Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Gardening Events & Classes

Are you relaxing in your garden yet? Peruse the extensive—but by no means comprehensive—list of gardening events and classes. Unless noted, all classes and events are free.

Events:

July 16
• 10am-4pm - Garden Conservancy Open Days Program (Portland area)—Visit five private gardens. Tickets ($5/garden) can be purchased at each garden on the tour; it might be best to start at the lead garden: Chapin Garden, 1130 River Forest Road, Oak Grove, Ore. This tour is a joint fundraiser for the Garden Conservancy and Hardy Plant Society of Oregon.
• 10am-3pm - Growing Gardens 2011 Tour de Coops (Portland area)—This is an annual tour of visiting gardens with chicken coops. Booklets are the ticket and one booklet is good for a group of people. Booklets are $15 and are on sale through 1pm on Saturday, July 16 at Garden Fever (3433 NE 24th) and Urban Farm Store (2100 SE Belmont).
Berry Festival, Fresh To You Produce (Stayton)—Enjoy berry desserts and sampling berries, jam and syrup.

July 19 - 20, 10am-8pm - Crackedpots 12th Annual Art Show (Troutdale)—Enjoy the work of 90 regional artists who create art made from at least 80% recycled materials. McMenamins Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey Street, Troutdale.

July 22-31 - Waterlily Festival & Art Show, Hughes Water Gardens (Wilsonville)—This annual event takes place in the beautiful water gardens and nursery owned by Eamonn Hughes, renowned water feature designer. Artwork has been created for this show by over 30 regional artists. Gala opening reception is Friday, July 22, 6:30-8:30p.m. Stroll through the water gardens to meet the artists and enjoy light appetizers, music and wine tasting. It's a perfect time to see hardy and tropical day and night blooming waterlilies and the (huge) Victoria waterlilies.

July 23, 10am-4pm - The Gresham Garden Tour—This self-guided tour through five private gardens and nurseries in the Gresham area benefits Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center Healing Garden. Tickets: $25, available at Al's Garden Center (7505 SE Hogan Road, Gresham)

July 30, 9:30am-4pm - Dancing Oaks' Summer Garden Festival (Monmouth)— Enjoy the day meandering the garden and visit the many artists with beautiful items for sale. Music under the gazebo of the pavilion, silent auction and delicious pies carefully made by the Pedee Women's Club to satisfy every sweet tooth. This annual event benefits local Charter Schools.

July 30 & 31, 10am-4pm - 12th Annual Art & Wine in the Garden, Garland Nursery (Corvallis)—Over 20 artists and crafters will be displaying and selling their wares. Food and wine from four local vineyards will be available for purchase.

August 4-6 – American Conifer Society Annual Conference (Silverton)—The theme of the conference is Best of the West Classic Conifer Collections of Oregon featuring tours of Iseli Nursery, Porterhowse Farms and the Oregon Garden, interesting and educational presentations, and a visit to Rare Tree Nursery.

Classes:

July 16
• 10am - Building Ponds & Waterfalls, Hughes Water Gardens (Wilsonville)—Learn how to design and construct natural rock water features using a flexible liner.
• 11am - Perennials for Containers, Farmington Gardens (Beaverton)—Many perennials not only adapt well to containers, they truly shine! Explore with Dan Heims, co-owner of Terra Nova Nurseries, an array of colorful perennials and learn how to care for them. Tips on maintaining fertility and winterizing pots will be discussed. Walk away with some great "recipes" to use in your own garden.
• 1pm - Succulent Gardening Class, Bauman Farms (Gervais)— We will teach you the ins and outs of succulent gardening and help you create your own fantastic planter. Bring a container from home or pick one out at the farm.
• 1pm - Unusual Shrubs, Portland Nursery (Stark Street, Portland)—Shrubs lend structure and volume to your landscape. Paul Bonine, co-owner of Xera Plants, will introduce us to some of the rarer types available to make your garden really stand out! Registration required.

July 17
• 10:30am-12:30pm – Lavender Festival at Red Ridge Farms (Dayton)—A day to celebrate all things lavender! Start the Day with Lavender 101, learning the basics of how to grow, what varieties to choose, how to prune & harvest your lavender plants. Then head down to the lavender field and harvest enough from your favorite variety for a wreath and extra to take home. Finally, we'll show you have to create a beautiful fragrant lavender wreath (all materials, clove and clippers provided). Includes one free 4" lavender plant included (one per person please), 10% off any lavender & outdoor nursery plants and enjoy lavender lemonade and another lavender-inspired goodie. Cost: $35/person.
• 1pm - Small Water Features, Joy Creek Nursery (Scappoose)—Having the glint of sunlight off water in your garden, as well as its liquid purl, is not difficult. Nadine Black will present ideas for adding this dimension to your garden that can be easily implemented.
• 1pm - Screens for Privacy, Portland Nursery (Stark Street, Portland)—By hiding unsightly views or creating a cozy private space, living screens beautifully solve common problems of the urban garden. Sean will showcase a range of options. Registration required.

July 21, 5pm – Container Gardening with Water Plants, Portland Nursery (Division St., Portland)—Are you interested in water plants but don't have the space or the desire for a pond? Explore the world of container water gardening with expert Annie Beadle of Hughes Water Gardens. Annie will share her tips and techniques for creating beautiful water bowls, tabletop fountains, and incorporating water plants into your landscape. She will also do some hands-on demonstrations of how to create a stunning container water garden, repot water plants and more! Registration required.

