2016 PLANT PICKS OF THE WEEK

POLLINATOR PLANTS
June 11, 2016
 
Pollinator Plants

Our plant picks from Little Prince of Oregon usually focus on a plant or a group of plants in the same family. This week Mark from Little Prince decided to focus on pollinator plants. We met him at Shonnard’s Nursery, Florist and Landscape (541-929-3524) to chat about come of the pollinator plants they have. We found Andrea Shonnard in the nursery and she had the Asclepias, also known as Showy Milkweed, a great native plant for the monarch butterfly and other pollinators too. The butterfly will lay its eggs on the plant and the caterpillar will eat the leaves at the early stages of its lifecycle. She also showed us the great selection of agastache that they have in the nursery. Great color and tons of flowers for those bees. Mark pulled out an ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’. This is a smaller ground cover, but the bumble bees love it too. It is just one of the great plants from Little Prince that look wonderful in the garden and also help our local bees!

Mark recommended that people who were interested in helping the bees in the Portland area contact the Pollinator Parkways. This group promotes conversion of your street-side parking strips into pollinator friendly habitats. All you have to do is adopt 3 basic rules. Be pesticide free, use native plants, and stagger the bloom times of the plants. For more information you can check out their website.
 

Epimedium Sulph
LEWISIA
May 7, 2016
 
Lewisia

Our plant pick from Little Prince of Oregon for this week is a beautiful little native, Lewisia. The lewisia got its’ name from Meriwether Lewis from the Lewis and Clark expedition. He wrote of the species in 1806 during their ‘Corps of Discovery’ trip. Native Americans knew of this plant long before that, using it as a medicine for sore throats.


Mark from Little Prince absolutely loves this plant and he invited us to Garden Fever (503-287-3200) in NE Portland to tell us more about it. There we saw our old friend Lori who filled us in on the growing conditions this plant loves. It is primarily an alpine plant and likes rocky places in the hills and mountains. That means it is pretty hardy if you give it some really well-drained soil. It is found on the north side of cliffs in the mountains so it really prefers drier conditions. Mark told us that the newer varieties are stretching the color palate as well, with more pinks, oranges, reds and whites showing up from growers. If you would like to add one of these to your garden, be sure to check out Garden Fever or any of the other retailers that carry Little Prince plants. You will find a listing of retailers on their website.
 

Epimedium Sulph

EPIMEDIUMS
April 16, 2016

 

Plant Pick – Epimediums

Our plant pick this month is a star of the early spring garden. We stopped at Shorty’s Home and Garden (360-892-7880) in Vancouver to talk about Epimediums. We first chatted with Lisa about the growing conditions that this plant needs. She told us that this is the right plant for those dry shade areas in the garden. These plants have tons of different bloom colors and are either evergreen or semi-evergreen in the garden. To get the best show of blooms and foliage you will want to cut off all the old foliage in the late winter. In the spring you will be rewarded with dainty colorful blooms followed by luscious foliage that will look great all summer long. Then we talked to Mark from Little Prince of Oregon, who grows these wonderful plants. They grow about a dozen varieties. He had a few that were with him at Shorty’s. The first was epimedium ‘sulphureum’, with small yellow flowers and red variegation. The second was ‘Lilafee’ with purple and white flowers and ‘rubrum’ with a reddish tinged flower. All are looking great right now!


If you are looking for a great spring color plant, check out the epimedium. You can find a great selection at either location of Shorty’s or you can check out the Little Prince website for the garden center nearest you. Don’t forget to also like Little Prince on Facebook or sign up for their blog.
 

Epimedium SulphEpimedium Lilafee

BLETILLA ORCHIDS
March 25, 2016

 

Little Prince Bletilla Orchids

Our Plant Pick sponsor, Little Prince of Oregon, returns for a second year and to start off the year they brought out something special! Mark shared the Hardy Ground Orchid with us. The name of the species is called Bletilla and he had 3 of them that he dropped off at Portland Nursery on Stark. The three he brought were Striata, Yokohama, and Ochracea. He was holding Striata and Yokohama. These were on the purple-ish to pink-ish side of the color wheel with the Striata being a little shorter in the garden at around 10-12 inches. Laura from Portland Nursery was holding on to the Ochracea, which had a bright yellow bloom on a 18-24 inch stem. These orchids are pretty tolerant of the cold and are hardy for our area. They love well drained soil, even moisture and some sun during the day. These are not for the dry, shade garden. They do spread slowly and make a nice, non-invasive clump. Plus you get these delicate blooms in your spring garden! You can find a list of local retailers on the Little Prince website. You can also follow them on Facebook for great plant information all season long!


 

Hardy Ground Orchid - YokohamaHardy Ground Orchid - Ochracea


PLANTS OF THE WEEK
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