Nursery Tour for Random Acts of Gardening Readers

Have you ever wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look at a wholesale nursery? Visiting small, specialty nurseries is one of my favorite things to do. Luckily for me, Oregon is home to many specialty nurseries.

Dave Leckey, owner of Oregon Small Trees, is inviting RAG readers to tour his small wholesale nursery. He specializes in slow growing grafted conifers and Japanese maples. Dave started Oregon Small Trees as a second career after retiring from the timber brokering business. His trees are special and it takes years—in some cases more than a decade—to grow the trees to specimen size. He uses cultural practices that minimize water and herbicide use and tries to coax each tree into its best individual form. But I’ll let him tell you all about it.

Join us on Saturday, June 19 at 10am for a tour of Oregon Small Trees. Let us know if plan to be there. Please RSVP by June 15; we'll send you the nursery's address, directions and a reminder email as the date approaches.

Fashioning Your Garden

Did you ever get "color typed" and define the colors you should wear by the name of a season? I'm still confused as to whether I'm a "fall" or "spring." Well for those of you that are intimidated about selecting colors for your garden, there is a new, fun resource: "Colour Me, Colour my Garden," the Plant for Life Look Book (yes, it's from Britain).

A style consultant and landscape designer were teamed up to help us amp up color in our gardens. Eighty percent of people admit their moods are positively affected when surrounded by colorful plants. Should you color your garden Romantic, Vivacious, Mysterious, or Sultry? I think I'm the warm vivacious type. Find out what your style is and let us know.

Typollution

This is truly a random act of sharing. It doesn’t directly relate to gardening. But it does relate to the impact pollution has on the environment in such a clever way, at least in my opinion, using typography. I thought you would enjoy taking a few minutes to watch. Let me know what you think!

Hosta of the Year

To help gardeners choose reliable plants, some associations come up with their plant(s) of the year. Great Plant Picks (www.greatplantpicks.org) is a wonderful resource for gardeners in the Northwest, west of the Cascades. But some organizations select plants that perform well in most areas of the country.

The American Hosta Growers Association released it’s selection for 2010 Hosta of the Year: First Frost. 'First Frost' is a frosty white-edged sport of ‘Halcyon’. It grows 16" x 34" and is considered to be a medium-size hosta. Blue leaves emerge with a wide margin the color of the center of 'June' (another 'Halcyon' sport and 2001 Hosta of the Year) and then turns pure white if grown in half a day of bright light. Lavender flowers bloom in July. It has excellent color and substance, and will look unblemished in the garden until the "first frost."

For a list of previous Hostas of the Year, visit www.hostagrowers.org/ahga_hosta.html.

Spring Plant Sales

Spring has sprung and to help feed our gardening fix, the number of plant sales is growing with each passing week. Here are a few to add to your calendar:

• April 3 (Sat., 8am-4pm) – Gardenpalooza, Fir Point Farms, 14601 Arndt Road, Aurora
• April 17-19 (Sat. & Sun., 10am-3pm) – Hardy Plant Society Plant & Garden Art Sale, Expo Center - Hall C, Portland (free admission, parking $7)
• May 1-2 (Sat. 9am-5pm & Sun. 9am-4pm) – Master Gardener’s Spring Garden Fair, Clackamas County Fairgrounds, Canby ($3 admission with free parking)
  
  
  

'Shear' Madness

By Gardennia nutii
Over the years I've collected a lot of clippers, shears and shovels. One reason for my extensive collection is that they tend to get misplaced and then uncovered, but the biggest reason is that I'm too lazy to get them sharpened. I buy a nice pair of clippers, use them a few years, and then they end up at the bottom of my tool bin once they become too difficult to use. Well I'm happy to announce an end to all that (at least for this season). I picked up my old lawn mower last week after its yearly tune up and discovered that my favorite garden tool shop handles sharpening too! I've taken half my tools in for sharpening….and if my burst of responsible tool maintenance continues, will take the other half in a couple weeks later.

How many clippers have you collected? Are you a tool maintenance pro? Let us know!

GardenPalooza

Save the date! Saturday, April 3, 2010 is GardenPalooza, featuring 50 nurseries and garden vendors. If you didn't get your fill of wonderful plants, garden art and greenhouses at Yard, Garden & Patio Show, you'll want to stop for a visit. (Consider it a fun warm-up to the Hardy Plant Society Sale on April 17 & 18.)
When: Saturday, April 3, 2010
Where: Fir Point Farms, 14601 Arndt Rd., Aurora, Ore. (near the Aurora Airport)
For directions, coupons and more information: visit http://www.gardentime.tv/