Are you feeling lucky?  Today is 7-7-07, a date some people are considering a lucky day.  Well, we consider ourselves lucky.  We live in the Pacific Northwest and we can garden here year-round.  We can grow anything here, with-in reason.  Sometimes we take this area and climate for granted.  Next time you are sitting on your deck or patio, looking at your garden, not getting eaten alive, smelling the clean air, remember how lucky you are!  Oh… another thing about the number 7, this is episode #17 for this season, hmmmm…

This week we featured...

Portland Classical Chinese Garden

Just when it seems too hot to be outside there is a place you can go to relax and stay cool, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden (503-228-8131).  We paid a visit and found a couple of surprises.  First we met with Jodi to see the lotus in bloom.  These plants are great and they are hardy for our area.  They have a major significance in Asian culture and not just for their beauty.  The plant is used in cooking, medicines and even the seeds are used in making candy.  Then we moved out of the water to another part of the garden to see a geranium ‘Kleim’s Hardy’, and another plant, Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla.  It is hard to say but wonderful to look at!  Plus you can purchase it at the garden!  Then Gloria Lee told us about the new canary at the garden and how birds are brought to the gardens in China by visitors.  She invited other garden visitors to bring their birds to the garden as well.  If you don’t have a bird you can still enjoy a song, when the garden starts their Tuesdays by Twilight concert series on the 10th of July.  Check out their website for a complete rundown of the groups that will be appearing.

Lily Varieties

What would you say is the easiest plant to grow?  According to Yolanda Wilson it is the Lily.  Yolanda and her husband own VanVeen Bulbs (888-289-2852).  You have seen them at local farmer's markets and also at Gardenpalooza every spring.  When people say they can’t grow anything, Yolanda hands them a lily bulb.  And if you think that lilies are the all white flowered plants you get at Easter, then you haven’t seen some of the wonderful varieties available.  Yolanda showed us some of the different colors you can get by planting different varieties.  Lilies are a part of the same plant family that also contains garlic.  In fact, you can eat a lily bulb, but it is much easier to plant them and enjoy fabulous color that returns year after year.

Al’s Sedum Bird Bath

It is a hot summer already and it is time to think of plants that can handle the heat!  Sedums are the perfect plant for heat and drought tolerance.  Plus you can plant them anywhere!  We found a bird bath at Al’s Garden Center (503-981-1245) in Woodburn and decided to plant one up!  The sedums cover all shapes and sizes, from the simple ‘Hens and Chicks’ to the very interesting ‘Pork and Beans’.  We started with a special cactus soil mix from Black Gold.  We then removed most of the soil from the plants because the bath was so shallow, but also because the sedums don’t need a huge amount of soil.  Then all we did was arrange them into a nice pattern and we were done.  Once established they will do well with very little water and provide us with great color and texture all year long!

Hydrangea Varieties

William likes to say that every garden needs a hydrangea.  After visiting Hydrangeas Plus (866-433-7896) we can see why.  They not only grow the plants they have a garden full of them.  Kristin showed us some of her favorites.  Actually we have to cut her list down because she has so many favorites!  The first one we saw was the Oakleaf Hydrangea ‘Snowflake’ in her front yard, with it’s bright white flowers and reddish leaves, and then we traveled to the back yard.  There we found hydrangeas ‘Horben’, ‘Heinrich Seidel’, ‘All Summer Beauty’, and ‘Pink Diamond’.  We also covered the rules for changing the color of the bloom on certain varieties.  For blue blooms make your soil acidic,  pink blooms go for an alkaline pH.  If you have any questions, you can call Hydrangeas Plus and they will be very happy to help you.