PLANTWISE

Clean Up That Garden

and make way for winter flowers!

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jan 17, 2011 at 06:00AM 4 Comments

Silver Lace Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius ‘Silver Lace’) just a week or two shy of cracking open its cupped, apple green blossoms. Like other “shrubby” hellebores, this one needs no trimming until after flowering is over.

Recently, accomplished gardener friends on Facebook have been proudly announcing that they have completed their late winter garden clean-up.

I usually wait til the first week of February to cut back ornamental grasses and tidy up for the bulbs. But this winter was particularly brutal – ornamental grasses were prematurely knocked down and the early freezes left dead leaves lingering like dirty hankies on trees and shrubs that usually drop them cleanly.

My thoughts may still be on the plants I saw in Mexico, but even I can now see what’s before me in my Portland garden: glistening white buds of snowdrop are appearing through a haze of dead foliage and my Lenten roses (Helleborus x hybridus) are way ready to be done with last year’s tatty old leaves.

At this time of the year, Lenten roses (Helleborus x hybridus) can look pretty scrappy. What to do? Use sharp clippers to cut off last year’s foliage at ground level – be careful to retain new flower buds rising from the center. Removing old helps keep new foliage free of fungal disease and removes the “clutter” so you can see the emerging flowers.

Garden clean-up is a subtle art and its timing is a bit different every year, depending on the weather and the gardener’s level of fervor. With the exception of old-fashioned peonies, irises, roses and certain other disease-prone plants, I leave old plant stalks and stems standing in winter to provide cover, perching posts and forage for birds and insects.

Lenten rose (Helleborus x hybridus) flowers are much easier to see when last year’s leathery old leaves have been cut off. At this point, they’re just barely showing their faces – in a month, they’ll be in their full finery.

But there comes a point when I’ve had it and I am suddenly sick of the sight of scrappy stems, seed heads that have been stripped bare by hungry birds and black, slimy leaves matting my garden beds. I want to see what’s new – every tiny green tip of the early bulbs pushing through the earth invigorates me more and I grab clippers and a rake.

It’s hard to see the tiny flower buds of these snowdrops (Galanthus) – that’s why I like to clean up the dried grasses and dead leaves around my bulbs at this time of the year. I wouldn’t want to miss any of the action!

Luckily, winter clean-up is an easy and very gratifying project! With clippers, I cut back the Lenten rose-type hellebores, grasses and other spent foliage that obscures the hopeful little green stems of early-rising bulbs. (If you don’t know what kind of hellebores you have, just remember: the ones to cut back in winter have flower stems rising on leafless stems, directly from the center of the plant. If the flowering stems have leaves on them, as with the Silver Lace type pictured above, wait until they are finished flowering to cut them back to the base – usually in April or May.)

After cutting last year’s foliage back, I rake up all the debris and plunk it in the shrub beds behind the garage or in my compost heap in the back yard. Keep in mind that those Lenten rose type-hellebore leaves will take longer to decompose, as they are kind of leathery so chop them up into smaller pieces or put them on the bottom of the pile so they break down faster. If you don’t have a compost pile or bin, you can always add the debris to your yard debris bin – but since any wet, dead leaves you raked up are half-way to compost anyway, you may as well keep them around to enrich your own garden soil.

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Tags: Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips, winter-interest-plants

Planting for Pleasure

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jun 10, 2010 at 01:24PM 6 Comments

What a surprise — it’s raining torrentially again today!

Instead of being out making gardens, I find myself inside the house, staring balefully out at the rain and cursing.

A little while ago, I opened the back door to shake a fist at the sky, in good family tradition, and noticed something wonderful… the poet’s jasmine vine (Jasminum officinale ‘Affine’) that I planted about three years ago is finally doing what I originally fantasized it would do: twining voluptuously up the old ladder leaning against the back of the house and around the back door stoop, as well as up and around my bathroom window.

What’s so great about this twining business, you ask? Well, sitting on the back stoop with a cup of tea or glass of wine or soaking in the tub on a June evening while basking in the heady, intoxicating scent in jasmine provides a direct line to happiness in my book.

While the rain is miserable and we are all saying we are done with it – as if our wishes on this subject mattered one iota – at least being stuck in the house allowed me to notice that this fabled plant, beloved to Cleopatra (the fragrance neroli is derived from jasmine – oops, correction: neroli is derived from orange blossom, not jasmine! – but jasmine was reputedly beloved to Cleopatra!) is blossoming and twining as I’d always hoped it would.

So what’s to learn from this story? You can feed your appreciation for and connection to the garden by planting what you love in the places you where you spend your most precious time. This is one very important facet of gardening: cultivating beauty, appreciation and nourishment of the soul and senses.

Rich purple new growth in spring, soft pink buds and pure white, intensely fragrant flowers – there’s clearly much to love about cold-hardy, semi-evergreen Jasminum officinalis ‘Affine’. Once established, it’s also tolerant of summer heat and drought – perfect for a climate like Portland’s.

