Category Archives: Horticulture Reports

Horticulture Report: Mountain Fleece

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Plant Name: Persicaria amplexicaulis

mountian-fleece

Persicaria amplexicaulis

Common Name:  Mountain Fleece
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
Height: 3-4 feet
Spread: 3-4 feet
Bloom Time: June to October
Flower Color: Crimson red
Exposure: Full sun, Part shade (hot regions)
Soil Requirements: Humus
Water Needs: Medium to wet
Attributes: Showy “bottlebrush” flower, Attracts  Birds & Butterflies, Tolerate deer
Note:  Low Maintenance
Uses: Perennial border, Water Gardens
Native to: China, the Himalayas and Pakistan
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 to 7

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The Art of Growing Berries

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Keys to Thriving Berries!

Blueberries, Raspberries,  and Triple Crown Thornless Berry.

Soils do better if prepared early, it’s easier to supplement your soil in early spring.

BLUEBERRIES (a challenging plant)Blueberry

  • Needs Acidic soil: either naturally occurring, or supplemented with peat moss
    • Member Note: Alternatives products for unsustainable peat moss:
      • Coconut Coir. A by-product of the coconut industry.
      • Pine Sawdust or Bark
      • Composted Manure or Leaves
  • 2 or more plants of similar bloom time needed for pollination
  • Regular moisture
  • Don’t allow plants to dry out
  • Shallow roots appreciates mulching
  • Fertilized with acidic fertilizer start early in the season
    • Twice in spring, once again when blooming
  • Provide afternoon shade in the Summer
  • Prune out any non-budding branches, dead Wood or Crowded branches
  • Netting may be a good idea

RASPBERRIES

  • Don’t like wet feet, but needs moistureraspberry
  • Water twice a week, then move to three times a week when above 85F
  • Does better with drip watering, fruit can get moldy if too wet
  • Fertilizing: Start with a 10-10-10 to grow canes, then switch to 5-10-10 if plants are growing large. Note: Use less nitrogen for more fruit production.
  • Needs conscious pruning, fruit grows on 2 year growth, (floricanes) unless  developing a first and second year everbearing system.
    • Cut out old canes after 2-year fruit
    • For young producers, cut every year to allow sun to reach plants.
  • Needs 6-8 hours Sun
    • Member Note: Intense afternoon sun can wilt plants and burn fruit

TRIPLE CROWN THORNLESS BERRY (Blackberry/Marionberry Cross)Triple Crown Thornless Blackberry

  • Will grow in many places, like blackberries
  • Non-Invasive, semi-erect vines
  • Have a choice of cutting canes when they reach 7-8 feet, or letting them grow and propagating tips into ground or container
  • Needs a trellis system to keep vines and berries off the ground
  • Fertilize at blossom time,
  • Water more when fruiting
  • Pick when the large dark berries come off easily, large globules
  • Prune out second-year canes after they fruit
    • You can do this in the fall

By Joel Heller, Guest Speaker AGC Meeting March 6th, 2017

Horticulture Report: Brunnera macrophylla

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Brunnera macrophyllaPlant Name: Brunnera macrophylla
Cultivar: Siberian Bugloss, Brunnera Heart-Leaf
Plant type: Perennial [Forget-Me-Not]
Height:   12- 18 inches
Bloom Time: Mid to late spring
Flower Color: Blue
Sun: Part shade [4-6 hrs of sun], Full Shade [4 hrs of sun]
Soil Requirements: Well-drained fertile soil, tolerates damp soil.
Water Needs: Medium
Attributes: Heart-shaped leaves, Deer & Rabbit Resistant, Mounding Form, Non-Invasive, Easy Care.
Uses: Naturalizing, Beds & Borders, Containers,  Woodland Gardens, Mass Planting
Note: ‘Jack Frost’ variety tolerates summer heat better [Not more sun…more heat]
USDA Zone: 3 to 7 ( Zone 8 too but it needs more water)

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Get Ready – Grow!

