Welcome to the day after May Day, or as it is known this year, World Naked Gardening Day. May Day is still considered the start of spring/summer for a lot of cultures around the world. I guess that means you can celebrate World Naked Gardening Day and still be loosely tied to the start of the gardening season. May Day has roots going back to pre-Christian days. There are stories that it started as a celebration of the roman goddess of flowers, Flora. As you can see May 1st has had significance for centuries.

Another date of significance is May 16th. This year that marks the 2nd annual Subaru Garden Dayz. This event is taking place at Capitol Subaru on the Parkway in Salem. If you stop by between 11 and 3 you can get a tray pack of plants from Al’s for free, or a free packet of chive or parsley seeds, a free hot dog or a soda. There will be drawings every half hour for a $25 Portland Nursery gift card, or you can enter to win a $100 gift card from Al’s Garden Center.

Mark your calendar and we will see you there.

Watch this week's entire show, available until May 8, 2015!

This week we featured...

Grafted Vegetables

With all the new varieties of vegetable that are introduced every year it is nice to see an old method of growing giving some varieties a new lease on life. Grafted vegetables have been around for years. In some foreign countries they use this from of propagation to deal with water issues and disease problems. One of the leaders in grafted plants in the US is Log House Plants right here in Oregon. We met with Alice Doyle to learn why plants are grafted and how they do it.

Alice told us that in most of the world there is not always the amount of land in production that we have here. Because of the land use, there are problems with diseases and water issues. To get around that farmers learned long ago that they can take a root from a plant that is naturally resistant to these diseases and a better grower, and graft it to a plant that is a better producer of fruit. This means that the plant will stay healthy and the farmer gets more production from his plants. It has been done in the US for many years with large fruit trees but it is only recently that we have started to see grafted vegetables in our local garden centers. Alice also told us that these vegetables have better root systems, because of these superior root stocks, which makes them perform well with less water and more disease resistance and that means less spraying and less fertilizers.

How do they do it? First they grow the root stock tomato (or other plant) and they also grow the ‘production’ plant. When they get a certain size they are both cut at the same time and then combined with a small clip. They are placed in a dark, warm and humid location for 3 days. This allows the plant to reestablish the vascular connection between the top and bottom grafts. A few more days of pampering and they can go right into the greenhouse to get big. Then they head to your garden center. Log House Plants grows lots of different vegetables, but their big brand right now is the Mighty Mato. A wonderful combination of strong roots and great tomatoes. They are also working on many other varieties for the home garden. Be sure to check out their website for a location near you where you can get your hands on these incredible veggies.

Portland Nursery Edible Landscapes

For years people have put their fruits and vegetables in one part of their yard and the decorative and ornamental plants in another. Now we can move plants around to do both! We stopped by Portland Nursery (503-231-5050) on Stark to talk to Sara about how we can blur those gardening lines and to see some of her favorite edible plants for the ornamental garden. She started by talking about her own revelation about using a vegetable in her front yard. She wanted artichokes and blueberries in her garden but didn’t have the room. Then she realized that she could have them in her yard and still enjoy them. They added fall color, structure and even fruit to her landscape. It has been great! She brought out some plants that could do the same in your garden too. First we looked at a really cool new blueberry called ‘Sunshine Blue’ this is one that stays a little shorter and has great fall color. Then we moved to a form of honeysuckle called Honeyberry ‘Blue Velvet’. Even though this is called honeyberry the fruit can be a little tart depending on the variety. You can eat them fresh or use them in a preserve with some sugar added. The next plant was one that has been used in the garden for quite a while, Lingonberry. These are great ornamental plants, but they are now becoming known for their great prolific berries. If you have been to Europe you probably have seen lingonberry jam on the breakfast table. The variety we saw was ‘Red Pearl’. Another plant that is becoming popular is the Hardy Kiwi. These vines get really big but look great on a wall or trellis. They are self-pollinating and have a grape sized fruit that ripens faster than the traditional large fuzzy kiwi. The final plant we looked at was a Mulberry tree, named ‘Kokuso’. These can get really big as well and put out a tremendous amount of fruit. The birds will have their fill and you will be stuffed as well, and there will still be fruit on this tree! They can be a little messy when the fruit ripens but if you stay ahead of the fruiting, either by freezing the harvest, or by making margaritas like William does, they can be a great tree in your garden. If you would like more suggestions for plants or for ideas on incorporating edibles in your garden stop by either Portland Nursery location and check with one of the staff. Edibles can be so much more in the garden!