For you, maybe stepping out the back door and plucking ripe grapes from the vine would be the height of gardening pleasure. Or gathering bunches of fresh herbs for dinner or admiring the imposing, muscular architectural forms of spiky succulents. For me, it’s inhaling the scents of the Mediterranean – jasmine, as well as plants like Cistus and thyme, all producing floral or foliar scents that send me back to happy experiences with family and friends. That’s why the three plants closest to my back stoop, where I love to sit, are… jasmine, Cistus and thyme.

To create more joyful spaces in your garden, start small – perhaps just with your own back stoop. There, plant the beginnings of an oasis that will nourish you from the inside – something you can experience right when you step outside your door. What might that be? Then – and this is most important – take the time to appreciate it and drink it in as it grows.

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Tags: Flowers, Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips

Wine and Roses – Seriously!

Heirloom Old Garden Roses’ Rose Days – this weekend

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jun 02, 2010 at 08:24AM 1 Comments

Rain-drenched Rosa ‘Swan’ – a rose I found at Heirloom a few years ago and which has been a stalwart in bouquets ever since.

It’s been a couple of years since my last visit out to Heirloom Old Garden Roses. And there’s no better incentive to get me to do something than to mention that there will be wine so I might just head out there this coming weekend Saturday June 5 and Sunday June 6 from 9 am to 5 pm for Heirloom’s annual Rose Days, timed to coincide with the absolute abundance of roses coming into flower right now.

Heirloom Rose Nursery in St Paul, Oregon sells old-fashioned new roses as well as the gorgeous and historic old roses. They are all own root, which means they are not grafted onto a different root stock, but grown directly from cuttings. Own root roses are smaller when you buy them but once established, result in healthier plants that never “revert” to the grafted rootstock. Now that I’ve grown them, I’m a bit of a snob about grafted roses, which are basically only grafted to produce larger, cheaper plants faster, for consumers who don’t know the difference.

The selection at Heirloom Roses is astounding and there are extensive, labeled gardens through which you can wander and see the roses doing their magical thing. Guided tours will be offered both days. The weekend’s events include:

- Wine by Hip Chicks Do Wine
- Chocolate by Honest Chocolates
- BBQ lunch (probably hot dogs and hamburgers)
- Music by Rio Con Brio
- Non-rose perennial plants for sale by N&M Herb Nursery
- Garden art, a demonstration on gardening tool use, etc.

Note that pets are not allowed in the gardens.

Heirloom Roses is about 25 miles from Portland – it takes about 30-45 minutes to get there from downtown. (Directions). And although I can’t say what the weather will be doing, I will say that if you bring your umbrella, gum boots and a good friend or two, you’ll have fun no matter how much it rains.

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Tags: Gardening Events, Flowers, Outdoor Gardening

Hellebore Season

it’s prime time!

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Feb 26, 2010 at 02:20AM 0 Comments

Three particularly nice hellebores growing right next to each other at Honeyhill Farms Nursery

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A particularly lovely Hellebore at Honeyhill Farms Nursery (photo taken while lying in path looking up!)

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A double reddish Helleborus x hybridus at Honeyhill Farms Nursery

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Pale pink Helleborus x hybridus – older flowers fading to pale creamy pink. (Another photo taken while lying under plants.)

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A nice, apple green Helleborus x sternii – a hybrid between the Corsican hellebore (H. argutifolius) and the slightly tender H. lividus. H. x sternii seedlings are usually perfectly cold hardy.

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Seedlings of Cyclamen coum, a tough little perennial garden plant that is perfectly hardy in Portland, Oregon. It’s not a hellebore, of course, but it’s the one other plant sold at Honeyhill Farms Nursery and happens to be an incredible garden plant that more people should know about. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Hellebores produce some of the most treasured flowers of winter and early spring. There are many species and hybrids available, each with particular assets in the garden. Breeding efforts particularly focusing on the Lenten roses (Helleborus x hybridus) seen at left are creating ever-richer colors and the forms are increasingly refined every year, with doubles, semi-doubles, more pronounced nectaries and larger, more upward-facing flowers. Other types of hellebores offer beautiful, marbled, sheeny-silver and markedly serrated or plum-infused foliage. There’s even a double Christmas rose (Helleborus niger ).

Yet for all the apparent delicacy of the blossoms, the plants themselves are adaptable and tough garden plants. They are quite drought- and, shade tolerant, deer-proof and – best of all – they flower in winter, when we are longing for color and signs of life in the garden.

There are so many gorgeous hybrids that it can be hard to choose between them. But now is the time to do it – for within a few weeks, the flowers will have faded. And then, sadly, the opportunity to choose just the right color and flower shape will be gone until next February/March.

Local nurseries carry many beautiful varieties, from seed strains (these are the least expensive, as they are very variable in color and form – it’s especially important to select them while they’re in flower) to tissue-cultured varieties that are consistently identical. Helleborus x hybridus cultivars that are tissue-cultured tend to cost more – usually about $20 for a gallon plant. But they are so lovely and precious, you may discover that it feels truly worth it. I adore my plants so much! And pick bouquets from them all winter.