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Seedlings in your Greenhousetwo true leaves

Start by:

  • Sanitizing your greenhouse shelves using 1 part bleach mixed with 9 parts water.
  • Clean trays and pots with this same bleach mixture.
  • Sweep floor and clean walls
  • Buy Seedling Mix – it’s not potting soil, it’s a soilless mixture for seed starting.
  • Assemble plant labels & permanent markers in your greenhouse.
  • Have your water source ready.

After you’ve sanitized  EVERYTHING!

Pre-moisten your seedling mix by pouring it into a bucket and adding water until it’s damp. Fill trays with pre-moistened seedling mix and water thoroughly.
Let trays sit a day in the greenhouse to warm up.

Start your seeds 8-12 weeks before the last frost date in your area.
In the Rouge Valley, Oregon the last frost is estimated to be May 15th.
Count backwards 8 or 12 weeks and plant seeds in your greenhouse.

Example: To plant by May 15th, then…

For 8 weeks: Plant seeds in the greenhouse by March 15th
For 12 weeks: Plant seeds in the greenhouse by February 15th

Be sure to read the seed packet instructions before planting.
These instructions tell you how deep to plant and long it takes for the seeds to germinate. And. it shows you what this seedling will look like when the seed sprouts.

By: Carlotta Lucas

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Horticulture Report: Yellow-wax Bells

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Plant Name: Kirengeshoma palmatayellow-wax-bells
Common Name:  Yellow-wax Bells
Plant type:  Herbaceous perennial
Height:   3 -4.5 ft
Bloom Time: Late Summer
Flower Color: Yellow -Bell shaped
Exposure:  Full to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Humus rich acidic, well-drained soils
Water Needs:  Regular: keep moist
Attributes:  Large Maple-shaped leaves, Clusters of yellow flowers, Pearl-sized buds, Dainty nodding bells, Showy fruit, Year-round interest
Note: Highly prized
Uses:   Mass plantings, Woodland Gardens, Shade Gardens,  Specimen plant, Winter Interest
Native to: Mountainous regions of Japan to Korea
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-8

Seed Heads for Winter Interest

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After an exuberant display of flowers during spring and summer, the fall and winter    mofrosted-seedhead1nths leave gardeners longing for sunnier days.  A way to help overcome the winter blues is to plant winter interest in your garden.  Most gardeners know about adding texture, berries, branch color and bark, to a garden, but often flower seed heads are overlooked as a winter interest.

Leaving seed heads standing in your garden provides shelter and food for birds and insects in your yard, but seed heads also provide visual interest.  There is a quiet beauty when frost lies upon a seed head displaying its delicate wispy patterns.  Even those spider webs covering the seed heads put on a display like tiny garlands, then add frost… and those threads sparkle like crystals in a breeze. So while you’re combing through the garden catalogs during  February, look for perennials and annuals which produce interesting longstanding seed heads and distinctive structures.

A few to consider….
Anethum graveolens– Dill – Zone 2-11
Aster cordifolius– Blue wood aster (many other species) – Zone 3-820151111_072856
Coreopsis grandiflora – Tickseed -Zone 4-9
Celosia cristata – Cockscomb – Zone 3-11
Echinacea purpurea– Coneflowers – Zone 3-9
Eupatorium maculatum – Joe Pye Weed – Zone 4-9
Foeniculum vulgare – Fennel- Zone 4-9
Phlomis russeliana-  Jerusalem sage-  Zone 5-9
Pot Marigolds – tall – Zone 3-10
Monarda – Bee balms  – Zone 4-9
Muhlenbergia capillaries- Pink Muhly Grass – Zone 6-9
Ornamental grasses (all varieties & zones)
Rudbeckia hirta– Black-Eyed Susans – Zone 3-7
Sanguisorba- Burnets  – Zone 3-8
Solidago – Goldenrod   – Zone  5-9
Zinnia elegans – Zone 3-10