We were able to stop by and preview the 3rd annual Bauman's Greenhouse Gallery (503-792-3524) this Saturday and Sunday. Brian always throws a great event and this one will be no different. Over 20 local artists and craftsmen will be showing and selling their works. You can find a plethora of great garden art, from ceramics and metal art, to paintings and prints. You can also enjoy mimosas on Saturday and Sunday morning and wine tastings in the afternoons. Once again, 5% of all proceeds will go to support the Linda L. Vladyka Breast Wellness Foundation. We were able to visit with a few of the featured artists and see some of their works. Brian showed us the wonderful suns that were made by Linda Wells. We then visited with Sandra Kaufman and she showed us her sculptures that she first carves and then casts in cement. Finally we caught up with Gina Nash who works in metals to create wonderful rain chains, panels and privacy screens. William even has some of Gina's work in his own garden. And this year there are big changes that have happened at the farm over the winter. They have added more paved parking and more plants! You can also enjoy some of the wonderful hanging baskets that Bauman's is known for. While you are visiting the farm you can also enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, and even take home a pie. It should be another great event!

Planting Potatoes

It is early spring and that means it is time to plant your potatoes. William and Judy took us out to the garden to show us how to plant potatoes and maximize your harvest. First we looked at the seed potato. Seed potatoes are not always like the ones you find in the store. Some of the potatoes in the store have been treated so they don't grow in the vegetable aisle. Find a couple varieties at your local garden center. Look for good, firm spuds. Next, when you get home. Cut them into sections making sure that you have 3-4 'eyes' in each section. An eye is the little dented part of the potato where the new growth occurs. Leave them sit for a day and let them dry over the cut. The next day you can plant them. Find a place with rich well-drained soil. Make sure the soil is amended so it is nice and loose, that will let the plant produce more potatoes. Dig down about 8-10 inches and place the potato at the bottom. Cover it with 3-4 inches of soil. Once it starts to grow you can start to fill in the hole a little bit. Wait until the plant is 6 inches tall and cover up the bottom half. Let it grow some more and do it again. This will allow the plant to produce more tubers! The potato will eventually flower and then die. Once the vines are completely dead in the late summer you can dig up your crop. Judy also showed us how to grow potatoes in a recycled garbage can. This is really easy because you just fill up the garbage can until harvest and then you can just dump it out to harvest! For more information check with your local, independent garden center.

Herbs for Tea

Summer may be right around the corner, but the cool mornings of spring still call for a nice warm cup of tea. Wouldn't it be great to step outside your backdoor and harvest your own tea leaves or herbs to make your own special drink? You can do it if you have the right plants. We stopped by Portland Nursery (503-231- 5050) on Stark to visit with Laura and learn which plants you can put in your garden to make that happen. Laura showed us a couple of her favorite plants. The first was Monarda also called Bee Balm. This variety was 'Marshal's Delight'. This one has a nice taste and a wonderful smell if you just rub it. Plus it is a great plant in your garden with pinkish or red flowers that hummingbirds love. You can harvest the flowers, stems or leaves to make your tea. Other plants, like the Chamomile, you would just focus on the flowers. You will want to make sure that the flowers or leaves dry evenly before you use them to prepare a tea. Another great plant was mint. This one is very popular for stomach problems or as a revitalizing tea. Be careful to plant this one in a pot or container, it can get out of hand if put in the regular garden. Finally we saw the plant that is the basis for most teas in the world, the Camellia sinensis (this variety was 'Sochi'). Green tea, black tea and white tea all come from this plant. The only difference is when the leaves are harvested and prepared. If you are interested in trying to grow your own tea you can stop by either location of Portland Nursery and they can help you get started. You can also download this great list of herbs to make your own 'tea pots'.

Cat Solutions

We all love our feline friends except when they are in our gardens where they shouldn't be. Judy showed you various solutions to the problem including the Scarecrow motion sensitive sprinkler, Cat stop, Repel Dog and Cat repellent, lavender sprigs, plastic forks, pointed stakes or bird netting. All of these measures are safe for your cat and will help you to share your garden with your pet without letting them take over! We all love our pets and we want them to enjoy the outdoors with us, but we also have a need to protect the plants we love. If you are having problems with any of your pets, check with your local garden center for safe ideas to set those boundaries.

Fry Road Fuchsias

In the past few years we have turned to our friends at Monnier's Country Gardens to learn about the care and feeding of fuchsias. Well, since they retired from growing they introduced us to some new friends at Fry Road Nursery (541-928-7038) in Albany to get us information on some of the new and colorful varieties that are available. Ann Detweiler gave William a tour of their huge greenhouses and pulled some blossoms of some of her favorite varieties. She started with her favorite large bloom, 'Royal Mosaic'. This one was the size of a human hand. Another one she brought out was 'Pink Marshmallow' an off white bloom that works well in a basket with other fuchsias. Ann told us how you can pair different fuchsias so you can get a great basket that has wonderful blooms from some and other plants with a good 'habit', which means that they look good in a container. She had 3 varieties that demonstrated that well. 'Bi-centennial', 'Dancing Flame' and 'Mrs. Rundle' can all be combined so you can have a good looking basket of plants that also have complimentary blooms. Her final favorite was a darker almost black bloom called 'New Millennium'. These were all hanging fuchsias. These are meant for hanging baskets and other trailing containers. Fry Road also includes over 300 varieties of hardy fuchsias that can be planted in the ground, including some of the more recent Monnier introductions.