Happy Mother’s Day weekend! It is a great time to celebrate our mom’s, even the flowers are coming out to celebrate. With the warm spring weather all the flowers are busting out. Some of the blooms are way ahead of their normal bloom times. Rhodies are one of those flowers, but this year it actually means that they are all in full bloom now. You need to take mom to the Crystal Spring Rhododendron Gardens or the Cecil and Molly Smith Garden sometime soon! Learn more in the story we did this week. Those early blooms are not only in the rhody gardens. We also check out the early blooms at Adelman’s Peony Gardens too.

We are also just a week away from our 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. Hope to see you there!

This week we featured...

Al’s Patio Makeover

With all this warmer weather it is time to start entertaining on your deck or patio. As you prepare you may notice that your furniture and grill may be looking a little worn around the edges. To get some tips on getting everything ready for the season we stopped by Al’s Garden Canter in Sherwood (503-726-1162) and talked to Mark and Teri about what you can do. First we met with Mark and talked about grills. It is important to keep your grill well maintained and clean. This will make your foods taste better and your grill will be safer to use. Mark showed us 4 of the newest grills on the market. We started with a Saber which is an infrared grill. This type of grill surrounds your meat with heat and cooks indirectly. The second grill was also a smoker made by Louisiana Grills. The problem with older traditional smokers was the inability to sear your meat. The heat is just not intense enough. This smoker/grill remedies that by allowing one side to get super-heated for those lovely grill marks. We then moved to the Weber grill. This gas grill is one of the leaders in the market and is a true performer. One of the benefits of a Weber grill is the number of custom accessories that you can buy for the grill. Also, Weber grills have great parts and service availability. If you need to fix your grill, they have the parts to do it. Finally, we came to the weirdest grill I have ever seen, The Big Green Egg. This grill uses a lump charcoal and that makes all the difference. The design is meant to seal in this heat and that makes the meat tender with a great flavor. This might be something that I need to try! These grill go well with the new patio sets that Al’s offers. These sets are not your cheap, plastic patio tables and chairs. These are built to last! Mark mentioned that getting quality is very important. When you get something that is well made you actually save money in the long run. The price might be higher to start with but you won’t need to replace it every year or two. Plus a lot of the new patio sets come with extended warranties! Now, some people may think that they don’t want to get locked into a certain style or color of set. To talk about that we moved over to a new patio set to talk to Teri, the furniture buyer for Al’s. She told us that these sets are made from cast aluminum and can take a beating. The cushions were also designed to handle the elements too. The ones on the set we were looking at were a green color. We had green umbrellas, cushions, pillows, and accessories. To show how easy it is to change things out we took 5 minutes and changed everything to BLUE! That is how easy it is to change colors and styles! The final piece of advice that we got from Teri was to sit and relax. That is what she tells everyone to do to find out if you like the patio set. Check out the quality and then make your decision! If you would like to learn more about Al’s outdoor furniture and get your questions answered, stop by the Sherwood location!

Garden Gallery Iron Works Mother’s Day

A couple of weeks ago we stopped by Garden Gallery Iron Works (800-452-5266) and previewed their Potato-Palooza event. During that event we saw how they were planting potatoes in containers for the garden. This was a great way to grow potatoes on your deck or patio. This week we stopped by to see that they had taken that idea a little further. Don Sprague met us to show us how they are now growing tomatoes, peas and beans in these cool containers. He even had some specially built cages that fit inside of the containers to support those various vegetable plants. Container gardening has become very popular and Dan’s crew has raised the bar with these new designs. He also told us that one of the hottest designs incorporated the rusty sheet metal look. These rustic metal planters are actually very functional. They hold the heat better and that helps those veggies grow. If you would like to check out some of these planters, this Saturday is the time to do that. Garden Gallery Iron Works is having a special day for mothers. If you stop by and are one of the first 100 moms you will get a gift. They will also have drinks, food and other goodies too for the moms. Stop by and check them out this Saturday!

Ketchup and Fries

Last week we told you about how they graft plants to make them stronger and to bring new varieties to market. This week we saw one of those new varieties! Alice from Log House Plants introduced us to ‘Ketchup ‘n’ Fries’. This plant is a tomato on top and a potato down low. Alice told us that the idea for this actually came from Luther Burbank about a hundred years ago. Burbank, a plant scientist known for the Burbank potato, experimented with this combo, but it wasn’t until recently that plant breeders perfected it. This plant is a little different than other grafted plants that you may have in your garden. Alice told us that this is one plant where it is OK to bury the graft. With other grafted plants you DON”T want to bury the graft. This will allow the tomato to send out roots and that will mean more tomatoes, while the potato does its work below the ground. You will probably start harvesting tomatoes first. After a while, in late summer or early fall when the weather changes, you will cut off the top part with the tomatoes and hang them upside down in a cool dry area and let the remaining tomatoes ripen. The potatoes will sense that the tomatoes are gone and then they will finish ripening. After about a week to 10 days you can harvest the potatoes! This is a cool plant that has become the talk of the town. Give it a try and see how you like Ketchup ‘n’ Fries. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next… steak and eggs?

