Let’s look at on of the many featured plants… Varileaf Phacelia (Phacelia heterophylla). This biennial/annual plant blooms from April to July and can be seeded in the fall or started in the spring or fall (after the last chance of frost). Some of its best characteristics include being both drought tolerant and shade tolerant!
It’s a great pollinator plant because it provides both nectar and pollen to its insect visitors. Common visitors include the obscure bumblebee, Edward’s long-horned bee, and the fuzzy-horned bumblebee. This native plant stands out by attracting a great abundance of pollinators.
Fun fact: Phacelia is also a larval host for 4 moth species!
This is part of a new series from the Garden Ecology Lab: our top picks of Oregon native plants for pollinators, based on Aaron Anderson’s 2017-2019 field trials of 23 Oregon native plants. We’ll feature one plant per week for 10 weeks… this is week 4!
You’ve heard it. You’ve probably even said it. Roses are a pain in the neck. Longtime Rosarian Rich Baer disagrees. And he doesn’t have a problem making that clear. The misinformation that makes people walk past roses at the nursery needs to be corrected. Baer has the resume to take on the myth-busting mission: degrees in plant pathology and physiology; two stints as president of the Portland Rose Society during more than 30 years of membership; editor of Portland Rose Chatter, the society’s newsletter; and caretaker of 800 roses in his Southwest Portland garden.
He’s also a bit of a rebel. Rose people are a passionate and opinionated group; many believe there’s only one way to properly tend your roses. Baer, however, believes many of the long-held beliefs about the “right way” to care for the often-cosseted plants are wrong — and he’s just as headstrong.
“I’m a heretic,” he’s been known to say proudly.
ONE BUSTED MYTH:
Leave rose hips on in fall because it slows growth and helps the plant into dormancy.
THE TRUTH IS:
When hips appear, the plant is producing seed, which takes 10 times more energy than producing flowers. So the plant is actually speeding up rather than moving into dormancy, according to Baer. “People see hips start to form and the plant stop growing and they think therefore the plant has become dormant,” he says. “In reality all the energy goes to making seeds.” So leave them on if you like them (birds do) or cut them off if you don’t. Removing hips often will force new growth and flowers if the weather is nice. A snap of cold weather will kill the new growth, but it’ll get cut off when you prune, so it’s nothing to worry about. People also are concerned when their roses don’t get hips at all. This happens with modern, repeat-blooming roses, Baer says, so don’t worry.
(Excerpt from an Oregonian article/interview with Rich Baer. Photo by Rich.)
Join us for this Chapter Meeting on November 18th, 2021, 6:30 PM to hear a special presentation by Rich Baer. Business meeting to follow.
From Sarracenia NW: Jeff Dallas started Sarracenia Northwest in 1995 out of a passion for carnivorous plants. As a young teenager, he started his journey with a single Venus flytrap. Twenty years later, his collection grew to where he was able to sell his excess plants at a local outdoor market in Portland, Oregon. The rest is history!
With a background in education, Jeff loves being at the market and teaching new growers about carnivorous plants. Jeff also works for the Outdoor School with the Multnomah Educational School District, working with sixth graders about the outdoor sciences.
Jeff’s favorite plants are Sarracenia. In the photo, he’s holding on of his hybrids, Sarracenia Lorax (also known as Margaret Eng). When not working with plants, Jeff enjoys watching reruns of Star Trek and old sci-fi movies, especially Godzilla.
Join us for this Chapter Meeting and Guest Presentation by registering for the Zoom meeting in advance. September 23rd, 2021, 6:00 PM (Please note earlier start time to allow for a live virtual tour of the nursery!) with a brief Chapter Business Meeting to follow.)
Register for this meeting here: https://beav.es/UZC. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Thank you, Katherine Johnson for arranging our monthly guest speakers! Hope to see you all there!
Jeff Dallas holding his favorite carnivorous plant, from the Sarracenia NW website.
