This is a strange time in the garden.  The warm weather makes us think of the past summer, but those cool nights remind us of the colder weather to come.  We are taking turns working in our garden and catching the various harvest festivals that are taking place around the area.  It is great to live in the Northwest and enjoy both.

This week we featured,

Portland Nursery 19th Annual Apple Tasting

A is for apple and you will find a ton of apples at Portland Nursery's (503-231-5050) 19th Annual Apple tasting.  Over 40 different varieties of apples and pears are available to taste.  Many varieties are available for purchase with a percentage of the sales going to Elders in Action.  There is a kid’s area with face painting and balloon creations.  Cooking demonstrations, an apple press and live music are also on the list of activities. Another reason for stopping by includes all the other vendors that will be offering local honey, mustard, jam and a whole lot more.  Now is the time to also take advantage of all the wonderful fall perennials available at both locations of Portland Nursery.

Tsugawa Color Maples

Fall is the time for the Japanese maple to shine!  These maples are known for their spectacular fall color and there is no better place to see them then Tsugawa Nursery (360-225-8750) in Woodland.  William and Judy took a quick tour to see a few from the wide selection that they carry.  They found these maples during their walk through the nursery; Glowing Embers, Bene Schichihenge, Aconitifolium, Sango Kaku, and Higasa Yama.  These trees are known for their ever-changing color based on the amount of daylight and temperature changes.  If you want a tree that has something to offer during all seasons, check out the Japanese maple!

Geranium Bud Worm, Tent Caterpillar Spray

Geranium bud worm, tobacco bud worm, whatever you call it, it is a pest!  These small caterpillars can do real damage to your geraniums, petunias and other flowers and vegetables in your garden. Ferti-lome has a new organic product on the market called ‘Borer, Bagworm, Leaf miner & Tent Caterpillar Spray’ that will help you control them biologically.  If you spray now it will get rid of the pests and it will leave a residual layer to take care of those late arrivals!  Tom Combs of DF Marks Distributing even showed us a new type of hose end sprayer that allows you to screw the product bottle on to the end of the hose.  Check out your local independent garden center for this great new ‘green’ product.

Hazelnut Harvest

We are nuts for filberts… or are they hazelnuts?  Both names refer to those wonderful nuts that are grown locally and found in candies, deserts and snacks.  We paid a visit to the Willow Lake Nursery where the Blake family not only sells plants; they also have a hazelnut orchard.  Joel Blake told us how they wait in the fall for a little wind or rain to help knock the nuts to the ground.  They sweep them to the middle of the rows and vacuum them up.  Next they are washed and dried and sent to a processor.  Don’t worry they also keep some at the nursery if you are looking for a fresh source.

Pruning Hydrangeas

Now is the time to start cutting back your hydrangea plants in preparation for winter.  We traveled to Hydrangeas Plus (866-433-7896) to get some tips on making those hard cuts to your hydrangeas.  This time of year you will start to see the buds for next year’s growth and fall is an excellent time to prune your plants to shape too.  Don’t worry about making those hard cuts; you can take off as much as a third of your old wood if you want.  Kristin VanHoose showed us where to make those important cuts, but if you still are worried you can give them a call (or drop them a line) anytime.