We are into the last weekend of Le Tour des Plants and it has been a whirlwind of exciting seminars, events and garden center specials!  It is not too late to get out and enjoy this fall planting celebration.  Check out the list of garden centers we featured or stop by one of the other 36 nurseries and pick up a guide.

This week we featured...

Le Tour des Plants

As we said last week, fall is the best time to plant.  The plants you put in the ground now will have all fall and winter to get established for the coming growing season.  We finish our tour of garden centers by traveling down the valley to see what they have to offer!

Fresh to You – if you have never been to Fresh to You (503-769-9682), you owe yourself a visit.  Nancy, Carl and staff have a great store, fantastic plants, and wonderful preserves (Mmm… tasty).  Plus this weekend they have these great Le Tour specials, like 50% off all fruit trees, 50% off all pottery, and a free jar of jam with a $40 purchase.  And you can be entertained while you are there.  They are also having the Old Time Fiddlers Music Fest from 1-3pm on Saturday and Sunday.  So come on down and have a good time.

Garland Nursery – local, Oregon grown products are always a good thing.  That includes the plants you buy.  Ken from Van Essen Nursery, a local nursery grower, told us that the plants you buy locally are not just good for your garden; they are good for the Oregon economy.  In 2006 the nursery industry generated over $966 million.  That puts it near the top for industries in the state.  You can find out more about the nursery industry at www.OAN.org.  We found some of these great Van Essen plants at Garland Nursery
(1-800-296-6601).  In fact, this weekend you can enjoy a lot of specials that will have you taking these ‘Oregon Grown’ plants home.  You can enjoy 20% off all vines and roses.  Then on Sunday, you will receive 10% off all your fall vegetables and grass seed.  It doesn’t stop there!  With your Le Tour wristband you can get a free perennial when you buy 2 others.  Plus they have a coupon special where you will get 50% off all lawn furniture.

Portland Nursery – Division St. – This weekend you can meet William and Judy at the Division Street Portland Nursery (503-788-9000).  They will be there from noon to 1:00pm.  During that time you can stop by and get a free packet of New Dimension Seeds, plus you can enter to win a Campania patio fountain (a $500 value).  If you are looking for plants, you can take home the new Midnight Rose Heuchera for one-half off the regular price!  There are also discounts on hydroponics, free 15 minute landscape consultations and cooking demonstrations featuring late season vegetables and squash.

Tom’s Garden Center – Albany is an over-looked gem in the mid Willamette valley.  We stopped by to visit Tom’s Garden Center (541-928-2521) on our Le Tour journey.  Owner Tom Krupicka told us about how to successfully plant a tree.   He recommends mixing a good compost with the soil in the hole before you put your tree in the ground.  Then he recommended 2 Fertilome products.  First, use the Start-N-Grow plant food product to give them the nutrients they need to get started.  Then water the plant in with the Fertilome Root Stimulator to add essential microbes and it includes a rooting hormone to stimulate root growth.   Of course, if you are looking for a tree, Tom’s has then at 25% off for Le Tour.  You can also get 12 pansies for 7.99 and buy one pot and get the second one free with your Le Tour wristband.

Larsen Farm Nursery – We finished our personal Le Tour des Plants at Larsen Farm Nursery  (503-638-8600).  We briefly chatted with Chris to find out what specials they had for the final weekend.  Stop by and get 30% off all pottery, 50% off all perennials and buy 3 five gallon Monrovia plants and get a bag of soil amendment for free.  You can also enjoy a wine tasting at the Hillsboro location and an antique sale at the Wilsonville location.  You can also feel good about your Saturday purchase.  Both locations will be donating a portion of their Saturday sales to CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, an organization providing specially trained volunteer child advocates for abused and neglected children who need safe and permanent homes.

Jan’s September Tips

It is the beginning of fall and that means your garden could be showing signs of wear and tear from the long hot summer.  We found Jan McNeilan from OSU extension in her garden with a note pad.  She is busy writing notes about what changes she wants in her garden before next year.  She also showed us how to check your tomatoes before the frost to see how to save some for ripening indoors.  If they have a translucent light green skin they will ripen on your kitchen counter.  You also want to check for late season diseases in your garden, like powdery mildew, but be aware that most of them are normal for this time of year and you won’t need to treat them.  We also talked about spiders.  They seem to be everywhere, but that is normal.  They are looking to catch prey for their egg sacks for the coming winter.  Most of them are the ordinary Orb-weaver or garden spider and they are helping to control your insect population.  If you have any questions you can always contact your local OSU extension office.

Dividing Perennials

With fall here it is a good time to put new plants in the ground.  It is also a good time to dig and divide some of your over-grown garden perennials.  Judy had some simple tips for dividing just a few plants.  She started with an astilbe.  You want to dig around the whole plant so you get as much of the root ball as possible.  When you pull the plant up you can cut off all the dying foliage, then take an old knife and cut the plant in half.  You want to keep your divisions on the large side so you don’t have a skimpy plant next year.  The same rules hold true for hostas and grasses.  Look for a large, strong plant that you can divide easily and then spread them around your garden, or share them with a friend.

Wine Harvest

With the cooler nights we noticed that our grapes are getting pretty tasty.  It is also a reminder that it is time to harvest the wine grapes for future vintages.  We visited the award-winning Willamette Valley Vineyards (800-344-9463) to see the steps for making an excellent Pinot noir.  Jim Bernau, the owner and founder, took us out in the vineyards to explain the conditions for growing a good wine grape.  We also got to use a refractometer to check the Brix level (sugar level) of the grapes.  They have to be just the right level of sugar to age and ferment properly.  We then traveled to the bottling area to see where the grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and stored during the fermentation process.  Of course all of that is done by machine, but this weekend you can travel back in time when Willamette Valley Vineyards celebrates their 16th annual Grape Stomping Championship.  One lucky two-person team will earn an all-expense paid trip to the World Grape Stomping Championship in Santa Rosa, California.  Stop by this weekend, enjoy a glass of fine wine and see if you can score a free trip.  All you need is two feet and a willingness to get them purple!