Drakes' Grand Opening

There is a new garden center in town, and it has only been around since 1956. Actually we are talking about Drake’s 7 Dees (503-292-9121). Drakes has been around a long time, but their garden center on Scholls Ferry Road has only been around a couple of years. This location used to be a small garden center and florist, but when Drakes took over they brought in a staff of incredible landscape designers. These designers, along with the knowledgeable garden center staff, worked together and really transformed the place. This weekend is the grand re-opening of the garden and design center. We learned more about it from Robin. The garden center now features design vignettes showcasing 3 different areas. There is the ‘Modern Outdoor’ room, the ‘Rustic Edible’ room, and the ‘Pacific Rim’ room. These rooms will help spark your creativity and may give you ideas for your own garden. Once you have that inspiration, the plant staff can help you find the plants to make that happen. If you feel overwhelmed and need a hand or some advice, the designers are also there to help you on your way. Everywhere you turn there is something new and cool to look at. Stop by this weekend for their big grand re-opening and get inspired in your garden.

Garland Summer Vegetables

A lot of people try to grow their own vegetables and sometimes the results don’t always turn out like they like. To get some tips on how and where to grow your vegetables we stopped by Garland Nursery (1-800-296-6601) and talked with Brenda. The problem with growing vegetables is remembering where they grow natively and trying to reproduce those conditions. For example, we started with peppers. they are from a hot and dry climate. Peppers REALLY love the heat. Brenda said she tries to recreate those conditions by using a black nursery pot to grow hers, black pots absorb the heat from the sun and it works great for growing peppers. Other people use the ‘Wall o’ Water’ to generate more heat for their peppers. Once the peppers set fruit you can start to reduce the water you give them. This tells the plant to concentrate the flavors and to finish the fruit. The same is nearly true for tomatoes. Tomatoes are from Mexico and South America, and also love the heat. Tomatoes can also be planted deeper in the soil to help them generate more roots. Tomatoes are either ‘determinate’ or ‘indeterminate’. Determinate grow to a certain height and stop, indeterminate will just keep on growing, getting very tall if you let them. Give them good water to start and make sure they have a good well-balanced fertilizer along with some calcium to prevent root rot. Once your plants are producing you can cut back on the water. Don’t stop watering, just reduce the water by half. They will reward you with some great, tasty fruit! Finally melons! In the Willamette valley you will have problems with getting really large fruit because we don’t have the growing season or, sometimes, the heat required by these sun loving plants. Melon, and cucumbers, LOVE water, along with lots of sun. If you give them a lot of each, you will get lots of production. If you have more questions about growing vegetables you can stop by Garland’s this weekend for their Garden to Table planting event on Saturday May 2nd at 1pm. If you can’t make it to Garland, you can stop by any local, independent garden center.

Canby Farmer’s Market

The farmer’s market season is kicking off this weekend and one of the newer markets is celebrating with a new location. The Canby Farmer’s Market [Facebook link] has moved to the corner of Hwy 99 and Sequoia Parkway, close to Providence Urgent Care. They have a bunch of new vendors and we stopped by for a preview. Our first guest was an old friend, Mallory Gwynn. Mallory is one of our favorite plant people and he shared some of the plants that they will have available. You will be able to buy garden plants, plus they will also have a cut flower vendor so you can take some nice flowers home for the inside of your house. Then we met with Marilyn Nash who is the market manager and she told us about some of the craft vendors who will be there. They have an amazing group coming in this year. Finally we met with two of the vendors. Frist we talked to Kimberly Kyllo with Angell Pies. She is using family recipes to make tasty pies, in all sizes, that also have an extra ingredient, love. Yes, we tried them and they were wonderful! Then we had the chance to meet Neal Hout from Borealis Bistro. They will have their amazing food trailer at the market with a wide assortment of smoked and cooked meats. We were also able to try some of his breakfast burritos and they were incredible!

Remember to stop by the Canby Farmer’s Market if you are in the area during the summer, or at your local farmer’s market if you can’t make it to Canby. These vendors are members of our community and they deserve your support!