It’s nice to go to a retail nursery where you can find a wide array of hellebore species for sale – the tough, lacy-leaved bear’s foot hellebore (H. foetidus ), the sun-loving, green-flowered Corsican hellebore (H. argutifolius ), the rare and slightly tender Helleborus lividus with marbled silver and green foliage and shell pink flowers, the pure white, very early blooming Christmas rose (H. niger ), and the colorful, exotic Lenten rose (H. x hybridus ), as well as myriad hybrids between all the of the above. But you’re likely to find the best array of colors and types if you head directly to hellebore breeders and specialists.

In the Portland area, my top pick is Honeyhill Farms Nursery in the Raleigh Hills area. Jim and Audrey Metcalfe run this nursery attached to their home year-round but it is only open to the public during hellebore flowering season, usually late January, February and early March (depending on the weather). Jim Metcalfe bred two valuable hellebores, Honeyhill Joy and Honeyhill Peace. (Their photos and descriptions can be found on their website, here.) This lovely hillside is home not only to a variety of hellebores but also a gorgeous array of Cyclamen coum, a late winter-flowering hardy Cyclamen. (See slideshow for a pic.)

Another fantastic Hellebore breeder is Northwest Garden Nursery, which holds open house weekends during hellebore flowering season. Upcoming hellebore open garden days are: February 27-28 and March 5-7 from 10 am to 5 pm. Other open nursery dates are listed on the website. Ernie and Marietta O’Byrne used to sell all variety of woodland plants at their nursery and have turned their focus towards wholesale hellebore breeding in recent years. Their extensive display gardens alone are worth a trip to Eugene. They are responsible for the Winter Jewels TM series of hellebore hybrids.

Last but not least, I recommend a trip to Dancing Oaks Nursery in Monmouth to see the hellebores and many other winter flowering plants. Fred Weisensee and Leonard Foltz’s display gardens are carved out of a scenic hillside surrounded by native oak woods. It’s an extraordinary site. They hold their Winter Bloomers Open House Feb 27-28 from 10 to 4 pm. Dancing Oaks is a retail nursery and is open year-round. But the hellebores are only in flower for a couple more weeks so head out there soon. It’s a great trip and you can visit a winery or two on the way out.

Have fun!

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Tags: Flowers, Outdoor Gardening, Nurseries

Well Hello, Sweet Pea!

it’s pea-planting time in Western Oregon

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Feb 20, 2010 at 08:21AM 0 Comments

Black Diamond sweet pea from Fragrant Garden Nursery

Wise old salts say you should plant your sweet peas – and edible peas, while you’re at it – around Presidents’ Day in our region. But there are still many good weeks of planting time. It’s just that, the later in spring you plant, the fewer weeks you’ll have to enjoy the results. Late March is usually still good… but mid- to late February is perfect.

Sweet peas are easy little annual vines. They grow during the cool, wet days of spring and flower in late spring and early summer. By the time the heat of July hits, they usually peter out. But they are so gloriously fragrant and beautiful that it’s all worth it. They are also incredibly easy to grow.

So pick up some packets of sweet peas. I say “packets” because who are we kidding? The pictures are gorgeous and sweet peas really are picture perfect in the garden. Why stop at the Royal Family mixed colors when you can also try the heirloom Painted Lady (hot pink and pale pink bicolor), Cupani’s Original (purple and mauve bicolor) and the indescribably lovely Saltwater Taffy Swirls (white stripes on apricot, purple and pink)?

Chocolate Flake sweet pea from Fragrant Garden Nursery

Fantastic local sweet pea vendors include Fragrant Garden Nursery (Roseburg, OR), Nichols Garden Nursery (Albany, OR), and – a little less local but still fabulous – Renee’s Garden (Felton, CA). You can order them directly on line too but most local nurseries carry a great selection.

You can lightly sand the seed coat and/or soak the seeds for an hour in warm (110 F) water to help soften the seed coat but it isn’t necessary. Also, some people start them indoors. I usually plant them directly in the ground.

To plant sweet peas outdoors, here’s what to do:

• * get your sweet pea seeds. Also, a sack of mushroom compost or composted cow manure (or use your own home-made garden compost) and some non-toxic, pet-safe Sluggo slug bait to protect sprouts from slugs.

• * grab a shovel and a trowel. Maybe a pair of gloves.

• * find a spot that receives at least a full morning of sun and where there’s something for the sweet pea plants to climb. This could be a trellis, chain link fence, or other plants (sweet peas will scramble up a sturdy shrub in a loose, rambly kind of way). If your fence is flat surfaced, drive nails on the top and bottom and tie rough string between the nails so the vines have some thing to climb. Or – after digging (next step) – make a bamboo stake “tee-pee” with rough string encircling it so the tiny tendrils can cling to something.

