The heat has returned, just as we knew it would. I tell you, the plants are taking a beating from the sun after months of taking a beating from the rain! Still it is a great time for a gardener. It has been a long time since I have been able to walk the garden in my slippers in the very early morning! It is very relaxing and also allows me to check the garden for problems from this heat. Remember this is just the beginning of summer. Catching problems now can help you and your plants survive the summer better! Also, if you are out in the garden during the heat of the day, remember to refresh yourself with water as you do the same for your plants.


This week we featured...

Red Ridge / Oregon Lavender Festival

It is lavender time and Oregon is throwing a party. The Oregon Lavender Festival is being celebrated this weekend at over 30 different lavender farms and shops around the state. We stopped by Red Ridge Farms (503-864-8502) to see what they had planned for this fragrant festival. Leslie joined us in their field to show us how to harvest lavender for your home. The problem is that people don't want to cut their lavender back. If you just leave it alone it will look good for a couple of years, but then it will start getting leggy and not produce as well. Leslie showed us how to cut the lavender back to the woody part to create a nice sheared 'ball' form. After a week or two, the plant will grow new leaves and fill out to a nice shape and you will have more blooms forming for next year. She then took us up to the gift shop to show us how to make a lavender wand. You need to use an even amount of cut stems (with flowers). Tie them at the base of the flowers. Bend the stems down over the flowers and then weave a ribbon between the stems until the flowers are totally enclosed. It is very easy to do but it takes time to make it look good. You can learn more about making these this weekend at many of the farms participating in the Oregon Lavender Festival. Now if you have plans you can still enjoy the lavender at Red Ridge Farms on the 18th during their Lavender Extravaganza. The Extravaganza has a limited number of spots open so call ahead for reservations. While you are at out at the farm sample some of their private label olive oil. It is the best!

Simple Drip Irrigation

Being green doesn't mean you can't have a beautiful garden. It means you should be responsible with the resources that you use. A drip irrigation system is a great way to use your water more efficiently. Mark from Al's Garden Center (503-726-1162) showed William how easy it is to build a drip system with supplies that many garden centers carry. First Mark recommended that you figure out the amount of water that your system can provide. Use a bucket to see how many gallons per minute you can get. Then you can use that number to figure out how many drip emitters you can use. There are 2 types of emitters that you can use; a slow drip and a small sprayer. Once you have figured out the number of emitters you want, you just punch a hole in the tubing, attach the small emitter and place it in the plant. If you have any questions you can check with your local independent garden center. Call first to make sure they have all the parts you need.

Adrian Bloom Book

If you are a plant person you have heard of Adrian Bloom or his company Blooms of Bressingham. His family has been growing and hybridizing perennials for decades. If you are not a plant person he is still someone you should know. Adrian was recently in town for an appearance at Al's Garden Center in Sherwood and we got a few minutes to chat with him about his new book 'Bloom's Best Perennials and Grasses' by Timber Press. For the non-plant person he really breaks down perennials and makes it easy to understand them. Plus, with all his experience, he picks out some that will do well in any garden. We focused on his chapter 'Take 12 Plants'. In this chapter Adrian takes all his experiences and picks 12 of his favorites and has tons of pictures on how to use them in your garden. The 2 we talked about were the Brunnera 'Jack Frost' and Geranium 'Rozanne'. Both striking and beautiful plants. If you want to learn more about Adrian and the Bressingham Gardens, check out their website. To get more information about his book you can go to the Timber Press (1-800-327-5680) website.

Jan's July Tips

This month we saw the heat return, but that didn't stop the questions for Jan McNeilan. Our garden guru and retired OSU Extension agent is still addressing lingering questions about the past 'wet' spring and its effects on the average gardener. We had heard from a viewer that she was replanting her garden on the 4th of July! Jan said that this is nothing unusual, in fact if you picked the right varieties you can still have a great fall harvest. Her recommendations; pick up vegetable starts (plants that are already growing) from your local garden center. If you want to start your plants from seed look for varieties that are quick maturing, 60 days or less. Or you can wait until August and plant your fall and winter garden. If you are going to use seeds make sure they are from a good vendor. Keep track of companies that don't do well in your garden and try a different seed company next year. We then took a look at her hydroponic tomatoes. A month ago we saw her tomatoes after they were just planted in the hydroponic garden from Green Air Products (800-669-2113) She was trying out this product and I think we can say it has been a success so far. Those 6 inch plants are easily over 3 feet tall now and blooming. Truly amazing.

We have also been hearing about organic weed controls and how effective they have been. Jan told us about a product that she has been using that is vinegar and clove oil based. It has been working really well for her, but Jan is quick to caution people about using any product to follow the directions on the label. She has just been using a fine mist and it has been working fine with results within a day. Some gardeners tend to over spray if they don't see quick results and we would caution people to not go overboard, let the product do the work. Finally we talked about fuchsias. If you have fuchsias in hanging baskets you will notice that they form seed pods after the flowers have died off. By removing those seed pods you will get a quicker rebloom and the plant will become more vigorous. All that energy goes back into the formation of new flowers. Also remember to feed your fuchsias often since they need lots of nutrients to continue blooming. More summer gardening tips can be found on the OSU Extension website.

Grass Seed Testing

The return of the heat has us wondering about our lawns. How can we keep them looking great without pouring a ton of water on them? We are lucky. One of the leading grass and turf research companies is in our backyard and they are looking for a more drought tolerant grass seed! Debra Highnight from NexGen Turf Research took William on a tour of their test facility near Corvallis. NexGen is working on testing all types of grass seed and works with producers to help find a better seed for the home gardener. Debra started with us out in the fields where they 'stress' the different varieties by creating drought conditions and then they scientifically analyze the test plots to see which ones stay greener with less water. They have found one variety that saves over 10,000 gallons of water during the growing season over a competing seed. Then we stepped inside one of the greenhouses to see how they analyze the root structures. These tubes of single plants help them determine which varieties have a better root structure which will help them draw more water from the soil for a longer period of time. Over all the research is quite fascinating and will help home owners save millions of gallons of water down the road while maintaining a green and healthy lawn. For more information about grass, turf and sod you can check out the Pennington Seed website, the NexGen Website, or the Lawn Institute website.