July 23
• 10am – Create a Concrete Leaf, Hughes Water Gardens (Wilsonville). Create a concrete leaf with Ann Kenkel in this leaf casting class. Class size is limited. Call to register.
• 11am - Caring for your Hanging Basket, The Garden Corner (Tualatin)—Keep your hanging baskets looking fantastic. The Garden Corner has created Portland Metro Area hanging baskets for over 20 years. Did you know that those city baskets never need to be dead-headed? Learn about using fertilizer and the easiest treatment for bug control.
• 11am – Ornamental Grasses, Tsugawa Nursery (Woodland, Wash.)—Grasses add variety to many types of gardens, including water, Japanese, rock, wildlife and even containers. Ornamental grasses add two elements to the garden experience that are not readily obtained from other plants: movement and sound. Join in this class to learn about these versatile plants and their many uses. Registration required.
• 1pm-3pm - Table Top Fernery, Garden Fever! (Portland)—Nancy Goldman will demonstrate and guide you through the steps to create a fabulous fern garden for a tabletop, or to just set in the garden as an objet d' art! All supplies included for making your own garden piece. Following the class, there will be a tour of Nancy's home garden and fernery (two miles from Garden Fever). Participants must attend the class to participate in the tour and provide their own transportation to Nancy's garden. Cost: $45/person. Reservations required.
• 2pm - Flower Arrangements from Your Garden, Egan Gardens (Salem)—Bring the bounty from outside in. Misty will discuss choosing plants with great keeping quality when cut and a variety of flower types for making beautiful bouquets, along with basic arranging techniques.

July 24
• 11am - Watergardening in Containers, Hughes Water Gardens (Wilsonville)—Annie Beadle will teach how to create beautiful, small waterbowls for your patio or balcony.
• 1pm - A User's Guide to Diagnosing Plant Problems, Farmington Gardens (Beaverton)—Learn how to assess your own plants' problems. Knowing how plants become susceptible to disease and damage will help you garden in ways to avoid problems as much as possible.
• 1pm - Not All Shade is Created Equal, Joy Creek Nursery (Scappoose) - Shade is a tricky subject because it involves not only degrees of darkness, but, depending on the source of the shade, it can involve degrees of dryness as well. By understanding the type of shady environment you have, it is possible to make an educated guess as to what plants will work in an area. The fantastic team of Judith Jones, owner of Fancy Fronds Temperate Fern Nursery, and Diana Reeck, owner of Collectors Nursery, show you the possibilities of making lovely gardens no matter how dark and dry!

July 30, 1pm – Bamboo, Portland Nursery (Stark St., Portland)—Ian Connor, owner of Connor Bamboo, a true bamboo expert. He'll talk about what you need to know about bamboo varieties and habits before you plant this classic, elegant (and varied!) plant. Registration required.

July 31
• 1pm - Shrubs for Later Season Interest, Joy Creek Nursery (Scappoose)—Gardeners in the Pacific Northwest can grow so many different shrubs, even in smaller gardens. But one thing they often forget when they go to the nurseries in the spring and early summer is to think about fall interest. Imagine a shrub that blooms in the spring but also has glorious foliage color, brilliant fruit, attractive bark and maybe even colorful stems later in the season! Roger Gossler leads you to the best shrubs for multi-season interest.
• 1pm - Northwest Natives, Portland Nursery (Stark St., Portland)—The Pacific Northwest offers a wide variety of plants for the gardener's palette. Whether you want to plant an all-native garden, provide wildlife habitat, or just meet some of the colorful locals, Brent will get you excited about natives. Registration required.

August 6
• 11am - Tropicals in the Backyard, The Garden Corner (Tualatin)—We're not in Kansas anymore… Our moderate climate allows us to grow all sorts of tropical-looking plants outdoors, giving rise to fun garden combinations. Not to mention the I-can't-believe-that's-hardy moments. Come and find out how you can create that tropical effect in your backyard.
• 11am - Japanese Maples, Tsugawa Nursery (Woodland, Wash.)—Japanese maples are elegant in all seasons and can enhance any landscape with their beautiful shapes and forms. Brian Tsugawa will discuss the attributes of these beautiful trees and how they contribute so much to the garden. Registration required.
• 1-3pm - Chef in the Garden: Enjoying the Abundance of Summer Fruits, Farmington Gardens (Beaverton)—L earn how Chef Dan Brophy likes to utilize the delicious bounty of fruits we enjoy in August. Dan will cook up spiced plum butter, backyard applesauce, peach chutney, and pears poached in red wine. This class is being offered through Portland Community College; to register, go to: www.pcc.edu/community/schedule/print-schedule.html.

August 7, 1pm - Roses and Clematis as Ornamental Shrubs, Joy Creek Nursery (Scappoose)—Rose devotee and clematis worshipper Linda Beutler shares her knowledge about two plants she truly loves. First, she will talk about roses - with their hips, bark and foliage - as ornamental shrubs. From years of experience, she knows that if you make the right selections (and there are tens of thousands to choose from), you can have roses that provide interest for more than just the flowering season, like any other good ornamental shrub. Linda will share her criteria for picking the roses that work best in organically grown mixed shrub and herbaceous perennial gardens. And Linda says, believe it or not, there are also clematis which can be grown as ornamental shrubs. Since they tend to bloom during the dog days of late July and August (when most other clematis are napping in anticipation of their autumn rebloom), this is the perfect time to get acquainted with them.

August 10, 11am - Gardening with Ornamental Grasses: See what's missing in your life, The Garden Corner (Tualatin)—Grasses come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and have been transformed over the past several years from simple utility plants to must-haves in the garden. There is a grass out there for everyone and they are going to help you find that missing part of your life (and landscape).

August 13, 2pm - Drought-Tolerant Plants for Low Water Bills, Egan Gardens (Salem)—Can you say "xerophyte"? Ellen Egan will tell you about types of plants and growing techniques to reduce worry and water both.

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