• * dig up the ground at least a foot deep and wide – more if you’re planting a whole packet of seeds. Sweet peas really show off if you enrich the soil – so pile on the compost and dig away! Do chop up native soil clods so the soil feels nice and crumbly and is dark with the fresh compost you’ve added. Space seeds about two inches apart.

• * Press the seeds in with your fingers, about an inch deep. They are pretty large and easy to handle. If the forecast predicts rain in the next 24 hours, you don’t even need to water them in.

WIthin 10-20 days, your sweet peas will sprout. Scatter some Sluggo around the sprouts when they come up. It’s amazing to watch how quickly they rise out of the ground so keep an eye out!

This is what my dining room table looks like every February. (Sweet peas are front and center!)

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Tags: Vegetables, Outdoor Gardening, Nurseries, Gardening Tips

Now’s the Time to Shop For Winter Interest Plants

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jan 23, 2010 at 02:00PM 4 Comments

Helleborus foetidus ‘Westerflisk’ is the earliest of the hellebores to flower – often beginning around Christmastime in the Portland area

Surely I’m not the only one who is ecstatic about the rare bits of sunshine we’ve had lately. During my walks to catch these few precious rays, I’ve been happily sniffing the heady scent of Daphne , Himalayan box (Sarcococca ) and witch hazel (Hamamelis ) that’s wafting around Portland neighborhoods right now.

It’s been a funny weather year – we had record cold temperatures during December, yet the witch hazels – at least in my part of town – were in flower a couple of weeks early. In fact, the flowers on my Arnold Promise witch hazel were unfurling in the last days of December, nearly three weeks ahead of last year. And February daphne (Daphne odora ) has begun cracking open its waxy little pink star-flowers a week earlier than last year.

One has to wonder why any plants would bother flowering in the middle of winter. I just came across a reference to this in Michael W. Buffin’s Winter Flowering Shrubs (Timber Press, 2005):

“The ability for plants to flower during the winter months enables them to reduce the level of competition for pollinators of their flowers… flowers pollinated in the heart of our winters face the harshest challenge, especially those that will be damaged by freezing temperatures. Whatever the price, in terms of energy, to produce flowers in the heart of winter… the benefits must outweigh the cost. So the next time you see a shrub flowering in the middle of winter, spare a thought to what went into producing that flower, and wonder at the marvel of nature.”

I am in full wonder and gratitude mode. Wherever I look in my garden, there’s something new busting out. I counted nearly 20 plants in bloom this afternoon – and many of them smell delicious! So in appreciation of this extraordinary climate where relatively mild winters permit us to enjoy flowers in the depths of winter, here are five treasures I wouldn’t be without. They are all readily available at local retail nurseries. And, I’d like to point out that from now through February or March really is the best time to shop for winter-flowering and winter-interest plants. If your soil is workable, you can plant them and get a preview of how they’ll look next winter – and above all, you can choose the colors and types you like best when they’re in full bloom. This is especially important with witch hazels (which can be mis-labeled) and hellebores (which are often seed-grown and vary greatly).

Sarcococca confusa

Himalayan box (Sarcococca confusa ) Sarcococca are broadleaf evergreen shrubs with tiny, thread-like white flowers that give off a perfume that permeates the air in a most mysterious and intoxicating way. I have one by my front door and people often comment on the delicious scent wafting up onto the porch. There are many species of Sarcococca and they are nearly all intensely fragrant. They are also drought- and shade-tolerant broadleaf evergreens – so can be fit into those weird nooks where little else will grow. Sarcococca confusa and S. ruscifolia reach about 4-6 feet tall and a bit less wide; S. humilis (syn. S. hookeriana var. humilis) is about 1 foot tall and slowly suckers wider; S. saligna is about 3 feet tall with slender, fine foliage and equally fragrant but greenish strands of flowers.

Lonicera xstandishii Platt Garden Form

Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera x standishii Platt Garden form) – there are a handful of winter honeysuckles available including Lonicera fragrantissima (most common type). This 6×8 foot shrub has simple, bluish-green leaves which turn yellow and drop in fall, is somewhat tolerant of drought, grows in sun or shade (though it flowers most prolifically in sun) and – best of all – is completely clothed with intensely fragrant, lemony-scented white flowers in January and February.

Mahonia xmedia ‘Arthur Menzies’

Mahonia xmedia_ ‘Arthur Menzies’ A member of the same genus as our native Oregon grape, this Mahonia was unscathed by this and last winter’s cold. It’s an evergreen with tough, spiny leaves, corky bark, and – best of all – soft yellow, fragrant, nectar-rich flowers that are wildly attractive to hummers. Arthur Menzies (and his close relatives, including ‘Charity’ and others) is fairly drought tolerant and grows well in sun or shade, although it seems happiest in dappled light or morning sun with protection from the hot afternoon light.

Hamamelis xintermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ – a beautiful, small tree for a beautiful, small garden! Oddly, the dried leaves are clinging to the plant more than usual this year, in my garden and other people’s. Where’s Dr. Science when you need him?

