The Rogue Buzzway Project

Posted on March 28, 2025 by AGC

The Rogue Buzzway is an interactive map which represents southern Oregon’s pollinator corridors.

From the Southern Oregon University’s website: “The Rogue Buzzway was created after the Pollinator Project Rogue Valley approached SOU associate professor Jamie Trammel in 2016 about mapping the Rogue Valley’s pollinator gardens. Trammel and then-SOU student Ollie Bucolo and Dr. Jamie Trammell created the map, whose scope and capabilities have grown over the years with the contributions of other Environmental Science & Policy interns.”

Leo Helm, who graduated fall 2024, is the latest in a succession of SOU interns to work on the Buzzway Map. The current map shows 120 self-certified pollinator gardens from Ashland to Grants Pass, but this is an ongoing project.

Rogue Buzzway gardens grow with SOU partnership

Horticulture Report – Western columbine

Posted on March 7, 2025 by AGC

Native & Firewise Plant

Plant Name: Aquilegia formosa

Photo by: Walter Siegmund, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Common name: Western columbine
Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
Height: 2’ – 3’
Spread: 1’
Bloom Time: Late Spring to August
Flower Color: Red, Yellow
Exposure: Full Sun to Deep Shade
Soil Requirements: Good Drainage, Organic Material
Water Needs: Low to Moderate; irrigate once a month once established
Attributes: Nectar in Flower Blooms are appealing to Hummingbirds;
Seed Heads provide Bird Food; Deer Resistant; Supports Bats, Birds, Butterflies, Caterpillars
Note: Self-sows, but Deadheading controls spread
Uses: Containers; Native Plant Gardens; Pollinator Garden; Rock Garden
Firewise: YES
Native to: Lower 48 state, Alaska, Canada
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 9

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member

Mapping Pollinator Corridors in Southern Oregon

Posted on March 4, 2025 by AGC

From SOU News: “The Buzzway map helps visualize pollinator habitat connectivity – a vital element in helping native pollinators such as butterflies, bees and moths to navigate the urban landscape. The map also encourages people to create new gardens by showing areas with no certified pollinator habitat, and shares stories about how existing gardens were created.”

Rogue Buzzway gardens grow with SOU partnership

Ashland Oregon: USDA Hardiness Zones

Posted on January 31, 2025 by AGC

Choosing the right plant and planting it in the right spot in your garden is a difficult decision, but you can be assured you are buying the right plant suited for your garden by checking the hardiness zone on its label. By buying plants rated for your hardiness zone you’ve increased the plant’s survival rate and its ability to thrive in your garden.

This is true for vegetable seeds too. Each seed packet has the plant’s hardiness zone printed on the back.

Ashland has 3 hardiness zones: 7b, 8a, 8b. Check your zone by location here: https://www.plantmaps.com/en/us/f/hz/state/oregon/plant-hardiness-zones

Also, be ware that nurseries and stores sell plants that are not rated for the climate where they are being sold.

Heirloom Garden Lavenders

Posted on October 9, 2024 by AGC

Ashland Garden Club’s Community Service: Thanks to all who helped purchase and plant 80+ new lavenders in N. Mountain Park’s Heirloom Garden. October 8, 2024