Slug and Snail Control

SLUGS!!! These little pests will devour your new plants and vegetables. If you are looking for a way to keep them in check, William and Judy had a selection of different ways you can deter them or just get rid of them. Slugs are a real problem here in the Northwest and spring is the time when you may notice them the most. They will eat the foliage off your nice garden plants and may even eat the plants as they are just coming out of the ground. Look for holes in the leaves of your tulips, iris and hostas. These are a few of their early spring favorites. First we talked about the chemical baits that you can use. These tend to be the most effective and are made with Metaldehyde which goes by the brand name of Meta. You can get this bait in a liquid, meal and pellet form. If you have children or pets and are looking for something safer, you can check out the products that contain iron phosphate. These are safe around pets and children. William and Judy also talked about the non-chemical methods of control. They covered beer traps, which work like a scent trap, and copper tape which gives them a shock. You can even search your garden in the early morning, finding them under boards and rocks, and just dropping them in a bath of soapy water or just cutting them in half with your pruners. Take the time to find the method that’s best for you and check with your local garden center if you need help.

Refinish Your Deck

The summer is nearly here and it is time to refinish the deck to have it ready for the upcoming evenings of outdoor entertaining. To learn the steps we should take we stopped by Parr Lumber (866-214-7277) and talked to Amber. The key for your wood deck is to do the correct preparation before you start. If you have an older wood deck it probably looks pretty dull and grey. To get it back to its correct color you will need to clean and brighten it first. If you put the new stain on an old, unclean board it will look splotchy and uneven. The good news is that you can clean and brighten your deck in just one day! First you will need to get a good cleaner. There are fine products from Wolman and Superdeck, but you will need to check with a Parr expert to make sure that you get the right kind for your deck material. When you put the cleaner on your deck you need to work it around with a good stiff brush. After the cleaner is done, then you can use the brightener. Most of these brighteners will work on your deck while it is still wet. You can leave the brighteners on the surface for the recommended amount of time and just hose them off.

Once the deck is cleaned and brightened, then you can apply the new stain. There are lots of choices when it comes to stains. You can go from a semi-transparent which will allow you to see more of the natural grain in the wood to a solid stain which is more like paint. If you are changing the look of your deck and you are not sure about the new color, find a slightly hidden part of the deck and do a test patch. This will let you check the color before you do the whole deck. Wolman and Superdeck have great products here too, but we also talked about Penofin which has rosewood oils that will penetrate the wood and help protect it longer from UV damage and the RainCoat product which is more of a clear sealer. With most of these products you will need to redo the process every 2-3 years. Amber also recommends doing a thin coat to start with and then applying a second coat if needed.

If you have a new composite deck material they also have special cleaners for those that work great. If you need to clean and re-stain your deck, be sure to do the job right the first time with help from our friends at Parr. A great place to get some help with your deck is this weekend at the Parr Deck Expo. On Saturday, May 2nd from 10am to 4pm at the West Linn store and the Raleigh Hills locations you can get all the tips to clean your deck or learn how to build a new one. There will be drawings and other cool events going on. For more information you can check out this link to the event on the Parr website.

Tip of the Week – Double Gloves

A painful blister on the hand of Producer Jeff brings us the tip of the week. If you ever get blisters from working with your garden tools you may want to try this tip. We recommend that you wear double gloves when you are working. First put on a pair of rubber surgical gloves and then put your garden gloves over the top. The friction that causes the blister between your glove and your skin now happens between the 2 sets of gloves. This will prevent blisters and will make your gardening much less painful. [SEE ALL OUR TIPS OF THE WEEK - CLICK HERE]

Best Oregon Tours

Ever been to the Oregon Garden? How about Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden? The Portland Japanese Garden? Deepwood Estate in Salem? If you haven’t you should consider taking a tour. One of the leaders in local tours is Best Oregon Tours (503-564-7663) and to find out more about their tours we met with Clem Ogilby, the owner of Best Oregon Tours to learn more. We found him at The Oregon Garden in Silverton, one of his favorites, to chat. He was in the Oak Grove the home of the Signature Oak. This tree, he told us, is over 400 years old and is an Oregon Heritage Tree. This grove is representative of the oak savanna that used to cover a lot of the Willamette Valley. We then moved to the Lewis and Clark Garden. This garden represents the journey by the Corps of Discovery and the different land styles and formations they encountered across the western US, before it was the US. Finally we walked over to the Silverton Market Garden. This garden represents the diversity of products that we can grow in Oregon, and how much we rely on our agriculture industry in the state.

Best Oregon Tours is not just about garden tours either. They offer a diverse range of historical and architectural tours as well. They even have half day tours too. If you would like to see more of the state, or if you have guests and want to show them the highlights of our state, check out Best Oregon Tours.