Witch hazel (Hamamelis xintermedia ‘Arnold Promise’) Witch hazels are actually small, vase-shaped trees reaching about 12-15 feet high – higher with great age. They have handsome, rumpled leaves that turn red, orange or yellow in fall before dropping. Appearing in January to March, depending on the selection, the flowers are nestled beneath showy, bright, thread-like filaments ranging in color from pale and acid yellow to burnt orange, rusty red and purplish-red. They grow well in sun or part shade.

Daphne odora ‘Marginata Alba’ (the starry white flowers) with another winter-flowering plant, Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’ behind it. This 12-18’ tall, southern Oregon and California native shrub has silky, chain-like flowers of dusky purple-gray in January and February. It’s drought-, shade- and neglect tolerant. Can’t poo-poo that.

February daphne (Daphne odora) We are so lucky we can grow this plant in Western Oregon! No person who loves sweet scents should be without this winter flowering gem. Reaching about 4×4 feet, this broadleaf evergreen is most commonly seen in its creamy yellow variegated leaf form with shell pink flowers. I also grow two pure white-flowered forms: one with cream leaf variegation and one with plain green leaves. There is also a pink flowered form with plain green leaves. Plant this by your front stoop and feel happy whenever you come or go.

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Tags: Outdoor Gardening

There’s Still Time!

…to plant bulbs

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jan 11, 2010 at 05:00PM 2 Comments

Here’s why you should get down on your hands and knees and plant your bulbs – if you haven’t already!

I spent the weekend visiting friends at their farm down by Florence, Oregon. It was a relaxing weekend, thanks for asking. But it wasn’t all fun and games. I learned something about my dear friend that I hadn’t known: she hides things from me. Specifically, bulbs that she hadn’t planted.

Last fall, I had placed a large bulb order with Brent & Becky’s Bulbs. My friend had added a request for some of her own – some daffodil, muscari, snowdrops, foxtail lily and a couple of other delicious little treats.

In October or so, my friend – henceforth to be known as “Wicked Ms. Naughty,” to spare her the shame of personal exposure – made off to the farm with her treasures and I heard nothing more about them. Until I arrived for my little visit on Saturday morning. While snooping around in an unheated room off the kitchen, I discovered a bag brimming with the very bulbs she had ordered last fall. There they sat, wrapped in their little net bags, with sad leaf sprouts twisting in a tortured fashion out from their hideous plastic incarceration.

A short lecture later (about the nature of friendship and how such things should never be hidden from friends), we were outside digging. I was able to reassure her that the bulbs were almost all still in good shape. I squeezed the bulbs and nearly all of them were still reasonably firm and solid. Some, of course, were sprouting; others were a little too shriveled and I imagine there will be some loss. Fortunately, they were in a cool, dark place with a bit of air circulation, thanks to the net bags.

We probably planted about 75 bulbs and I suspect that most of them will be fine.

This is what Muscari latifolium looks like when it’s been left in the bag too long. But I have high hopes for its recovery, once it’s tucked in to a blanket of earth.

However, they will flower later than bulbs planted in October and November (especially the early types like crocus and snowdrops), and some of the flowers or foliage may be a little twisted or stunted. But chances are, almost all of them will recover within a year and flower properly and at the normal time in 2011.

So if you are among the wicked and have been hiding your unplanted bulbs in a secret place so that nobody will see them and discover your neglectful ways, may I offer advice? Yes? Well, it is this: take a fearless inventory of your unplanted bulbs right now. As long as you get to it lickety-split, you can probably salvage things. Remove them from the bag, spread them out and feel them. Yes, feel them up. Good bulbs are usually plump, firm and somewhat heavy. It is not a good sign if they have dry, greenish-blue mold on them and collapse with a little “puff” when squished or if they have rotten patches on them and smell foul. It’s true, there are a few bulbs, such as Anemone, that are naturally shriveled. But for most bulbs, shriveled and rubbery are not desirable qualities.

Once you’ve taken a bold inventory, felt them up and discarded the undesirables, it’s time to get out your shovel, pull on your boots and get planting.

Once you lay out your bulbs, the planting’s pretty quick!

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Tags: Flowers, Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips

Frozen Landscapes

frozen but not necessarily dead

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Dec 11, 2009 at 10:00AM 2 Comments

Helleborus argutifolius ‘Silver Lace’

The ground may still be rock-hard and cold but all is not lost. This morning, I noticed plenty of lovely hellebores that are frozen solid but by no means dead – just hanging on until the the weather warms up so they can return to the slow, inexorable process of producing flowers.

Yes, there is damage and more will show up over the coming months. I can see the signs of it: the sad off-color of cell damage on the leaves of February daphne and some rock roses and hebes.

This has been a historic cold spell: Portland’s low of 13 degrees Thursday morning broke a record for cold that had been standing for 37 years. It was the seventh consecutive day of below freezing in Portland. And while the lack of wind during the past few days helped prevent some damage, it also permitted the Arctic air to really settle in. It remains to be seen what defoliates and what bites the dust this year.