What do you want to learn more about growing plants? What information and support do you need for gardening? Oregon State University Extension wants to support you getting the kind of information you want and need for growing plants in a home, community garden and landscape setting. Help us craft our future offerings: take a moment to participate in our survey. https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/…/SV_1RH4CHIopoHN9XM
While gardening with native plants today is more popular than ever, gardeners often wonder how best to use them in the landscape. This presentation explores what makes a plant “native,” native ecosystems, and describes applications for the home garden. The presenter will also discuss where to obtain native plants and lists relevant sources. Many thanks to Katherine Johnson for arranging for this year’s wonderful guests!
Join us for this Chapter Meeting and Guest Presentation by registering for the Zoom meeting in advance. June 24th, 2021, 6:30 PM (Guest Presentation at 6:30, brief Chapter Business Meeting to follow) Register for this meeting here: https://beav.es/3Pm. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details about joining. Feel free to invite a friend and we’ll hope to see you there!
May 27th 2021 at 6:30pm via Zoom videoconferencing.
Our gardens can be our greatest teachers, challenging us to show up with curiosity, patience and perseverance. When we relate to our gardens as one piece of a greater whole, we can begin to see a holistic approach that enables us to address any garden difficulty we encounter.
Learn how to build soil to support healthy plants, use cover crops to add nutrients and conserve water, and choose plant varieties that produce best in our region. Hear from a horticulturist who has worked in gardens from New Orleans to Tucson to northeastern Vermont, and from Turkey to Transylvania to Cuba.
Gentiana Loeffler is the farmer behind Root Medicine Farm, sustainably producing potent Asian medicinal herbs while working toward healthy land and people. She has been farming since 2008, working on farms in Oregon, California and Vermont, and volunteering through WWOOF in Mexico, Spain, Romania and Turkey.
Last fall she concluded seven years as the co-owner/operator of a micro urban farm in North Portland that served a 45-member CSA. She is currently a Part-Time Professor of Horticulture at Clackamas Community College. Her passion for plants and natural spaces continues to draw her in to unique and inspiring gardens across the world.
The guest speaker presents at 6:30pm, with a short Chapter business meeting for CCMGA members to follow. Open to the public – please join us for this engaging presentation! Thank you to Katherine Johnson for her hard work organizing our guest speakers!
Register HERE! After registering you will receive a confirmation email with login information for the online Zoom presentation. Hope to see you there!
The gardening season has started and if you’ve got questions, turn to Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer tool from Oregon State University’s Extension Service. OSU Extension faculty and Master Gardeners reply to queries within two business days, usually less. To ask a question, simply go to the OSU Extension website and type it in and include the county where you live. Here are some questions asked by other gardeners. What’s yours?
Q: Why is there a reddish/purplish color on tips of garlic leaves? I know what rust is and this is different. It could possibly be a nutrient deficiency, and if so, what nutrient? Garlic was planted in October 2020 in raised beds with plenty of native soil that is heavy clay and amended with straw all winter. Lots of worms. Most greens are at least a foot or more tall. I’ve had problems with allium rust before, but not this. Also, it’s been three years since I planted garlic or other alliums in this space. – Polk County
A: This is most likely a nutrient deficiency, a lack of phosphorus. Start with a composted manure and water it in. There are many products in the stores. Then drench the soil with fish or seaweed (kelp) emulsion, following the directions. Use the liquid fertilizer every four days for 12 days (three times). You should see a difference in the garlic, greener and with the composted manure and the liquid fertilizer they should be healthier. The purple tips may not go away though.
Garlic can use a lot of nitrogen, which is in both of the nutrients I mentioned as well as the other nutrients that the plants need. If it is the hardneck variety of garlic, it will start putting out a flower called a scape. Wait until it starts to curve like a snake and then cut it at the stem base. Do not cut any of the leaves. Do not let the flower open while growing on the plant. This will send more energy to the bulb instead of the flower. Scapes are great in salads or eggs, used as a mild garlic in cooking.
If you think the plants still need the liquid fertilizer, continue once a week making sure the garlic is well watered but not sitting in water. You can continue using the liquid fertilizer on a weekly basis through May. Stop in June. Let the plants grow to their final stage, harvest when you see the bottom leaves dying. Usually end of June.
