Happy Mother's Day! It is a great time of year to celebrate this time-honored tradition that recognizes moms. It is the time of year when everything seems to be in bloom. This period of rebirth and growth is nature's tribute to mother earth and to all mothers. We hope all mothers have a great weekend and Mother's Day.

This week we are offering another gift for first time subscribers to Garden Time on-line magazine! This week we will have a drawing for a Dramm watering wand. Dramm watering tools are the leaders in the market and are built to last. All of the Garden Time crew own Dramm tools and now is your chance to get one of your own. Good Luck!

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This week we featured...

Spring Pond Prep

The weather is warming and that can create a few problems for your pond or water feature. We stopped by Tsugawa Nursery (360-225-8750) to get some tips from Doug King to learn what you should be doing now to get ready for the season. Doug gave us his "Four Its" of spring pond care. They are Kill it, Sink it, Eat it, and Starve it. First you want to kill the algae in your system with a treatment of Algae Fix. Next you want to sink it with Accu-clear. This will drop all the algae to the bottom of your pond or pool. This is actually the bottle of 'instant gratification'. If you are having a party you can use this and your pond will be clear in just a day. Next you want to 'Eat it' with Ecofix. This is a bacterial pond clarifier that introduces bacteria to your system so it can eat all the nasty stuff at the bottom of your pond. Finally you can starve it with a good selection of pond plants. You should be cleaning up your plants. Get rid of the dead and damaged foliage; it will just add nutrients to your water that will foster the growth of algae, but be careful of the new growth and the flower buds. Now is also the time to fertilize your pond plants. Use a pellet fertilizer that will release over time. You can also start monitoring your fish. Remember that you need to be careful about feeding them right now. If the temperature of the water is below 45 degrees they won't be able to metabolize the food that you feed them, so you will want to feed them a wheat germ product until the water warms up and they can process the protein in a regular food. The warmer weather will also mean a bloom of algae and mold in your system. You can control it with a variety of natural and organic products. For more information on pond maintenance you can always check with the experts at Tsugawa Nursery.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

We went to see the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden for their big Portland Rhododendron Show and Plant Sale that happens every year on Mother's Day weekend. Dick Cavender talked to Judy about all the changes to the garden. During the winter they added more retaining walls and walkways. He also covered all the events happening at the garden this weekend. We also talked about the benefits the garden has enjoyed because of the generosity of gardeners and rhododendron lovers around the state. The garden is maintained by volunteers and the plant sale that the Rhododendron Society is conducting helps to raise funds for the garden. If you would like to learn more about the garden and about volunteering check out the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden website, or call 503-771-8386.

Planting Dahlias

If you are looking for outstanding late summer color you can't beat dahlias. Now is the time to plant dahlias to get that late summer 'pop' of color. We stopped by Swan Island Dahlias (800-410-6540) to get some planting tips for having a great crop of color later this summer! Nick from Swan Island walked us through the planting process. First you want a good healthy tuber. Next you will want a well worked soil to plant them in. The loose soil will ensure that they don't have to fight their way to the surface. You will want a well drained area since they can rot if they are setting in water. To plant them, dig down about 6 inches and mix some bulb fertilizer into the soil at the bottom of the hole. Place the tuber in the bottom of the hole and loosely fill in the soil. In a couple of week you will start to see the new growth breaking through the top of the soil. Flowers will soon follow!

College Containers

Gardening in small spaces is the trend this year, especially for vegetable gardening. A great way to get a fresh taste from the garden is to plant an herb pot on your deck or patio. We stopped by the college apartment of Sarah to learn how to put together a container of herbs for cooking. Sarah is trying to save money by cooking more and she has found that using herbs are a great way to add flavor and character to her favorite dishes. She sent a list to Judy of her best dishes and Judy picked some plants that would be easy to grow and would take her cooking to another level. We started with the statuesque rosemary plant in the center of the pot. Sarah loves baked potatoes and so we planted chives. We then moved to a lemon thyme that can be used in many dishes. We then planted Italian parsley and a viola as a substitute for basil, which is a little too tender for this time of year. Later Sarah will be able to plant the basil when the temperatures warm up a bit. As always we were selective about the soil we used. Black Gold makes an All Organic formula that is great for all your edible garden veggies. This will provide a bountiful container that will flavor many dishes for months to come.

Grimm’s Mulch

Now is the time to apply a good layer of mulch to your garden or garden bed. Jeff Grimm from Grimm’s Fuel (503-636-3623) joined us to talk about the different types of mulches you can get for your garden beds. In the past people liked the red, fresh color of a new Fir or Hemlock mulch. This type will age to a grey color and will help keep the weeds in check. The problem is that they tend to pull nitrogen from your soil as the wood breaks down and that leaves less for your plants. The other problem this year is availability. The wood based mulches are harder to come by due to the housing market and timber harvesting. The new popular mulch is Garden Mulch. This is a nice dark color and it will help your garden by providing nutrients for your plants. Grimm’s has all the different types of mulches and can deliver them in bulk or can even blow them in so the work is done and you save your back! They even have a lawn service. They will come in and apply mulch with grass seed to your lawn and in a couple of weeks you will have a new lawn to enjoy for the summer!