…And we thought last year was bad…

Of course, while it’s fun to take risks and try growing interesting plants of unknown or untested hardiness, there are plenty of fabulously beautiful plants that are quite unfazed by the cold.

Arctostaphylos

Undamaged and smashingly beautiful in my own garden right now are several rusty and bronze-tipped Arctostaphylos, silvery Olearia macrodonta, and bright golden and white variegated Elaeagnus pungens ‘Hosoba Fukurin’. Golden-flowered Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ is even blooming away, if a bit limply!

Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’

And that’s just a little sampler: there are just so many fantastic cold-tolerant winter flowering plants – and even more winter-interest plants whose bark, stems or berries offer color and sparkle in the winter garden.

If you’re thinking of adding some winter flowering plants to your garden, check out witch hazel (Hamamelis ); winter hazel (Corylus ); wintersweet (Chimonanthus ); winter viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense and Viburnum farreri ); early spiketail (Stachyurus praecox ); Mahonia x media hybrids as well as our beautiful native Mahonia (known as Oregon grape), and winter apricot tree (Prunus mume ). And those, my friends, are only a few suggestions.

Viburnum farreri ‘Album’ (syn. V. farreri ‘Candidissimum’) may look funky now (and yes, my plant’s still a gangly adolescent) but once the spicily fragrant white flowers open up on those handsome, chestnut stems, you’ll see why I like it so well!

OK, so the ground’s too hard to plant right now. But there’s no harm looking!

This weekend, I plan to stop in at a couple of local nurseries and have a wander around. Maybe I’ll visit somewhere I haven’t been in a while. I’ll bundle up, wear my mittens, pick up some hot chocolate or coffee, and enjoy the bracing air and the sweet scent of violas in the greenhouses.

If there’s a lucky gardener on your holiday shopping list, maybe you could do the same – and find just the right gift at a local nursery for a gardener you know. For as you, you garden-lover, know, there’s nothing more entrancing to someone who loves to dig in the ground than the promise of new life – in the form of a gift certificate to a plant nursery! And after this winter, there are bound to be a few empty spaces in our gardens.

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Tags: Outdoor Gardening, Native Plants

Brrrr, cold nights ahead!

get out the frost cloth!

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Dec 05, 2009 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

This reddish-pink hebe (2006-2008) pitched it last winter. Probably, no amount of mulch would have helped it – it simply wasn’t a sufficiently cold-hardy plant.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

This reddish-pink hebe (2006-2008) pitched it last winter. Probably, no amount of mulch would have helped it – it simply wasn’t a sufficiently cold-hardy plant.

Remember the big freeze last year? The Portland area saw icy winds and temperatures in the teens and low 20s for days on end. I don’t know about you, but I lost a few plants: a voluptuous reddish-pink Hebe and a wonderfully weird Echium pininana which would have sent up a columnar, 10’ tall purple flower spike this past spring had it survived. I do realize that destruction is part of the rich tapestry of life in the garden… but it would have been nice to see them grow and flower this past summer.

Chances are, you already know that Portland’s climate sits within USDA hardiness Zone 8 (Sunset hardiness zone 6). The metro Portland area includes several zones including USDA Zone 8a (average annual minimum temps of 10-15F) and USDA Zone 8b (average annual minimum temps of 15-20F). So depending on where you live, you may have more or less need to protect tender plants.

If the plants in your garden survived last year outdoors, they are likely to survive this winter, too. Established USDA Zone 8 plants may show foliar “freezer burn” or die-back but generally their roots are strong and deep enough to carry them through. However, young and potted plants are another matter.

With last year’s weather-related dramas still fresh in my memory, here are a few suggestions for protecting plants if, as currently (Saturday afternoon) predicted, temperatures dip below 20 the next few nights. (The forecast keeps changing slightly so be sure to check.)

#1: water plants well prior to freezing weather. *Note: any fragile ceramic containers shouldn’t be drenched prior to a freeze, as they could crack or spall. Bring ‘em inside or just accept the risk. (I do the latter, unless it’s a very special pot.)

#2: mulch plants listed Zone 8 and planted in 2009. If it is evergreen (holds its leaves in winter), all the more reason to mulch.

• To mulch, spread a 2-6 inch layer (depending on how anxious you feel) of bark fines, chopped leaves, or compost over the plant’s root zone. If the plant has a woody trunk (like a tree or shrub), keep the mulch an inch or so from the bark. You can buy bags of mulch and bark chips or bales of straw at local nurseries.

Some garden plants I would mulch, especially if planted in the past year or two:

- hardy banana (Musa basjoo_)
- palm tree (unless it survived last winter without cover – then don’t worry)
- most striped or colorful New Zealand flax (_Phormium sp)
- anything Zone 8, planted in 2009, and evergreen. The smaller/shallower the roots, the more useful the mulch.

#3: If the plant is evergreen (keeps its leaves in winter), is reputedly touchy about cold OR is very dear to you, take extra precautions to protect the plant’s foliage. Purchase heavy duty frost cloth or Reemay. There are many plant-wrapping techniques. My method requires scissors to cut the cloth, wooden clothes pegs to secure the frost cloth around the plant, and some bricks or stones to hold the fabric around the base of the plant.

