Merja discovered her passion for gardening in the US—and introduced a lush American style to her yard in Finland

The city of Seattle is in Washington State on the Pacific coast. Its climate is mild year-round, and the vegetation is so consistently green that it’s earned the nickname Emerald City.

“Local gardens are marvelous! That’s where I got the spark for my own gardening hobby, and it was my first introduction to hostas and azaleas. The idea of a lush American style is still in the back of my mind,” Merja O’Rourke says.

She lived with her family in Seattle for several years. When the O’Rourkes moved to Oulu, Finland, in the late 1990s, Merja began creating her own version of the gardens she admired around their new home.

“I had already started working on the garden and moving plants around before we even moved in. I still find it great fun to relocate plants and try out different combinations.”

Originally, the front of the house was covered in hops that climbed all the way up to the second-floor windows, but they had to be removed. Merja gathered old-variety delphiniums near the entrance that she found scattered around the property.

Clematis varieties that grow like perennials and bloom on new shoots, such as the bellflower clematis ‘Pamjat Serdtza’, thrive in Oulu’s northern conditions. The daylily ‘Stella d’Oro’ might not always have time to open its yellow blooms, but Merja loves its grasslike foliage.

A variety of peony poppies bloom in the garden. They have emerged on their own from crosses of the cultivars Merja once sowed.

Merja and Thomas O’Rourke’s home was completed in 1911 by architect Oiva Kallio and is a distinctive villa, originally built as a summer residence for the Åström industrial family of Oulu near the Oulu River. The fields and meadows that once belonged to the villa have since been parceled out and developed into a pleasant residential area.

No records remain of the original villa garden, but from photos taken by photographer Eino Jokinen, Merja has determined that at least the daffodils, peonies, martagon lilies, and delphiniums already bloomed here at that time. These old plants reemerged once the overgrown yard was cleared. They have found new spots in the extensive, layered areas Merja designed, where various perennials grow alongside shrubs and climbers.

The sheltered and partially shaded front yard has a lush woodland garden feel. Merja’s beloved hostas shine here, forming an impressive collection she has built up over the years. Alongside the official cultivars are seedlings that have sprouted from her own sowings.

“At one point, I made name tags for all my hostas. Then our dogs found them, and they started turning up chewed in all sorts of places, so I lost track of what’s what. It doesn’t bother me, because this is our dogs’ garden too. Usually they do an excellent job walking the paths that wind through the plants.”

Beneath the moonlight hydrangea grow ‘Erika’ astilbe and bleeding heart. Astrantias bloom in the left foreground.

Merja made all the stone pathways in the garden by hand. She thinks they’re easier to maintain if they’re edged with plantings.

Merja only protects the most delicate hostas from her Lagotto dogs’ energetic play in early summer.

Merja fell in love with the delicate ‘Corsage’ tiger lily during a garden club visit.

Most of the garden stretches behind the house. It’s brighter there, and it has more flowers than the front yard, such as astilbes, astrantias, and clematis climbing on the supports Thomas built.

“I used to believe there had to be blooms all summer, so I planted all sorts of frilly flowers. Now I could easily do without them, because foliage perennials are so beautiful. But in recent years I’ve also discovered dahlias. I was surprised by how delightful their lavish bloom period feels.”

Merja likes having variety in color. Only bright reds and yellows seem out of place. Soft pastel shades need just enough deeper tones to balance them. Still, green is so dominant that the overall view stays peaceful and harmonious.

“I’m a mood-driven gardener and get excited about all kinds of things. Maybe eclectic is the best word for my style, since I don’t stick to just one approach. Sometimes a planting bed can look a bit chaotic while the plants are settling in, but hostas always bring calm.”

The border of the bed features ‘Halcyon’ hosta, variegated hosta, and the showy hosta ‘Gold Standard’—Merja’s trustworthy favorites that she has divided countless times. Across the archway, raised beds hold leafy greens and dahlias.

The gate separates the woodland garden from the more open area. In the foreground, the meadowsweet ‘Kahome’ blooms pink, while the astilbe ‘Brautschleier’ blooms white.

See also article: An obelisk for the garden—Thomas’s instructions for crafting a stylish and sturdy trellis

On the left is the ‘Samurai’ hosta, on the right is the yellow-leaved ‘Coast to Coast’, and in the background is the vase-shaped ‘Krossa Regal’.

Merja chairs the Oulu Garden Society. The blue sea holly came from the garden of a member. Also pictured are the ‘Totally Tangerine’ dahlia and ‘Hummelo’ betony.

The nine-square-meter greenhouse was built using recycled bricks and window glass. The door is a spare old interior door from the house.

In Merja’s view, the ‘Pamjat Serdtza’ bellflower clematis is the best clematis.

From July onward is the best time to move plants, because that’s when you see the true size of slower-growing perennials like hostas. In spring or early summer, it can be hard to judge their final dimensions. For instance, the hosta ‘Empress Wu’ usually grows very large by late summer, but in 2024 it stayed much smaller. The previous winter in Oulu was so harsh that Merja is just happy the plant survived.

Soil care has become more important each year. Every spring, Merja chops and shreds all plant debris for mulch, and composted weeds return to the soil. The soil is so good that plants do well with just a little horse manure. Only potted plants get a stored fertilizer in early summer, and those are the only ones she waters regularly.

“I enjoy all kinds of garden work. If the weather is good, I’m outside from morning till night. In August, my enthusiasm fades a bit, but then I go plant shopping with a gardening friend, and off we go again.”

The peony poppies have self-seeded.

From left to right, ‘Regal Splendor’ hosta, ‘Patriot’ hosta, and ‘Halcyon’ hosta.