Spring 2023 Plant Sale

Please join us Friday, April 28th, and Saturday, April 29th, for our annual spring plant sale to support Bush’s Pasture Park. The plant sale will be held at the foot of the Soapbox Derby Track from 10 AM to 6 PM on Friday and from 9 AM to 3 PM on Saturday. Free parking. Plants…

The Garden’s Unsung Hero

If you follow our Facebook page, you know we spend a lot of our time mulching landscape beds and tree circles. It’s a task that is both never-ending and strangely satisfying. It’s also critically important for the long-term health of the park’s plant collection. Mulch is any loose material that covers the top of the…

City Approves Plan for Woodland Garden

Mission Street Parks Conservancy is excited to announce the kickoff of our next project in Bush’s Pasture Park!  The City of Salem has authorized development of a new Woodland Garden in an unused area near the Conservatory (greenhouse) and the Bush Barn parking lot. The new garden, designed by Michael Slater and Gretchen Carnaby, will…

Volunteer Profile: Donna Shepard

Donna Shepard is one of our dedicated greenhouse Tuesday Gardeners..  She’s been volunteering with our group for over 20 years, starting back in the days of the Friends of Bush Gardens.  I’m always curious to know what brought someone to the Tuesday Gardener group to begin with.  For Donna, it was a lecture on winter…

The Orchard

This week, the Tuesday Gardeners moved into the historic Orchard area of the park, which holds the majority of the Lord & Schryver flowering tree collection. The area also holds 9 landscape beds, some dating back to the early 20th Century. This week, we weeded, edged, and mulched three of the beds. Unfortunately, hot weather…

Volunteer Profile: Gary Pullman

If you’ve ever asked Gary a question, chances are you know it’s not easy to get a direct answer from him. His life story is no different…circuitous, often looping back to Oregon in his first few decades. My first question to Gary got an easy answer. How long have you lived in Salem? 5 decades…

Maureen McGee Joins MSPC Board of Directors

Tonkon Torp attorney Maureen McGee has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Mission Street Parks Conservancy (MSPC). MSPC helps the City of Salem preserve and celebrate the iconic public landscapes on and near Mission Street, with a current focus on Bush Pasture Park. “I’m an avid gardener and have a deep appreciation…

Tree Root Invigoration

The arboriculture company Bartlett’s Tree Experts was in Bush’s Pasture Park on Tuesday, May 10th, on several projects to help extend the life park’s trees. One of those projects was reinvigorating the root system around an historic flowering cherry tree. Root invigoration is a well-studied treatment that uses an air spade to blow soil away…

Tree Props

If you look carefully, you may notice some subtle changes to a few of the park’s trees. These are tree props, which as you may guess prop up trees, that are at risk of falling over. MSPC, with the encouragement of the City of Salem, hired Bartlett’s Tree Experts to assess, manufacture and install these…