Welcome to the 5th season of Garden Time. Four years ago we were standing in the middle of a wet tulip field trying to record the first show. It was cold, wet and miserable! Still we were having fun, and the fun hasn’t stopped. We have kept going and, four years later, we are still bringing you the best in gardening information and having a good time doing it!

This week as we kick off the new year, we have so much more to offer! The new issue of Garden Time On-line is just out and it has great articles on growing peas (with a tasty recipe for stir-fry), how to renovate your lawn, and the newest ‘pink’ blueberry. You can subscribe right here!

We also have some great blog entries from the Garden Time crew. William tackles clean-up in the garden and Judy marvels at the resourcefulness of birds. Read their stories here and see if you have noticed the same thing in your garden!

Plus, one more thing… You can kick-off your gardening season too! Stop by the new Al’s Garden Center location (9155 SW Barbur, Portland) Saturday, March 6th from 10:00am-2:00pm and see William and Judy. Stop by and ask them some questions and pick up some color to kick off your spring!

And speaking of spring:  This week we featured...

Early Spring Color

We stop by the new ‘seasonal’ location of Al’s Garden Center (503-546-3020) on Barbur to learn about some of the new spring color that is popping up at your garden center. Mark Bigej showed Judy that the spring is full of wonderful color! He pulled together some wonderful plants like daphnes, azaleas, and hellebores. We also saw an evergreen clematis, columbine (one of the first flowers of spring), and some great groundcovers like veronica, candytuft and aubrieta. Some flower choices include ranunculus, violas, pansies and cineraria; so you can see that there are tons of choices for the home gardener in the spring. Another benefit of stopping by the new location, William and Judy will be making an appearance at this new location at 9155 SW Barbur between 10:00am-2:00pm on Saturday March 6th to visit with viewers and answer any of your gardening questions!

Mason Bees

We went to a local store to learn more about the ‘loner’ of the bee world. The Orchard Mason Bee is a wonderful, early spring, pollinator. It will fly in colder weather than its honey-making counterpart. It is also a very busy bee. It can pollinate many more flowers than the honey bee, plus it is much more docile too. It hardly ever stings! The one difference between the 2 varieties…? The mason bee is pretty much done pollinating by June 1st and then it heads into hibernation to wait for the next spring to start all over again. We met with Scott Lukens from the Backyard Bird Shop (503-635-2044) to find out more about these industrious bees and how they reproduce. These bees will find holes in the wild to lay their eggs. We have found them laying eggs everywhere including cracks in our house. The best part is that they don’t do any damage to the area where they lay their eggs. Scott walked us through their life cycle and also showed us some homes and ‘Bee Blocks’ for them to lay their eggs. You can stop by any Backyard Bird Shop to learn more about these great little pollinators!

Orchid Types

A lot of people think that orchids are hard to grow and difficult to care for. We put that myth to rest with a visit from Lori from the Oregon Orchid Society (503-632-4884). Lori was not a collector of orchids, in fact she was growing cactus until someone gave her 2 orchids and that got her excited about orchids and she now grows over 10,000 orchids as a hobby. She brought some of her collection to show us. They included a number of different types including Phalaenopsis (moth orchids) and some Paphiopedilum varieties (slipper orchids). As far as growing conditions, they pretty much like what we like; 70 degrees and comfortable, and a little water once in a while. Most people kill them with kindness and water them too much. Really they are not that touchy. You can find different varieties. There are some that are fragrant, some are delicate and some are pretty tough. If you are interested in orchids you can see a bunch of them at the Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel this weekend the 6th and 7th from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday. You can also find out more at the Oregon Orchid Society website. You can also click here to download a $2 off coupon for the show!

Spring Rose Pruning

If you follow the traditional rules, your roses should have been pruned a couple of weeks ago, but with roses you can break a few rules. We went to the experts at Heirloom Roses (503-538-1576) to see how they tackle the chore of pruning. Louise Clements was out in the fields pruning away some of the old winter canes and prepping the plants for a full season of bloom. Roses are very forgiving, but we tend to treat them gingerly when it comes time to cut them back. Louise showed us the tools she uses and then showed us how to cut them back and even how to remove some of the older canes to promote that new growth. Of course now is also a good time to get new plants in the ground. If you have any rose questions you can call Heirloom, or better yet, sign up for one of the Saturday Academies where you can learn in a ‘hands-on’ setting.

Early Spring Spraying

If you have fruit trees, now is the time to dormant spray before they start to flower. Dormant spraying will help control insects and diseases during the coming growing season. William and Judy showed you the two main types of sprays you can use. William used Lime-Sulfur spray. This spray is made for fruits that have seeds. It also has a special oil in it that will help smother the eggs of some of the harmful pests. Judy used a liquid copper spray. This is used for fruits that have pits. Both of these sprays are safe for the environment once they are applied, but you should always use protective gear like gloves, a mask and eye protection when applying them. Remember to make sure that you don’t apply them after the buds start to open, that will smother the flowers and harm the bees that are pollinating your flowers. If you have any questions about spraying and what to use you can contact your local garden center.

Pruning Berries

Everyone is growing fruit these days, but know how to take care of those plants after they have become established is tough, especially berry plants. Pruning is necessary to promote good plant growth and better harvests, but where do you make the cuts and how much should you cut off? We stopped by Jan McNeilan’s house to see how she takes care of her berry plants. We started at her raspberries. She showed us how she cuts back the old, dead growth and tops the new growth to promote new berry shoots and canes. Then we moved to the Boysenberries. These are a ‘cane’ type of berry, named for the shape they have on the training wire once you prune them. Here you want to cut off all the old growth and ‘train’ the new canes off the ground and onto the support wires. Any canes left on the ground will root and start new plants. You want to avoid this! This will put all the plant energy into the new plants and not into fruit production. Here too, you will want to cut out all the dead and dying canes. You can even be a little rough during pruning, the plant will respond with new vigorous growth! This is also a great time to fertilize your plants. For more tips on growing berries check out these publications on growing caneberries and growing Raspberries.