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William McClenathan

 

 Episode 56
July 28, 2007

 

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Judy Alleruzzo


The weather looks like it is breaking. The sun will be returning and we are looking for a warm August ahead. Enjoy the breather by stopping by your local farmers market or u-pick stand. Or enjoy some of the mid-summer festivals (Waterlily, garlic, dahlias) that are coming up in the next few weeks.

This week we featured...

Hughes Waterlily Festival and Invitational Art Show

It is time for the 5th annual Waterlily Festival and Invitational Art Show at Hughes Water Gardens (503-638-1709). Eamonn joined us to tell us about the festival that is happening from today until the 5th of August. If you drop by you will see a huge assortment of waterlilies and other aquatic plants, seminars, tropical treat and guided tours. On August 2nd you can enjoy Bloom night and see the largest collection of the spectacular night-blooming Victoria Lilies. Also at the nursery, over 30 regional artists will be exhibiting their art in the garden. It is a great way to see how art can enhance your garden or water feature. We had a chance to visit with Wendy Thompson, a colored pencil artist, whose artwork is featured on this year poster. Stop by and check out the festivities!

Stepables Carpet

If you are tired of the same old bark dust look in your garden, try changing the carpet! Fran from Stepables (503-581-8915) calls the surface of the planting bed a ‘carpet’. She showed us some ground covers that will really help the look of your garden beds and help bring out the colors and textures of your other garden plants. There are some questions you have to ask yourself before you get going. First, how much foot traffic does the area receive? Second, how much sun does it get? And third, what are the watering conditions? By asking yourself these 3 questions you can pick out a groundcover that will survive and thrive in your garden. Fran showed us a bunch of different plants that will make your garden pop! She had White Star Creeper, ‘Elfin’ Thyme, Creeping Wire Vine, Blue Star Creeper, Leptinella ‘Platt’s Black, Leptinella ‘Verdigris Brass Buttons’, Bronze Dutch Clover, Veronica ‘Sunshine’, and Aceana purpurea. Take your garden down to the next level by changing your carpet with a new ground cover.

Peach Wraps

It is a great time of year to live in the Northwest. All the fresh fruits are ripe and ready for the picking. But that also begs the question, when is something ripe? We found that it is hard to tell with some fruit, like peaches. We traveled to Salem to see the experts at Olson Peaches 503-362-5942). The Olson family has been farming in the Salem area for decades and they open their farm to u-picks the entire summer. Stuart told us to look for a good overall gold color with good blush of red. Plus, you don’t want to twist the fruit to remove it. You want to lift it up to snap the stem from the branch. Then we moved to the grill where Kristina showed us how you can wrap quarter slices of peach with prosciutto and then place them on the grill on medium heat.  Click here for the recipe.

Hedge Choices

When people want privacy, they will often use a row of plants to do the job. It creates texture and it is cheap to install. The problem is the same old choices that people use in their plantings, photinia, laurel, and boxwood. Lee Powell from Garland Nursery (1-800-296-6601) found a few other choices that people can consider. He showed us some really different choices for the home gardener which included English boxwood, Cotoneaster ‘Parney’s Red’, Waxleaf Privet, Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum, Ninebark ‘Diablo’, Roundleaf Osmanthus, Holly ‘Blue Princess’ and a couple of roses, ‘Frau Dagmar Hartopp’ and ‘Rabble Rouser’. If you are looking to create a hedge, check out something different before you plant.

Bauman Summer Vegetables

Summer is finally here and that means the fresh vegetables are in your local farmer’s markets and stores, and we found a ton of them at Bauman’s Farm and Gardens (503-792-3524). You may think it is too early for tasty sweet corn, but we found bushels of it at Bauman’s. Brian Bauman took us on a tour of the fields and explained how they start the seed in the green house and then protect it until it starts producing in early July, a month sooner than anyone else. We also visited the store and saw the huge variety of vegetables they grow on the farm. They have 5 or 6 different types of lettuce, spinach, cabbage, onions and 3 types of cauliflower (including a purple type). They are just starting to pick peaches too! Enjoy the best part of living in the Pacific Northwest; pick up some farm fresh produce (or a fresh baked pie!).
 

 
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