SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 375 • September 26, 2015

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Welcome to fall! The change of seasons is pretty evident right now. The mornings are crisp and the days warm, plus we have a few showers tossed in for good measure. This change of season comes with a change in attitude as well. Shorts are going away and sweaters are coming out. I find that I am spending more time in the garden due to the cooler temps. Those trips to the garden also mean that I run into some garden visitors. I feel like a karate student every time I walk into a spider web. Does it seem like there are more? Are they bigger this year? Find out in the story we did this week with Gail from OSU.

We have also noticed the large amount of tiny white bugs that are flying around. People have been asking about them so we contacted OSU Extension and Robin Rosetta, their pest expert said she believes them to be the Ash Whitefly. They are not posing a risk for your plants right now, but they could if they hang around long enough. If you would like to learn more, check out this link. We’ll keep you updated on any new information we find out.

 

This week we featured...

 

Fall Garden Spiders
 

Fall Garden Spiders

A lot of people have noticed the increase in spiders this fall. We have been hearing questions about whether there are more spiders than normal and are they bigger? To get some answers we went to Corvallis and talked to Gail Langellotto, an entomologist with Oregon State University’s Extension Service. She told us that there are not more spiders, nor are they any bigger than in the past. They are just more active in the fall and are either looking for food or a mate and that makes them more visible in the garden. A lot of people have an aversion to spiders, and they do look kind of creepy, but they are great garden helpers! They are a natural pest control for the gardener. They don’t feed on plants, they just catch other bugs and pests. The spiders you see in your garden are not even a threat to us. They only bite infrequently and will usually run away if bugged. Of the 700 to 800 species of spiders in Oregon, only the black widow has the potential to cause serious harm to humans. This spider is found in the drier areas of southern Oregon and east of the Cascades more commonly than in the Willamette Valley. Hobo spiders, research shows, are not poisonous to humans, but their bite may cause pain, redness and itching. Poisonous brown recluse spiders do not live in Oregon, according to Gail. If you would like to keep them at bay here are a few tips.

 • Wear gloves, pants and a long-sleeved shirt when handling firewood or stored boxes where spiders may have built funnel-shaped nests.

 • Seal holes around doors, windows and outlets for plumbing and wiring where spiders can find entry into the house.

 • Sweep webs from corners, rock walls and under eaves. Repeat as necessary.

 • Keep porch lights switched off as much as possible to keep from attracting flying insects that make good prey for spiders. Or switch to yellow bulbs, which attract fewer night-flying insects.

 • Place simple cardboard sticky traps (without the use of insecticide spray) along baseboards and bed frames where wandering spiders tend to move.

 • Keep vegetation near house mowed or trimmed.

You can also contact your local extension office for help in identifying the ones in your garden.

 

Farmington Fall Perennials

 

Farmington Fall Perennials

Perennials are the queens of the garden. They ‘reign’ for years and years with color, texture, and sometimes, fragrance. Fall is a great time for some of these beauties to show off in the garden. To see some of the best in the fall garden we stopped by Farmington Gardens (503-649-4568) and met up with MJ. MJ had 2 full carts of plants to share with us. The first cart actually started with a couple of containers. These containers featured orange and red tones that will last into winter! The first container had some evergreen plants but it also had bright color as well with pansies, Lemon Beauty honeysuckle, coreopsis, forest grass and a euphorbia. The second one had a heuchera, an ornamental pepper (very striking in color) and even a couple of trailing sedums. As I mentioned before, these will continue to grow and provide winter interest! We then looked at some of the bigger specimens that MJ had brought out including the perennial asters, with loads of blooms. There was also a pyracantha. This shrub will carry its colorful berries well into the fall and winter. We also saw the ‘My Monet’ Weigela with its variegated foliage, and the Euonymus, or burning bush, with its striking red fall foliage yet to come! Some of the other favorite fall perennials include the Japanese Anemone with tall structured blooms, the hardy chrysanthemums and the twice blooming Encore Azaleas. As you can see there are lots of blooms that you can choose for your garden right now that will carry your garden into winter. If you would like to see these plants or other great fall perennials, you can stop by Farmington Garden or your local independent garden center.