Cover a large area of plants with swathes of frost cloth, Christo-like, or wrap individual plants with pieces of frost cloth cut-to-fit. Secure the cloth snugly with clothes pegs so wind won’t blow it open. You can use more than one layer if needed but I usually stick to one. Use a couple of stones or brick to secure the cloth around the base of the plant or tuck it underneath the pot. Note: Don’t even try using plastic trash bags. I’ve seen it and it’s not pretty when you take it off.

You may want to protect some of your container plants. Any containers with USDA Zone 7/8 plants or broadleaf evergreens like, for instance, bay trees (Laurus nobilis_), Australian fuchsias (Correa sp._) or silver spear (Astelia sp.) would appreciate protection if temperatures drop below 20 for any length of time – especially if it’s a windy site.

Usually, the easiest choice is to move a pot into a cool basement, garage or entryway until the freezing weather passes. If the pot’s too large to move, snug the pot against a structure for protection or lean pieces of Styrofoam, cardboard or plywood against the container to break the wind and help insulate. At least, wrap the plants’ foliage with frost cloth. (See above.) If there are a number of plants in a container and you only need to protect one of them, you can sometimes dig the vulnerable plant out and stash it in a bucket in a cool basement or garage. Just be sure to cover the roots with extra soil if they are exposed after digging.

Stay warm!

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Tags: Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips

Hardy plants for the tropicalesque garden

aka, tropical masqueraders

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Oct 31, 2009 at 09:45AM 1 Comments

It isn’t that hard to create this kind of look in a temperate garden. Really.

Wandering the streets of Honolulu on Halloween, I can’t help but think about the idea of horticultural masquerade – how to dress up a temperate garden in tropical costume, as it were – to recreate the feeling of a tropical garden back home in Portland. There are a few different kinds of tropical plant masqueraders that work well for this purpose.

Is this papaya or is it rice paper plant (Tetrapanax)? It’s hard to tell without the context. Since this photo was taken in Hawai’i, it’s gotta be papaya, the Tetrapanax look-alike.

There are plenty of plants that resemble common tropical plants but are actually completely hardy. Of course I’ve already mentioned the Chinese paperbush – Edgeworthia. There’s also the rice paper plant – Tetrapanax papyfer – which resembles the tropical papaya. I did a double-take looking at a planting of pohinahina – Vitex rotundifolia – which looked for all the world like a low hebe hedge. There’s also a plant that resembles a dwarf form of hardy Pittosporum tobira. Known in Hawai’i as naupaka – Scaevola taccada – I found myself staring at it with disbelief when I first saw it from afar.

A Hawai’ian native plant called naupaka whose foliage resembles that of a landscape plant found in Portland (Pittosporum tobira), at least at first glance. Okay, maybe only after a fancy tropical drink or two…

Another category include plants that are common garden plants in the tropics but are also perfectly hardy in a temperate zone like Portland. These include Aucuba, mondo grass – Ophiopogon – and cast iron plant – Aspidistra.

And then there are those tropical masqueraders that have both hardy and tender members within the genus. I think of hibiscus, jasmine, oleander, ferns, palms, bananas, cannas, colocasia, and gingers, for starters. All of them have lush, tropical-looking family members that are cold-hardy yet look as lush as their tropical brethren.

Gingers are actually one of my favorite tropical masqueraders: Hedychium coccinium, H. coronarium, H. densiflorum, H. gardnerianum, and dozens of hybrids – to name just a few that grow well in Portland. The heady scent of H. coronarium definitely adds to the tropical feeling.

Cannas are fun but the flowers can be disagreeably bright and floppy. I like slender, narrow-leafed forms with darker leaves, like Canna ‘Intrigue’ – and I also like Canna musifolia, the banana-leafed canna (or the banana-canna, as it’s sometimes called). Reaching about 10 feet tall, it provides a wonderfully lush look and makes a big, lusty stand in just a couple of years.

Everyone knows you can grow banana trees in Oregon now – there are several hardy bananas but the most common is Musa basjoo. Easy as pie and capable of reaching 25 feet in height, this banana produces huge leaves and a truly tropical feeling in the garden. No, no edible fruit but who cares? You get those leaves!

Palms are a staple for any tropicalesque garden. There are plenty of hardy ones – the easiest to find being the Chinese windmill palm, Trachycarpus fortunei. These have been planted in Portland for years and some specimens reach 25 feet. But there are other species including other Trachycarpus species, dwarf palmetto – Sabal minor – and too many others to list. I suggest heading straight for Cistus Design Nursery for more information about hardy palms. (And, come to think of it, hardy gingers, bananas, cannas, jasmine, oleander, ferns, yuccas, agaves, and more.)

