Back to normal…. School is back in
session, the sun is rising later and
the telltale signs of fall are
starting to appear. It is a great
time of year to be a gardener. The
unbearable hot sticky days of summer
are past and we can spend long hours
enjoying our gardens again. It is
also a great time of year to add to
your garden. Check and see where
your garden has bare spots, needs a
fresh look or seems a little
over-grown. Buying and planting new
plants now will still give you time
to enjoy them before the winter
rains return and will make your
garden look better next spring!
Also, make your plans now for the Le
Tour de Plants. This 9 day,
self-guided tour of local garden
centers features events, seminars,
and plant specials that will get you
excited about gardening in the
fall! Check out
www.OAN.org for details and
directions.
This week we featured...
Cornell Farm Pansy Fest
Pansies, despite the name, are the
workhorses of the winter garden.
They take a beating and keep on
coming back. It is great that
Cornell Farm (503-292-9895) has
a festival just to celebrate them.
We caught up with Deby at Cornell to
hear about the 50 varieties they
have available at the Pansy Fest
starting September 15th and running
until October 1st. She told the
story about the ice storm a few
years back when the pansies were
covered in ice. After the ice
melted, the pansies were back into
full bloom and looking great!
During Pansy Fest you can cash in
your Pansy Bucks, enjoy a garden art
show and enjoy a variety of classes
that will make you a better
gardener. Plus, when
Le Tour de Plants kicks off on
the 16th you can use your Monrovia
Bracelet to get 20% off anything in
the nursery.
Ferguson’s Tour Preview
Late summer brings out a whole new
variety of plants to enjoy.
Danielle Ferguson from
Ferguson’s Fragrant Nursery
(503-633-4585) picked out some of
her late summer favorites for us.
She first showed us a hardy
hibiscus. This plant will die back
to the ground in the winter and then
come back the next year with huge
blooms. The newest introduction she
had was called ‘Bordeaux’, with a
huge deep red bloom. The second
plant was Salvia ‘Black and Blue’.
This one has a dark violet to black
bloom that is set against a light
green leaf. Very striking. The
third plant was Daphne ‘Summer
Ice’. This one blooms all summer
with white fragrant blooms and
variegated leaves. The final plant
was a Goldenrod called ‘Fireworks’.
Don’t get scared, this one is a
non-running non-seeding variety.
Perfect for any garden.
Ferguson’s is also involved in
Le Tour de Plants. Dani and her
crew has a full slate of events
planned, finishing with a seminar on
container planting and a Fruit and
Pastry Brunch on the 23rd.
Parr Small Planter
As we roll into fall we look at
creating colorful planters or making
more gardening space closer to your
doorstep. Chris Erskine and our
friends at
Parr Lumber (503-644-1178) have
come up with a
simple plan
for a small cedar
planter
that uses only 2 boards. With a
couple of minutes, a hammer, some 5d
galvanized nails and a miter saw we
were able to construct a planter
that will last for years. The best
part? It cost less than 10 bucks to
build. Chris also recommended that
we seal the cedar so it lasts longer
and that we drill a couple of
drainage holes too. Still, not bad
for a simple, quick to assemble
planter!
Hop Harvest
It is time to crack open a cold one
as we showed you how a perennial
vine gives your beer its bite. We
went to the Goschie family farm to
check out the annual hop harvest.
This is a family farm that has been
in business for over 100 years.
Gayle Goschie took us from the
field to the baling room to show us
the process of getting hops from the
field to the brewer. In the case of
the Goschie family that brewer is
Budweiser. She showed us how this
prolific vine is cut in the fields,
how the cone is separated from the
vines and leaves and then dried to
be used by the brew-master. Hops
are used to flavor beer and also as
a preservative. So the next time
you lift your glass in a toast, you
could be toasting with an Oregon
grown product.
Perfect Perennial Garden
If you are looking for a garden of
year round color, try perennials.
But since they bloom at different
times of the year how can you choose
the right ones for your garden. Try
our ‘Perfect
Perennial Garden’ chart on the ‘how
to’ page of this website. This
simple chart will get you started on
picking perennials of various shapes
and sizes, which will provide you
with all season color. It is
divided into seasons and heights so
you will never be short on blooms.
Remember, this is a starting point.
There are so many more choices at
your local garden center. Take the
chart in and ask them for even more
colorful options.