 

Oregon Garden Fuchsia Day

 

Oregon Garden Fuchsia Day

Fuchsias are great garden plants, but most people only know about the tender ones that you grow in your hanging baskets. There are some hardy varieties that will survive our winter and come back with great color every year. A great place to learn more about Fuchsias is today, September 26th at the Oregon Garden (503-874-8100) in Silverton, from 10am to noon. As part of the Garden University series they are celebrating the fuchsia. We dropped by the garden to learn more about this event. While there we ran into our old friend Ann Detweiler, owner of Fry Road Nursery, to get some tips on growing these hardy varieties. She reminded us about the story we did many years ago at her nursery. When you are planting hardy fuchsias you should ‘think tomato’. A hardy fuchsia should always be buried deep, just like a tomato, with the top 1/3 exposed. They like cool roots and planting them deep will help that. She will talk at 10am at the garden and then she will be followed by renowned fuchsia hybridizer, and old friend, Ron Monnier, known for the introduction of the DebRon varieties, who will speak about his pursuit and passion for hybridizing hardy fuchsias. Both of these talks will be followed by door prizes! Another person that we had a chance to visit with was Mardean King. She is responsible for helping start the outdoor display beds that they have at the garden. She was at Fry Road many years ago and mentioned that they didn’t have fuchsias at the garden and that led to the planting of a beautiful bed of plants that continues to grow. She also told us more about the day including the information that will be available, flower displays, tours of the fuchsia garden and refreshments too. Members of the Salem Fuchsia Society will be there as well and Fry Road will also have a selection of fuchsias that you can buy. If you would like to attend there is a small fee if you are not a Oregon Garden member, but it is free if you have a membership! If you would like to buy some fuchsias or you can’t make it to the event, you can check out the Fry Road on-line store at http://www.storesonlinepro.com/store/2418111/. It should be a fun day!

 

Garden Time Dahlia

 

Garden Time Dahlia

We are celebrating our 10th season and a lot of our grower friends are showing us some love this year! Swan Island Dahlias (800-410-6540) in Canby is celebrating our anniversary by introducing a new dahlia called ‘Garden Time’. We met with Nick at Swan Island to learn more about our very special flower. He told us that this is one of his favorite new introductions. It has 4" blooms that are a golden yellow brushed with bit of orange on the front and back of each petal. It is a prolific bloomer with dark stems, lacy foliage and excellent growth habit. He told us it is an outstanding choice for cutting and garden color. If you would like to order it, you can go on-line with this link, or better yet, stop by the fields in Canby during these sunny fall days. The festival may have ended on Labor Day, but the flowers are still blooming and looking great!

 

Zucchini Stew

 

Zucchini Stew

Fall is the time for harvesting. A lot of the garden crops are producing at full tilt in the late summer and early fall. Zucchini is one of those crops. There is an old saying that goes ‘grow a zucchini and feed the world’, because they are so prolific, but most people can only think of zucchini bread when it comes to recipes. To learn a new, easy recipe we stopped by World Foods (503-802-0755) in the Pearl to visit with Mirna Attar. Mirna is the chef at Ya Hala (503-256-4484) on 80th and Stark in SE Portland. She is also in charge of the deli’s at both World Food locations. She has some wonderful recipes and this one was a zucchini stew! The ingredients were simple as well. She had zucchini, onions, dried mint, , garlic, salt, vegetable stock, a lemon and San Marzano tomatoes. She cut the onions into small pieces and sautéed them at a high heat in olive oil with the garlic. Then she added the zucchini which was cut into small round pieces. When they were soft and the onions translucent, she added vegetable stock. She pureed the tomatoes and added a quart of them to the pan as well. In went the spices and salt, and a little lemon juice. This was left to simmer for a couple of minutes and she was done. She serves the stew with a bed of rice at the restaurant and garnishes it with a fresh mint leaf. She also makes it a non-vegetarian meal by adding lamb at the restaurant! If you are feeling burned out with zucchini, you should give this recipe a try, you can find all the ingredients at either location of World Foods, in the Pearl on Everett or on Barber at Capitol Highway. If you are not up for cooking it at home, stop by Ya Hala and have a taste there, you won’t regret it!
 

 
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