The tropical look is not the most fashionable trend in the gardening world right now. There was a hubbub over “Tropicalismo” about ten years ago and it seems to have fizzled out. But for some of us, it is beyond fashion: it’s an aesthetic that tugs at the heart. Love of tropicalesque plants can be born of anything from growing up or living in a tropical place to having oppositional-defiant disorder (you know, “everyone says you can’t grow things like that here but they’re all wrong!”) to just being, say, a deeply flamboyant personality. Whatever the reason, it’s good. If there’s an aesthetic you love and a type of plant that moves you, you had best embrace it. Gardening – or even simply spending time in a garden – is therapeutic. And if tropical-looking plants bring you good memories or make you feel happy, or fascinate you and draws you out into the garden, then that’s the way to go – fashionable or not. And if you’re lucky enough to live in a mid-century or ranch style house, you have even more reason to do it – tropicalesque plants look fantastic and are eminently well suited to such architectural styles.

My one admonition on the tropicennial-themed garden: large-leafed, tropical-looking plants are often thirsty plants that require summer water. After all, many of them come from lands of year-round rainfall – not summer-dry regions like ours. For this reason, plan ahead when creating a tropicalesque garden: enrich your soil with organic matter so it retains water and work on not mixing drought-tolerant, low-water plants with your moisture-loving tropicennials. That way, you conserve water by keeping it where it’s really needed.

I know of no hardy analogue for the “sausage tree”. This might be one of those tropical trees you don’t really want to try to replicate in a Portland garden. Except maybe for Halloween!

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Tags: Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips

Allium Alert!

Time to plant garlic for summer 2010 harvest

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Oct 18, 2009 at 10:00AM 6 Comments

Cured garlic braids. Next year, I’m having my expert garlic-braiding friend teach me exactly how to do it so it looks pretty, with dried flowers woven in to it.

Garlic is an essential ingredient in the kitchen and one that is easy to grow in our region. Garlic (the plant) just needs a sunny spot in the garden; rich, well-drained soil; and moderate supplemental water. And from now through early December or so is the ideal time to plant. It is usually harvested around mid-July (depending on the weather).

There are two basic groups of garlic: soft neck and hard neck. Soft neck garlic stores well, is easy to grow and can be braided. Hard neck garlic has larger, hotter-tasting cloves, are easier to peel, and produces buds in June that can be harvested as “garlic tops” and sauteed.

NB: I’m a huge fan of the varieties ‘Silver Rose’ and ‘Nootka Rose’ – both soft neck types that take well to braiding and have a lovely silvery-purple sheen. But everyone has their favorites. Try a few varieties and you’ll soon discover your own.

Garlic cloves can be readily found at local nurseries right now – I saw some at both the Portland Nursery and at Dennis’ Seven Dees in the past few days. They can also usually be ordered from the fabulous Hood River Garlic website. Right now, they’re mostly sold out of seed garlic for the season but they are great folks and have a wonderfully informative and inspiring website.

I always choose organic cloves to start with. In my experience, one fat head of garlic (breaking into about 20 cloves, each of which grow into a new head) is good for about a year’s worth of moderate cooking per person in the household.

Dig up your garden soil about 1.5’ deep with a shovel so you are assured that it is is not compacted. If you haven’t added fresh compost or other organic matter to your soil lately, now’s the time – buy a couple of bags of compost suitable for a vegetable garden (try a bale of Black Forest soil amendment, or Whitney Farms Planting Compost to lighten up the soil if it’s heavy clay). The quality of your soil is so important – don’t skimp on compost. It’s the best money you can spend in your garden – better than plants, better than fancy tools. It’s the foundation for all healthy plants and is especially important when you’re growing vegetables.

If your soil is well dug, drains well, and compost has been added lately, then you’re ready to plant:

Take your head of garlic and separate the cloves (don’t peel them) just prior to planting. Plant each clove about 2" deep with the pointed tip facing up. (You can see little dried white roots on the bottom.) If you’re planting in rows, space the rows 12" apart and plant the cloves (or “seed” garlic) about 6" apart. Gently pat the soil on top to create good soil-clove contact. Then water it in. That’s it!

Looking ahead over the garlic clove’s development, here’s what to do and what to expect:

-Keep the area weed-free so that the weeds aren’t competing with the garlic or shading the little spear-like leaves.
-Scratch some organic fertilizer down the rows or on the area in about March: cotton seed meal, blood meal or any other nitrogenous amendment is good.
-Once summer arrives around June, the garlic will cease producing new foliage and start forming bulbs. At this point, hard neck garlic produces “garlic tops,” which you can – and should – cut off and cook. Stop fertilizing and cut back on watering.
-About a week prior to harvest (early July), stop watering. If possible, let the garlic bed dry out to “cure” the bulbs in the ground.
-By mid-July, look at the leaves: when there are just 5 or 6 green leaves left on the plants, you can gently dig one up and see if the heads are fat and plump. If they look ready, gently harvest the rest of the bulbs with a fork. They can now be cured, braided (if soft neck), and stored for use.

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Tags: Vegetables, Outdoor Gardening, Gardening Tips