SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 220 • September 17, 2011

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Welcome to GardenPalooza the Tour!  This weekend we are working with a select group of local nurseries and garden centers to get people excited about fall!  These businesses have agreed to hosting special events and sales to help gardeners make their fall and winter gardens look great, and to help get a jump start on next year’s garden.  A couple of years ago we pulled out some of our lawn and converted them into perennial beds.  With the new plants we put in during the spring and fall the beds are looking incredible!  This is your chance to do the same.  Check out the nurseries listed on the GardenPalooza website and watch the videos that we have put together.  Each nursery explains what makes them special and what specials and events they have planned.  You can also get directions from your home to each of the featured nurseries. 

On the GardenPalooza site you can also see where William and Judy will be making appearances and the times they will be there.  If you show up at one of their appearances you can pick up a grocery tote from our presenting sponsor Meta.  This reusable tote is great and everyone will get one!  You can also enter to win a Dramm tool, with one given away at each location, and a drawing for a $50 gift card for your favorite restaurant! 

Fall is a great time to garden and with GardenPalooza it can fun too!

This week we featured...

Open and Close – GardenPalooza

Open and Close – GardenPalooza

Normally we don’t refer to the nurseries featured in the open and close of the show, but this week we had so much information to share that we had to include in it our feature stories.

For the start of the show we were at Egan Gardens (503-393-2131) in Keizer.  Ellen and her staff are ready to get you ready for the coming fall and will help you get a jump start on spring.  They also have a bunch of fun events scheduled for the weekend.  You can have a shot at a plant in their ‘Shoot-out at the EG corral’.  Use a high power hose to blast one of their least favorite plants!  They will also have seminars on deer proofing your garden, building a green roof and creating 3 season planters.  You can also pick up a Amsonia (2011 Perennial of the year) for ½ off and buy 2 big garden mums and get one for free!  It is a great place to stop for the tour!

We ended the show at Cornell Farm (503-292-9895) in Portland.  Cornell had a ton of stuff scheduled for the weekend.  Today, Saturday, you can stop by and see William from 9-10am.  Then at 10am they will be having their ‘Dig, Drop, Grow’ Happy Hour project.  You can sip mimosa’s and learn about layering bulbs so you can have waves of color in your containers next spring.  After the demonstration you can build your own container.  Your $25 registration fee will be applied to the cost of your materials and the soil & fertilizer will be provided for free.  You can choose a container or bring your own!  Then Saturday afternoon you can enjoy wine and cheese during the Cornell Farm Autumn Garden Party and silent auction!  You can bid on custom designed containers and art work from some of Portland’s most creative people.  The proceeds of this auction benefit Growing Gardens which promotes healthy organic urban gardens to help feed low income households.  A great time for a great cause!

Sunday, Cornell Farm is having a School Garden Celebration!  The main feature is a coloring contest.  Bring your kids in and have them finish a coloring sheet.  The school with the most coloring sheets at the end of the day will earn a $400 gift card for plants and supplies for their school garden!  There will also be a Color Planter Party and a scavenger hunt.

Fall Bird Care – Palooza

Fall Bird Care – Palooza

If you are looking to attract birds to your yard or garden you have to provide them the right reasons.  We stopped by Backyard Bird Shop (503-635-2044) to find out from Scott Lukens about what you need to have in your garden to be successful.  We started with feed.  Picking the right food for the birds you want to attract is very important.  Black Oil Sunflower seeds are the best food for most of your seed eaters.  Then you have to select the right feeder for that food.  The Backyard Bird Shop has some new feeders that will let the rain water drain right through so your seed doesn’t get moldy.  For bug eaters they have suet feeders that are designed to favor native birds.  And don’t forget the hummingbirds.  They will stay around all winter if you provide them with food.  Fresh water is a major ingredient.  Flowing water features are the best since they don’t freeze when the weather gets cold, but if you don’t have one of those pick a deeper bird bath or check the water frequently to make sure it doesn’t freeze.  For GardenPalooza the Tour the Backyard Bird Shop is taking 20% off all the Mr. Seed products and 20% off all hummingbird supplies.  You can also stop by between 10:30 an 11:30 on Saturday the 17th and visit with William and sign up to win some cool stuff.  Make sure the birds visit your garden this winter.  If you are looking for supplies stop by Backyard Bird Shop.

