There is a spectacular display of crocuses and daffodils at 692 “B” Street which is worth walking by. The crocuses are probably at or just past their peak, but the daffodils are only just getting started. This garden was Garden of the Month back in April 2005 and they always has a wonderful display.
Ruth Sloan
G.O.M. Chair
CORVALLIS, Ore. – After the spring show of crocus, daffodils, hyacinth and tulips, flower gardeners may be at a loss on how to top the early vibrant color.
If you plant summer-flowering bulbs, corms and tubers in the spring, you’ll carry color through the summer, said Ross Penhallegon, horticulturalist with the Oregon State University Extension Service.
montbretia
A wide variety 
of ililies, dahlias, gladiolus and tuberous begonias are available from catalogs and garden shops. If you love bolder flower gardens, plant more out-of-the-ordinary bulbs, including summer hyacinths, Peruvian-daffodils, fragrant tuberoses, shell flowers and montbretia for striking summer garden accents.
sternbergia c
andida
For stunning color all the way through the growing season, plant fall-blooming bulbs in late summer and early autumn. Later-flowering species that bloom in the fall include colchicums, autumn flowering crocus, magic lilies of Japan, sternbergia and fairy lilies, to name a few. These are available in summer to early fall at nurseries and from bulb catalogs.
When it’s time to plant, Penhallegon recommends planting each bulb as deep as the diameter of the bulb; if the diameter is one inch, plant the bulb one inch deep. “The soil needs to be well-drained and mulchy, with lots of organic materials,” he said. “Apply a small amount of general purpose fertilizer, organic or conventional, after the bulb emerges from the soil.”
Don’t forget to check with your local nurseries. Each year they offer a new array of plant varieties.
This article is also online at: http://bit.ly/OSU_Gardening1564
Judy Scott, Public Service Comm Specialist , Oregon State University Extension Service
Source: Ross Penhallegon, Ag, Horticulture , Oregon State University Extension Service
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About Garden News from OSU Extension Service: The Extension Service Gardening web page, http://extension.oregonstate.edu/community/gardening, links to a broad spectrum of information on Oregon gardening, such as tips, monthly calendars, how-to publications, audio programs, the Master Gardener program and “Northwest Gardeners e-News.”
By Judy Scott, O.S.U., Corvallis Ore
Source: Ross Penhallegon, O.S.U.Extension Service
To the Woods: Sinking Roots, Living Lightly,
To the Woods is the true story of Evelyn Searle Hess & her husband, David, who, in their late fifties, walked away from the world of modern conveniences to live on twenty acres of wild land in the foothills of Oregon’s coast range mountains not far west from Eugene. Ms. Hess describes their day-to-day struggles, failures, and discoveries with lush descriptions of their surroundings and its rhythms of life. While developing a wild plant nursery & planning their new home, she writes about learning and living with the joys of their natural environment. It tracks the natural history of place through the seasons, and living life in concert with nature. Through her thoughtful prose, she wrestles with issues like human impact on the ecology of our planet.
Written By Viki Ashford
Subshrubs have the unique characteristics of both herbaceous and woody plants. Their bases are woody but they produce new herbaceous growth during the primary growing season. Many herbs fall into the subshrub category, such as:
Sunset
Hyssop (Agastache rupestris)
Form: Vase shaped plant maturing to 2 feet high by 1.5 feet wide
Exposure: Full sun
Color: Flowers vibrant pink, purple and orange
Bloom Time: Long bloom season summer to fall
Attributes: Fragrant, Attracts Bees & Butterflies, Ornamental, Medicinal, Culinary
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4b-9
Englis
h Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Form: Upright clumping growth habit, 1.5 feet tall by 2 feet wide
Exposure: Plant in full sun to partial sun in evenly moist and rich soil
Color: Green-gray to green–purple foliage in the summer, silver-green to gray-bronzed in the winter. Flowers blue-purple, lavender, violet-blue, or white-pink, depending upon cultivar Bloom Time: varies with cultivar
Attributes: Semi- evergreen, Fragrant, Ornamental, Medicinal, Culinary
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9
Garden Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Form: Woody Stems, 3′ tall and wide,
short lived, needs replacing every 3- 4 years
Exposure: Full Sun
Color: Grayish foliage – Flowers blue to purplish Bloom Time: May- July
Attributes: Water Conserving Evergreen, Fragrant, Ornamental, Medicinal, Culinary
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Form: Woody base with upright stems 3 to 4.5 feet tall
Exposure: Full sun, hardy, drought tolerant
Color: Grayish-white stems, silver-gray foliage with small tubular deep blue or lavender flowers
Bloom Time: July – September
Attributes: Pungent fragrance, attracts butterflies, Ornamental, Culinary, Medicinal, deer-resistant
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9
Deerwood (Lotus scoparius) (California Broom)
Form: Woody base with arching airy branches, grows to 3 feet
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Color: Flowers begin as yellow, turning to orange
Bloom Time: April-June
Attributes: California native, feeds numerous wildlife: hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and deer. Bees relish this plant! Nitrogen fixing capabilities
USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-10
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
Form: Tall straight clusters of silvery-green branches, foliage spirally arranged, grows 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide.
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade, drought tolerant
Color: Greenish-grey foliage clad with silky-silvery “hairs”, small yellow tubular flowers
Bloom Time: June-October
Attributes: Companion plant to suppress weeds – roots secretes substances which inhibit the growth of surrounding plants. Ornamental, Culinary, Medicinal
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9
Pruning Subshrubs
Subshrubs are not pruned like softer herbaceous herbs, such as germander, marjoram, oregano, and winter savory, or even other woody plants. Subshrubs are never pruned during the cool fluctuating temperatures of fall and winter and you never cut them to the ground. Subshrubs should be pruned in early spring once signs of new growth appear and then only to remove dead and broken wood. In some cases, pruning can wait until after the first bloom, but technically you should avoid pruning subshrubs because doing so could be harmful to the plant.
by Carlotta Lucas
You can’t have good results in your garden if you don’t start with good soil. Top soils are made up of different components including plant and animal residue, moisture, air space and live soil dwelling organisms.
Organic content provides food for growing plants, food for bacteria, fungi, earthworms and other beneficial organisms. A total organic content should be at least 6% of the top 4” – 6 “of top soil. It also provides a reservoir for moisture. Organic content also provides temperature stability and weed control.
The timing and rate of releasing nutrients is important. Organic material helps to control the amount of fertilizer available at any given time. Air space created by the channels made by various organisms provides space for oxygen, moisture and plant roots. Do not rototill. Tilling the soil collapses this delicate structure. It is better to put a layer of 2” – 4” of compost on top early in the spring to let the nutrients sink in.
One problem in planting is that plants are usually planted too deep. Dig the hole, add some compost and plant the plant so it is higher than ground level, creating a small rounded berm. In time it will sink to the level of the ground.
Be careful where you buy compost. Most box store compost may be over a year old and have little nutrients left. Denny’s commercial formula is 40% forest material, including rotted wood, leave, moss and humus; 50% pasture material, including shredded alfalfa, grass and cover crops; 10% dairy goat & chicken manure; and nutrient supplements e.g. seed meal, kelp meal, high protein livestock feed, goat mils and trace elements. Do not use walnut leaves for mulch.
Other good sources of compost are Hilton Landscape Central Point and the Grange Coop, who has an excellent compost called Green Planet Compost.