Are these the dog days of summer? We are in a nice pattern of weather and it seems like each day is just prefect. Our friends on the east side of the state have had to deal with thunderstorms, but we have avoided them for the most part, with each day turning out to be perfect. Get out and enjoy these wonderful days before they go away!

This week we featured...

Jan’s August Tips

Summer is here but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get ready for next year. We found Jan in her garden, cutting away at her strawberries. This is a good time for cutting off the foliage of your June bearing berries. Once the foliage is gone you can give them a shot of all-purpose fertilizer to help the crowns set berries for next season. You can also do this to your ever-bearing varieties, but you can wait until later in the fall to give them a clipping. You can also transplant your berries now, but with all this heat, make sure you give them lots of water so they survive.

We then moved over to Jan’s raspberries. Jan went through and cut out all the brown and dried out canes. Those are the old fruiting canes and they will not produce any more fruit. The ones that Jan left are nice and green and some of them are still producing fruit. Later this fall she will cut these newer canes down a little bit to get rid of the old fruit. These newer canes are your fruiting canes for next year. The same rule holds true for your other cane fruit. The old dead branches can be cut off and the newer canes can be trained up on their wires to produce fruit next season. For more garden tips on cane berries you can always check out the OSU Extension website.

By this time in the summer your hanging baskets could be looking pretty bad! If that is the case for your baskets we think we can help. We stopped by a place where they really know hanging baskets. The Garden Corner in Tualatin (503-885-1934) is known for their hanging baskets; in fact they have the world’s largest hanging basket on site!! Jonn Karsseboom has 4 tips for a drop-dead hanging basket and he shared the #1 tip with us. That tip is water! I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but that is the main cause of ‘hanging basket death!’ Jonn recommends that you water your plants every day with at least 3 gallons of water. That includes days when it isn’t hot out, and even when it is raining! The baskets tend to dry out and when they do the root ball shrinks so when you water them the water goes around the root ball instead of through the plant. By using 3 gallons of water the root ball gets rehydrated and the plant can thrive. This is the most important tip for a healthy hanging basket. If you would like to learn the other 3 tips for hanging basket success, just go to the Garden Corner website and sign up for the Garden Rebel newsletter and he will send you the other 3 tips! Better yet, stop by and say hi, I’m sure he will spill the beans if you ask him!

A few months ago at the spring GardenPalooza we had people entering a contest for a $500 garden makeover from Black Gold/SunGro. Well, the winner has been picked and it is Karen Carter of Aloha. Karen has a pretty spectacular yard already so she just plans on adding some new, larger plants to a couple of areas that need some fillers. She also received another special gift card from Al’s Garden Center for being a loyal Garden Time viewer. Congrats to Karen. You can come to the next GardenPalooza this fall at Fir Point Farms on the 21st of September. Black Gold will be there so stop by the booth and see why Black Gold is so good for your garden.

The Oregon Garden (1-877-674-2733) is a true destination for plant lovers for lots of reasons, but we found out a special reason on our last trip up there. We met with Tess Barr-Hamblin to learn about different trial gardens they have on the grounds. A trial garden is one that showcases plants that are new to the public, or ones that are being tested and are slated to come to the marketplace in the next few years. At the Oregon Garden they have both types! The first garden we saw is one that is sponsored by All-America Selections. This bed contained plants that are already on the market and included vegetables in addition to annuals and perennials. Two of Tess’s favorites in this bed included the marigold ‘Moonsong Deep Orange’ and “Cheyenne Spirit’ Echinacea. Those two were surrounded by others that were just as beautiful.

The other test garden they have on site is for the American Garden Award. These plants represent some of the newest varieties being tested and you can actually vote for your favorite either by text or with a ballot you can get at the visitors center. So, the next time you head up to the garden, look for these new plants and maybe you can choose one that will be the newest ‘hit’ to the gardening world.