Top 5 Fall Plants – Palooza

Top 5 Fall Plants – Palooza

Fall has lots of color interest for the garden.  The late summer plants are just starting to fade and the fall bloomers are hitting their stride.  We went to one of the coolest nurseries we know, Dancing Oaks (503-838-6058) to see their top 5 picks for fall.  Leonard, one of the owners, took us around to show us their picks.  The first one was the Lobelia tufa or Chilean Lobelia.  It has large stalks (up to 10 feet tall) of deep red flowers that have a curved shape.  They will keep blooming until frost and the hummingbirds love them!   The second plant was Lespedeza (purple bush clover) which has more of a bush or shrub shape.  It is very drought tolerant and has a great weeping habit with cute purple flowers.  It gets pretty big so make sure you have room for this beauty.  The next plant was the Hardy Hibiscus.  This plant can be found in a lot of local gardens but the newer varieties have huge flowers and they just keep coming back!  Our 4th selection was not known for its color, but is a great plant none the less.  It was Manzanita ‘Wayside’ it gets about 3 feet tall and 8 feet wide.  This one will stay evergreen and is winter blooming.  A great plant for a larger garden.  Finally, the echinacea take the stage.  There are lots of new varieties on the market including Tomato Soup and Coral Reef.  These are great perennials and will become a spotlight plant in any garden. 

One of the best deals about these plants is that Dancing Oaks is offering them in a ‘buy 2 get one free’ special just for GardenPalooza.  You will also find a big selection of plants at 25% off.   Plus every day they will have a drawing for a $50 gift card from everyone who has bought a plant that day.  You can also catch an Eco-dye demonstration on Sunday at 1pm, then stay around and visit with William and Judy from 2:30 to 3:30 on Sunday afternoon and enter to win some cool stuff.

Planting Hardy Fuchsias

Planting Hardy Fuchsias

You can have the great colors of the fuchsia return to your garden year after year!  You just need to pick up a variety of hardy fuchsia and plant it the right way.  We found a HUGE selection of hardy fuchsias at Fry Road Nursery (541-928-7038).  They have over 500 varieties of fuchsias and of those they have over 350 that can handle the cold.  Ann joined William in their display garden to show him how they plant the fuchsias so they can survive the cold winter months.  First you dig a large and deep hole.  Like tomatoes you can plant a fuchsia below the crown below the ground level.  It will grow roots along the trunk of the plant.  Just make sure the area is well drained.  The ones she planted last year are incredible!  They are huge.  If you are looking for a fuchsia this is the place to go.  They grow plants for wholesale so they know what they are doing!  They sell the plant starts (so they are small) and that means you can get a lot of plants for a tiny bit of money.  Stop by this weekend and enjoy some of their GardenPalooza specials.  With every purchase you can take home a hardy Fuchsia for free!!!  You can also get 20% off any one item.  They also have about 8 other sales specials going on during the event.  On Saturday they are having their 1st annual Green Elephant plant swap.  You can come out and bring your extra seeds or plant cuttings and swap them with other gardeners.  Don’t have seeds or plants, bring cookies or baked goods and swap those for plants!  William and Judy will be there on Saturday from 4-5 and you can also listen to Calamity Jazz.  Sounds like a great day!

KinderGarden – Flower Pressing

KinderGarden – Flower Pressing

Our KinderGarden segment for this week brings us back to the Children’s garden at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.  This week we are pressing flowers.  It is easy to do.  Just get a large pan and put a paper towel on the bottom.  Then pick some flowers and leaves from your garden.  Lay them flat on the paper towel and cover them with another paper towel. Do this for a few layers and then put a heavy flat object on top of them, like a book.  The weight of the book will press the flowers and the paper towel will absorb the moisture and help preserve the flowers and leaves.   Just wait for a week or so and you can then use them for projects and crafts.  Do it now while your flowers are still looking their best!

Portland Nursery Begonias

Portland Nursery Begonias

Rex Begonias are an under used plant in the garden.  Most people think that they are just an indoor plant, a few will use them in a hanging basket, but most people just don’t see them in the garden.  We stopped by Portland Nursery on Division (503-788-9000) to chat with Sara about this beautiful plant.  She had brought out quite a few different plants for us to check out.  The first one was Connie Boswell, with a nice upright form and great leaf color, on the top and the bottom as well.  The second one was Raspberry Crush and it had a dark purple (raspberry) colored leaf.  The 3rd one was Fireworks.  It was a shorter variety and it has an intense color change between red and green on the leaves.  The final one is called Gryphon.  It has a stark leaf structure that makes it really stand out.  These plants like moist soil, a good regular fertilizer and indirect light.  You can use these outside for another couple of weeks then you want to bring them in.  You can also keep them in the pot and place the pot in the ground in a protected area until temps drop below 50 at night.  Check them before you bring them back inside so they don’t bring any pest friends inside with them!

The begonia society will be meeting at Portland Nursery on Division between 3-5pm on the 18th.  Stop by and learn more about these great plants! 

Check out these videos from each of the participating nurseries to learn more about their nurseries and their specials.

Backyard Bird Shop Cornell Farm Dancing Oaks Nursery Egan Gardens
Backyard Bird Shop
 

Cornell Farm
 

Dancing Oaks Nursery
 
Egan Gardens
 
Fry Road Nursery Hydrangeas Plus Out in the Garden Nursery Sebright Gardens
Fry Road Nursery
 

Hydrangeas Plus
 

Out in the Garden Nursery Sebright Gardens
 
 
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