All—
My newest Armchair Traveler article has just been published:
GRAND GARDENS OF THE BERKSHIRE HILLS:
FLETCHER STEELE’S NAUMKEAG, & EDITH WHARTON’S THE MOUNT
Here’s the link:
Author Archives: Ashland Garden Club
Fall Clean Up
CORVALLIS, Ore. – It’s time, before cold weather sets in, to clean your yard and garden to protect them from winter weather. The following tasks, best done in October and November, are recommended by Ross Penhallegon, horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.
“Mulch your empty garden beds with fallen leaves and grass cuttings if they don’t have a cover crop on them yet,” Penhallegon said. “Mulch will help prevent erosion and rainwater compaction. Mulching also adds organic matter to the soil and encourages earthworm activity. Plus it will keep weed germination down.”
Control the weeds that have recently germinated from early fall rains. It is a much easier job now than in the spring. A hoe or hand pulling will do it. “This is not a good time of year to use herbicides,” he said. “The damp soil makes it easy to hoe or pull weeds, big or little.”
Penhallegon also advises homeowners to apply a small amount of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer to lawns, if needed.
“Use just enough to keep the lawn green, but not enough to cause need for additional mowing,” he said. “Don’t use quick-release fertilizer, as it will just leach away. Don’t apply fertilizer to trees, flowers or shrubs this time of year, as it may reduce their cold tolerance.”
Other pre-winter advice:
• Cut back late-flowering perennials such as asters and chrysanthemums to a few inches. Peonies can be cut all the way to the ground. Mulch the crowns with compost to protect them from hard freezes.
• Prune late-summer and fall-flowering shrubs like clethra and hydrangea several weeks before icy winter weather or hold off until mid-February to do your pruning. Trim back roses to knee height so winter winds won’t cause damage.
• Keep your perennial gardens free of wind-blown plant refuse. Continue to rake your lawn, as more leaves fly, and add them to your compost pile.
• Pull up spent summer annuals such as snapdragons, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos and nasturtiums that have died back.
• Dig and store summer flowering bulbs and tubers (both west and east of the Cascades), including dahlias, calla lilies, canna lilies, gladiolus and tuberoses because of potential very cold winter weather that freezes the ground. Store them in a dark, dry and cool (above freezing) place, safe from rodents.
Author: Judy Scott
Article written: December 9, 2010
Source: Ross Penhallegon
2013 Fire Season – It’s Over!!
Greetings,
Thanks to our recent rain, Tuesday September 17th was the last day of the 2013 fire season. We made it through one of the hottest, driest and smokiest summers on record! The heavy smoke we experienced this summer from wildfires to our north is a timely reminder that we live in a region impacted by wildfire. Since beginning the Firewise Communities program in Ashland 3 years ago, not one home in Ashland has been lost to wildfire. This result is no accident. It is the result of many people and groups working together to make Firewise choices.
Thank you for all of your efforts in being prepared for wildfire: creating defensible space around your homes, following the recommended Firewise landscaping guidelines and observing equipment use restrictions. These are all meaningful and effective ways to keep your home and community safe from wildfire.
As we enter the fall and winter months, please remember to tackle those Firewise projects you didn’t get to this year, utilize fire resistant landscaping plants and building materials whenever possible, and continue to talk to your neighbors about creating and maintaining a Firewise Community. Fire season will be back for sure next year, and you can find out what you need to do to stay prepared at www.ashlandfirewise.org
Thank you for all you did this year to keep our community safe and prepared for wildfire.
Have a safe and happy autumn,
Ali True/Firewise Communities Coordinator
Ashland Fire & Rescue
541-552-2231 www.ashlandfirewise.org
Winter Gardening: Cold-Hardy Vegetables
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Not ready to hang up your gloves and spade just yet?
The fearless gardener still has a chance to plant some cold-hardy vegetables to harvest next spring, said Jim Myers, plant breeder and researcher at Oregon State University. But don’t dawdle.
“Winter gardening is a risky business,” Myers said. “It may work one year with a mild winter but not another when the weather is more severe. If you plant some cold-hardy vegetables from mid-August to early October – depending on the crop – there’s a good likelihood you will produce something on the other end in the spring. They say farming is a gamble…some years more than others.”
Cold weather doesn’t kill these hardy plants; it simply slows their growth rate. For every rise of 18 degrees, growth rate doubles, but that guideline is only applicable for an air temperature range of 40 to 98 degrees, Myers said. If you plant cold-hardy vegetables from mid-August to early October, there is a chance they can mature by next spring if they survive in a vegetative state through the winter without reproducing.
According to Myers, the hardiest vegetables that can withstand heavy frost of air temperatures below 28 include: spinach, Walla Walla sweet onion, garlic, leeks, rhubarb, rutabaga, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, cabbage, chicory, Brussels sprouts, corn salad, arugula, fava beans, radish, mustard, Austrian winter pea and turnip.
Semi-hardy vegetables that can withstand light frost of air temperatures in the range of 28 to 32 degrees include: beets, spring market carrots, parsnip, lettuce, chard, pea, Chinese cabbage, endive, radicchio, cauliflower, parsley and celery. For beets, spring market carrots and parsnips, the tops will die but the roots will tolerate lower temperatures.
