They lived in a stone cottage near Johnson Creek during the summer before the house was completed.

[5] Lilla Leach was the first recipient of the Eloise Payne Luquer Medal, awarded by the Garden Club of America in 1950, for distinguished achievement in botany.

From 1945 until 1948, she was director of Save the Myrtle Wood, Inc.[6] Following the Leaches' deaths, the garden was left to the City of Portland with the stipulation that the city had ten years to take over maintenance of the garden, or the land would go to the YMCA.

[7] The garden currently features a diverse collection of over 2,000 hybrids, cultivars, native and non-native plants, including alpines, medicinal herbs, rock garden plants, camellias, and 40 genera and over 125 species of ferns.

A self-guided tour winds along trails with views of firs, ferns, and wildflowers.