When you prepare the soil for garlic, always add composted manure. You can grow a cover crop as well in the bed sometimes called a green manure, which will add nitrogen to the soil. There are many crops that will help with this, to name a few, oats, vetch, rye, clover, Austrian pea, etc. Before the green manure starts to flower, cut it and let the cuttings stay on the bed. They will degrade and leave more biomass in the bed for the plants to use as it decomposes. You cut the plants down before they flower to keep the nitrogen they store in their roots and therefore in the soil for the garlic or whatever you wish to plant there.
Examples of phosphorus deficiency:
Image courtesy of OSU Extension Service.
Q: Presently I am growing potatoes with the garlic. Not sure, but thinking that your directions for the garlic would benefit the potatoes as well, at least at this stage. I also have good luck with buckwheat so wondering if adding seed to the area now would be OK.
A: Garlic does not like to have anything planted with it. That may be why you have purple tipped leaves. Potatoes and garlic are both very nutrient hungry plants. Next year, if you can, plan on planting your garlic alone.
Do not plant anything else with it either. Every plant that you put in the same bed will take some of the nutrients from the garlic. You will have bigger bulbs and if you dry them sufficiently longer-lasting flavor in the garlic if you plant alone.
Potatoes do benefit from the nutrients I mentioned. Again, they should be planted alone. The buckwheat needs to go in another bed so it will not take the needed nutrients away from the garlic.
Depending on how many garlic cloves you plant, you might put them in a deep pot. If you are planting 10 to 15 cloves a 20-inch-deep pot would be able to produce some nice sized bulbs. Fill it with compost, potting soil and add a cup full of chicken manure, and mix. Plant the same as in a regular bed.
This webinar discusses where to get updates and information on wildfire evacuation, how to create a 72-hour bag, and what to consider when creating an evacuation plan including contingencies for children, the elderly, pets, and livestock.
Image Credit: Office of State Fire Marshal
Wildfire evacuations are becoming a reality that individuals and communities throughout Oregon are faced with each fire season. Want to learn how you can prepare for evacuation from a wildfire? Join us as we hear from fire and emergency managers in Oregon about what you and your community can do to be the most prepared to evacuation from a wildfire.
Presenters: Alison Green, Office of State Fire Marshal, Public Affairs Director Devon Ashbridge, Lane County, Public Information Officer Charles Hanley, Jackson County, Fire District 5, Fire Chief
The Extension office receives a LOT of inquires about western redcedar dieback in our area. There is a new monitoring project underway here in the Pacific Northwest, and your help is wanted.
If you are noticing trees dying in areas where they should be thriving, such as along streams and within closed canopies, please read THIS article and contribute to the ongoing research. The cause for this sometimes sudden and expanding dieback is currently unknown.
Hop aroma is one characteristic OSU Hop breeder Shaun Townsend considers in developing new varieties of hops. Read more about OSU’s Hop Breeding Program HERE.
Photo: Lynn Ketchum, OSU
The Aroma Hop Breeding Program is developing new hop cultivars which are adapted for Oregon growing conditions, with a focus on essential oil quantity and quality. Ultimately, new aroma hop cultivars that appeal to the craft beer industry will be available for Oregon hop growers. Shaun Townsend is an Assistant Professor and Senior Researcher in the Hop Breeding and Genetics program at OSU.
Shaun works closely with the Food Science and Technology Department to characterize the chemical profile of breeding selections, assesses new techniques for evaluating the brewing potential of experimental genotypes and explores the role that agronomic management might plan in essential oil quantity and quality. Shaun also works closely with hop geneticists to identify and adapt new molecular biology technologies to hop breeding. He co-authored this OSU publication, “Growing Hops in the Home Garden,” in 2015.
Join us for this Chapter Meeting and Guest Presentation by registering for the online Zoom meeting in advance: April 22, 2021 @ 6:30 PM (Guest Presentation at 6:30, brief Chapter Business Meeting to follow.) Thank you to our speaker coordinator, Katherine Johnson, for arranging for our April Chapter Meeting special guest!
Register for this meeting HERE. Open to OSU Columbia County Master Gardeners along with an invitation to our local community folks. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Hope to see you there!