Smith Rhododendron Garden

Every year around Mother’s Day we usually stop by the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden to see the blooms before the big show and sale. This year in anticipation of the big weekend we decided to visit a little known gem named the Cecil and Molly Smith Garden (503-771-8386) near St. Paul. This garden is owned by the Portland Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society. This garden is spectacular because of its very mature rhodies and other unique plants. Karen Cavender is a member of the society and an expert on the garden. She told Judy all about the garden and Cecil and Molly. The Smiths bought the property because of the great soil and the position of the property that allowed great air and water drainage. They collected and started growing unique plants on the property to compliment the rhododendron and azaleas they had there. A lot of the plants are 50 years or older. The garden is only open on weekends from April to the end of May and there is a 3 dollar admission charge if you are not a member of the society. The admission fee is worth it! You will be able to walk acres of great paths shaded by huge Douglas Firs that create a great environment for these large rhodies. They will also have plants for sale during these open weekends. You can find the garden at 5055 Ray Bell Road, in St. Paul. Stop by for a visit and then head down to the Big Rhododendron Show and Sale at Crystal Springs (www.Rhodies.org) in SE Portland! It will be a day full of blooms!

Moles, Voles and Gophers

These 3 are the big names in large garden pests. Everyone will blame one of these 3 if they have damaged plants or bulbs in their garden! Sometimes we don’t even know they are around until we see a mound in our lawn. We met with Dana Sanchez from OSU on the campus in Corvallis to learn more about Moles, Voles and Gophers; and to see if what we had heard was true. Dana first told us how to identify these different animals. The pocket gopher is typically the largest of the 3. It has a mound of dirt that sometimes looks like a horseshoe shape with one end open. The mole is generally just a mound of dirt, sometimes with a small crater or hole in the center. The vole is the smallest and is more likely to have trails above ground right at the soil line. People sometimes confuse the different diets that these animals have as well. The gopher is most likely a vegetarian. He will eat your bulbs and plant roots. The mole is going after grubs (though, if you have a large mole they can eat bulbs and roots as well), so if you have them in your lawn it is a sign that you have critters in your lawn. Now the next question is do you need to get rid of them. If they are in an area where there isn’t a lot of activity or a part of your yard that isn’t important, then it might be better to leave them alone. They do good things with the soil by rotating it, moving nutrients around and breaking up the clay. If you do need to move them or get rid of them, the best methods are poisons and traps. The poisons can be placed in the ground and so there is not as much exposure to other animals in your garden (it is always good to keep these baits away from pets and children). The other effective method is with a gripping trap like the Cinch Trap. The things that don’t work so well are the vibrating methods, which are supposed to scare them away and things like chewing gum. There has not been a lot of studies to prove that they are effective. If you would like to find out more you can check out the OSU Extension site. They have an ‘Ask an Expert’ link where you can send in your questions and get a good science based answer.

Van Essen Spring Plants

Every year the breeders and hybridizers come out with some new plants. Sometimes they get a winner and sometimes they don’t. One place that always comes out with winners is Van Essen Nursery in Lebanon. This grower in the mid-Willamette Valley specializes in woody perennials, conifers and Japanese maples. We met with Ken McVicker to see what they have coming out this year. We started in one of the greenhouses that was full of grapes. These are not your normal grapes. These are a genetic dwarf grape. They were found and, through cuttings, have been propagated. These are grape that you can grow in a container on your deck. They will stay small and are a great novelty. You can eat the grapes and they will continue to produce throughout the season. They are known as ‘Patio Pinot’ or ‘Pixie Grapes’ depending on where you shop, but they are a must have for any gardener.

We then moved up to the sales cottage and looked at a few other plants. Ken held up a ‘Bloomarang’ lilac, but that wasn’t what he wanted to show us. He then walked over the a bloomarong as a tree! This is a new grafted lilac so you can now have a lilac tree in a container or in your landscape. He also brought out a few climbers for us to look at. The first one was a hydrangea called ‘Miranda’. This plant had a very cool variegated leaf and in a few weeks will have a white lace cap flower that will bloom. Next to that was a traditional honeysuckle that is a good standby in the garden called ‘Peaches and Cream’. It has wonderful fragrance and color but it doesn’t compare with the plant next to it… the striking ‘Harlequin’ honeysuckle. This plant not only has wonderful variegated foliage, it also has spectacular multicolored blooms that are larger than the palm of your hand. The last plant we saw was the newest form of Lambs Ear. This one Stachys ’Bella Grigio’. This one is a wonderful contrast to your other plants in the garden and will really brighten up those dark areas in your perennial beds! If you are interested in any of these plants check with your local independent garden center. They will either have them or they can call Van Essen and get them!

