of Portland, Oregon. This post is about the greenhouse and the crevice garden that surrounds it, both masterpieces in their own right. I think you’ll be blown away.

Let’s start with the greenhouse. It sits in the middle of a naturalistic perennial meadow designed in collaboration with Laura Crockett of Garden Diva Designs and inspired by the work of Piet Oudolf. The area is fully fenced to keep out the local deer population. When I visited, in early April, most of the meadow perennials were still dormant; take a look at this photo from Craig’s Instagram to see what it looks like in summer.

The greenhouse is actually two interconnected structures from Hartley Botanic, a British manufacturer known for its classic designs and superior build quality. Craig told us that the glasshouses were delivered on two flat-bed trucks. And yes, I do believe they came all the way from the UK.

The greenhouse serves three distinct functions: a living space, a propagation area, and a display space for Craig’s cactus and succulent collection. As you’ll see below, every detail is superbly executed.

Greenhouse in the middle of the perennial meadow, with the newly built potting shed and a repurposed grain silo on the right

I can confidently state that I’ve never seen a private greenhouse this beautiful

From this angle, you can see the two wings connected in the middle

Perennials still in winter mode

The potting shed was built just recently. It’s finished to the same high standard of quality as everything at Dairy Creek Meadows.

Both entrances to the greenhouse feature a semicircular flower mosaic created by Clare Dohna:

The interior is unlike anything I’ve ever seen — from the structural details to the furnishings to the plants. It feels much more like an elegant conservatory than a place to overwinter plants and start seeds. The greenhouse is heated by radiant floor heating. You can walk around barefoot in the middle of winter!

The lights!

Sitting area on the left, walkthrough to the other wing on the right

The “bulbs” are actually ceramics by Berkeley artist Marcia Donahue

A couple of short videos for better context:

The other wing of the greenhouse houses Craig’s collection of potted succulents. At the intersection of the two walkways is a pair of cactus-inspired ceramic sculptures by Los Angeles artist Dustin Gimbel:

Don’t forget to take in the view through the window

Beautiful plants and beautiful pottery

Small agave grouping

Aloe erinacea and Deuterocohnia brevifolia

Short video:

As I mentioned earlier, the greenhouse is also used for propagation:

What’s more cheerful than a flowering dwarf lemon tree when most of the plants outside are still dormant

The greenhouse is surrounded by a one-of-a-kind crevice garden built by renowned experts Kenton Seth and Chris Dixon from 40 tons of hand-gathered stone (I can’t even imagine the scale). It consists of multiple outcrops that form the shape of a butterfly when seen from above. Think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle composed of rock mounds with carefully calibrated planting pockets. This creates ideal conditions for growing alpine and dryland plants and display them to maximum effect.

According to an article in the Spring 2026 issue of the Rock Garden Quarterly, the build itself demanded stamina as much as skill. The stone, collected and palletized in advance, was set during intense summer heat, requiring precise placement of massive slabs and constant adjustment of form, balance, and grade. With the help of Craig and Larry and an experienced landscape crew, Kenton and Chris shaped ledges, rises, and plateaus that in such a way that the mounds feel like a cohesive whole.

Just like the perennials elsewhere in the garden, most of the plants in the crevice garden were either still dormant or just waking up. I’d love to come back in the summer to see the garden at its most dramatic.

The explanation above should give a bit of context as you look at the photos below.

A couple of videos for context:

On the other side of the greenhouse, there are a couple of Agave ovatifolia planted on top of their own mounds, paired with agave flower sculptures by Dustin Gimbel:

Cacti, too

Dairy Creek Meadows in the kind of property you have to see in person in order to fully grasp its scale and the ambition behind it. The gardens aren’t even three years old, so imagine what they will look like in another three or five years!

© Gerhard Bock, 2026. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.