Vegetables that contain the pigment anthocyanin, which gives them a vibrant red or purple color, are more resistant to rots caused by winter rains, Myers said. They include: purple-sprouting broccoli, Rosalind broccoli and purple kale.
If you live in an area of the state that gets prolonged snow cover, the fluffy white stuff acts as insulating mulch and warms the soil for these tough plants, Myers said.
No matter where you live in Oregon, “some of the worst problems we have in the winter are with rain rather than temperature, so protecting plants from the rain is quite helpful,” Myers said.
He recommends covering vegetables with high or low tunnels made from metal hoops and clear plastic, available from greenhouse supply companies. To protect plants, you can also use row covers or cloches. To warm the soil use mulch made from yard debris, cardboard or newspaper.
Cross your fingers and by next March you could be feasting on shelled, succulent fava beans seasoned with salt and lemon juice.
For more information on extending the gardening season, see the OSU Extension guides “Fall and Winter Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest” at http://bit.ly/OSU_FallGarden, “How to build your own raised bed cloche” at http://bit.ly/OSU_Cloche and “Garlic for the Home Garden” at http://bit.ly/OSU_Garlic. For an interactive map of Oregon’s first frost dates, go to the United States Department of Agriculture’s website at http://bit.ly/USDA_FirstFrostOR.
By Denise Ruttan denise.ruttan@oregonstate.edu
Source: Jim Myers myersja@hort.oregonstate.edu
This story is online at http://bit.ly/OSU_Gardening2293
Garden of the Month: September 2013
The home at 340 Morton is currently owned by Betsy Wessler and the garden is at its peak in late summer. Kaaren Anderson talked with Betsy last spring to gather a little history on the home and the lovely garden that surrounds it.
The home was originally built in 1948 and was formerly owned by Dick and Evelyn Strellman. Betsy purchased the home in 2007 with a move-in date of 2008. Soon after, the house, as well as the entire yard, were renovated and redesigned. Betsy’s former husband, Ian Wessler of Wessler Design Associates, worked with her to create the beautiful garden you see today.
The first major change was to move the driveway to the far right of the front yard from its former location closer to the house and entry way. This gave a much broader area to reconstruct the garden. The entrance to the garage, which originally faced the street, was reoriented to create a turnaround at the end of the new driveway. Broken concrete pieces from the driveway were used to form walkways leading to the entry and around the house to the garage.
One challenge with the design involved mitigating a seepage problem located at the right rear of the front yard. This was done by lowering the grade to create a gravel and rock lined dry creekbed, directing water through the front yard to a gated front vegetable garden. As you will see, it is this creekbed that is beautifully lined with boulders and various tall grasses. Winding back through these grasses one can find a Triflora maple, Zelkova and palm along with lila
c and wild currant.
Original rhubarb, quince and raspberries were kept and moved to various locations throughout the property. Blueberries, Asian pear, persimmon and other fruit trees share the backyard with many of the original camellias.
— Kaaren Anderson
Garden of the Month: August 2013
It’s tempting to suggest that you rush to see the front garden at 745 Park Street immediately because the colors are so vivid right now and everything looks healthy and fresh. But it often looks great because it has been so well planned.
The homeowners have been serious about their gardens for 15 of the 17 years they have been in the house. Initially, they had design and installation help in the back garden from Carol’s Colors. In 2003 they met landscape designer Sharon Creek Siewert, whose practical and creative design ideas have transformed both the front and back. Sharon ’s husband, Steve Siewert, also offers a variety of horticultural services. Dubbed the “Tree Whisperer,” he saved the blue spruce in the front yard after it was blown over in a windstorm–among other significant contributions. Kai Van Aken oversees garden management and weekly maintenance.They have successfully screened the view of an apartment house over the back fence by planting Leland 
cypress, deodar cedars, and a giant sequoia, all of which are thriving, in a back area they call “the woods.” Also in the back garden adjacent to the wood deck is a charming corner known as the Japanese garden with specimen rocks, a tiny stone bridge, azalea, and lacy Japanese maple.
cypress, deodar cedars, and a giant sequoia, all of which are thriving, in a back area they call “the woods.” Also in the back garden adjacent to the wood deck is a charming corner known as the Japanese garden with specimen rocks, a tiny stone bridge, azalea, and lacy Japanese maple. Flowers currently in bloom in front include roses, rudbeckia, heather,
gaura, penstemon, and salvia. Other times of year, peonies, Dutch and Japanese iris, and lavender abound. A crepe myrtle is on the verge of bursting forth. When they moved in 17 years ago, the front garden was largely juniper.
gaura, penstemon, and salvia. Other times of year, peonies, Dutch and Japanese iris, and lavender abound. A crepe myrtle is on the verge of bursting forth. When they moved in 17 years ago, the front garden was largely juniper.
In addition to the woods and Japanese garden in back, there is a lovely terraced area anchored by a large locust that shades the back deck and patio, plus dogwood, fig and apple trees. Also rhododendrons, more roses, fuchsias, rosemary, gladiolas, erigeron, crocosmia, barberry, hostas, yarrow, photinia, and many more beautiful plants. Annuals impatiens and snapdragons provide seasonal color. This garden is an unexpected treat in a dry (and this year smokey) month.
— Ruth Sloan