French Prairie Gardens Hanging Basket Tips

We are getting close to Mother’s Day and that means it is time to get your hanging baskets, but how do you take care of them once you have them. To learn some care tips we stopped by French Prairie Gardens (503-633-8445) in St. Paul and chatted with Katie. French Prairie grows all their own baskets from tiny cuttings and they pick their own unique mixes of flowers. Like most growers they grow 2 types of baskets for their customers, sun and shade. There is a big difference between the two. As Katie told us the shade baskets don’t like ‘sun on their heads’. That means light sun (possibly morning sun) and then shade in the heat of the day. The sun baskets are different. They like full sun most of the day. She warned us that we have to keep them well watered since they are in baskets and can dry out faster. Plus most of the varieties of plants they use are heavy feeders, and that means they like lots of fertilizer. They fertilize their plants at the farm once every 2 weeks with a balanced 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer. If you follow these simple rules you will have great color all summer long. If you are looking for some really great hanging baskets stop by the farm and pick some up. While you are there enjoy in a little time in the country with a pastry from the bakeshop and check out their expanded retail space. Don’t forget their list of wonderful summer events, check out their website for the scheduled dinners and other great events.

Adelman Peonies

It is May and that means the peonies are blooming. These easy and worry free plants are great in the garden and the best place to see them is Adelman Peony Gardens (503-393-6185) near Brooks. This year the blooms are earlier than usual, but that just means that you will see varieties that are normally are not blooming at this time of year. Carol Adelman met us in the display garden and told us about 3 of her favorite plants. The first one was ‘Christmas Velvet’ a vibrant red color. The second was ‘Julia Rose’ which starts out a pinkish red and fades to a soft yellow, and finally the incredible ‘Bartzella’ with large yellow blooms that can get as big as a foot across. We then moved into the cut flower display area. This is under cover so everyone can enjoy the blooms even if it is sprinkling out. We talked about the different flower styles you can find in peony blooms. We saw the Bomb style, single, double, Japanese type and the full double! Not only are there tons of different styles, the colors are so vibrant too. There are so many different varieties that it can be hard to choose the right one for your garden. That is why this is the best time to stop by and see the blooms. Adelman’s is open through June 15th form 9am to 6pm every day, but Carol told us to come out before the end of May for the best color! Stop by and walk the display garden, check out the cut flower display and take one home for your garden. They also have events happening every weekend. Check out their website for details.

Iris Liqueur

It is iris season. This time of year we celebrate the iris in our gardens and also the fields of Schreiner’s Irises in Brooks. This year we have another reason to celebrate, a new iris liqueur, called ‘Iris’. We drove down to Eugene to visit the location where this wonderful spirit is made. Andrea Loreto is the maker of Iris and he tried to explain how it is made. It is all based around the wonderful Florentine iris from Tuscany. This is a special iris that is normally used in perfume making. You can’t use a regular iris in this recipe because it will make you sick. This iris from Italy is so safe that families will use the dried roots as a teething ring for their children. Making the Iris Liqueur, as he told us, is easy, but also hard to explain. First he takes a bunch of spices, the iris root, and other ingredients and makes a kind of concentrated tea from them. Then he takes pure clean water from the McKenzie River in Eugene and mixes that with grain alcohol, and natural sugars. Finally, he combines, mixes and blends everything together to make this tasty elixir. In fact that is the name of the company, Elixer! Everything Andrea uses is all natural and organic.
If you would like to try this wonderful botanical liqueur you can stop by the Schreiner’s Iris Gardens this Saturday, May 9th from noon to 5pm. We are sure you will enjoy it as much as the beautiful flowers!

Parr Paver Planter

Amber from Parr Lumber (866-214-7277) had a great project for us this week and it came straight from the internet, it was a planter made from paver stones. She pulled some pavers from the selection she has at the Parr location in Albany. They are very inexpensive; only a dollar or so a piece. You will need five pavers per pot. Lay out four pavers to form a perfect square. Overlap the ends so you have 2 good surfaces making contact. Once you have your form, tilt one tile back and apply a construction adhesive on the overlapping lip and firmly press back into place. We used the PL Premium Adhesive from Loctite. This construction adhesive can be found along with caulks and sealants in the painting section at your local Parr (you will need a caulk gun to apply it). Move to the opposite side and repeat the adhesive process. All corners should now be adhered. This will leave one piece for the bottom. We decided to not glue this last piece into place to allow the container to drain better. You will want to wait for 24 to 48 hours without moving the pavers to allow the adhesive to dry. Now you can paint them if you choose. Make sure to use a specially formulated acrylic paint that is permanent and weather resistant. This type of paint does not peel or crack and can be used on concrete wood and terra cotta just to name a few. Once the paint cured, you can flip over the pots and fill with a few of your favorite greens. These are quite heavy so make sure you move them to where you would like to keep them before you start planting. For everything you need stop by your local Parr Lumber.

If you are working on your deck before you build your planter, then this weekend is a good one for you. On Saturday, May 9th from 10am to 4pm at the Bend and the Vancouver 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 - Raised Bed Cat Deterrent

We have a great way to exclude cats from your raised beds. One way is to buy bird netting and stretch it over the bed. However, you have to pay attention to when the plants start to grow, because if they get too big, you will tear them up as you take off the netting. So we have another way that's a little bit easier. You just need some push-pins and some kind of line. Put the pins in at intervals on the wood, and stretch it across in a zigzag. You can also use fishing line, which can be reused year after year. Once the plants are big enough that the cats won't bother them, you can remove the line.