Category Archives: Horticulture Reports

California Giant Zinnia

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             Zinnia elegans (California Giant Zinnia)  
California Giant Zinnia

California Giant Zinnia

Plant Type: Annual
Bloom Time: Early Summer to Frost
Flowers: Large 4” – 5” Double Flowers
Plant Height: 30” – 48” tall
Vibrant Mixed Colors: Orange, Red, Yellow, White, Cherry, Pink, Scarlet, Purple
Exposure: Full sun
Soil: Loamy – Well Drained
Attributes: Excellent Cut Flower, Easy to Grow, Long Lasting, Attracts Humming Birds & Butterflies, Drought Tolerant, Very Showy especially in mass plantings, Terrific for Drying.
USDA Zone: All

 

20140810_C Zinnias20140810_Cal Zinnias

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by: Carlotta Lucas

Ashland Prepares for Drought

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The City of Ashland is preparing for the impending drought
and water curtailment for the summer of 2014.

For more information contact:
Julie Smitherman- City Water Conservation Specialist.  541-552-2062

Check out the city’s website on how to conserve water.
http://www.ashland.or.us/citynews.drought

Horticultural Report : Rhododendrons and Azaleas

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THE BASICS

Overview:
Rhododendrons are native to Asia, North America, Europe and Australia, with the highest

Rhododendron_'Black_Magic'_(1)

Black Magic Rhododendron

species diversity in the Himalayas. There are over 1,000 species of rhododendron, woody plants in the Heath family that may be evergreen or deciduous. Azaleas make up 2 subgenera of the rhododendron family.

Some species are poisonous, both the pollen and nectar, yet we have observed honey being sold specifically from bees feeding on rhododendrons.

Growing Conditions:
After over 48 years experience growing both rhododendrons and azaleas in diverse conditions in the U.S., I believe these plants are much tougher than most people appreciate.

Among the false assumptions:
Rhododendrons and azaleas are best grown where summers are cool and moist—not so!
Azaleas are mostly deciduous—not so!

There are two conditions that are critical to success in growing these acid loving plants whose fine roots are primarily at the soil surface:

>>Good Drainage
>> Cool Roots

Whether your soil is clay or decomposed granite, it can be amended to meet the plants needs.

Clay Soil:
With clay there are two approaches, the easiest is to amend the existing soil with good acid compost to loosen it up and allow for drainage. As long as the planting site is elevated from the surrounding soil, you can plant directly into the soil. Another approach is to build a raised area about one foot above the existing soil level using river rock or another material and fill with good soil mulched with acid compost.

Decomposed Granite:
Typically decomposed granite drains rapidly so the addition of a good amount of acid compost will help it retain sufficient moisture to support plant growth.

Keeping Roots Cool:  In Southern Oregon it is very easy to keep plant roots cool as we have easy access to conifer forest detritus. Although fir trees are the dominate locally, we have pine trees which serve as the ideal mulch for azaleas and rhododendrons. Unlike compost, which can get soggy and compacted, pine needles piled around the base of the plants provide a cool, moist environment with good air circulation. As the pine needles breakdown, they help maintain soil acidity.

Selecting Plants

2012_Purple_Azaleas

Azalea

A factor to consider in purchasing rhododendrons and azaleas, is how the plant will fit into your landscape scheme. If you desire the tall lacy feel of rhododendrons reaching for the sky, then look for plants that exhibit an 8 to 10 inch or greater annual growth rate. In contrast, there are many species which grow in a dense, bush-like growth habit or , with the deciduous species, they retain a shrub like height, but exhibit a lacy open growth habit.

Spring is the ideal time to purchase these plants as they are in full bloom, giving you good color selection and an appreciation of some of the perfumed varieties. The disadvantage is often nursery suppliers push the plants causing the roots of some of them to be so compacted that they cannot be pulled a part. Under these conditions the plant will never perform well and I would suggest returning the plant to the nursery.

Submitted by:
Donna Rhee

Eight OSU-Developed Tomatoes To Try

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CORVALLIS, Ore. – As you pore over seed catalogs in these cold winter months, you’ll likely include tomatoes in your vegetable garden dreams.

Oregon State University’s vegetable breeding program has developed several varieties over the past 40 years that are now mainstays in many Pacific Northwest gardens. Perhaps you know of Indigo Rose, the novelty purple tomato that OSU debuted in 2012. But did you know about the other varieties that the program has created?

In the past, the whole idea behind the breeding program has been to breed seedless types that are adapted to the cooler springs we have in Oregon and tomatoes with determinate growth so that they bloom earlier and set fruit under cooler conditions,” said Jim Myers, OSU’s vegetable breeder.

Under Myers’s leadership, the program has focused on two areas in recent years – developing varieties with late blight resistance and increasing phytonutrient potential.

“We try to build on the material previously developed in the vegetable breeding program,” Myers said.

Myers suggested the following OSU varieties, many of which were developed by his predecessor, Jim Baggett.

  • Legend: A tomato that produces large fruit that is good to eat straight off the vine. Resistant to some forms of late blight. Ripens 60-65 days after transplanting. You can get a larger-sized, earlier-ripening fruit by growing them first from seeds in gallon-size pots then transplanting them, Myers said.
  • Gold Nugget: Among the first to ripen, this prolific variety grows cherry tomatoes with a deep yellow color and mild, juicy flavor. Ripens in 60 days.
  • Oroma: This tomato makes good tomato sauce and paste. Early to mature; average ripening time of 70 days. Prolific after ripening. Fruit is meaty and thick-walled.
  • Oregon Spring: Ripens in 60-70 days. Slicing variety that can be eaten fresh in salads or straight from the vine. It will produce high, early yields of silver-dollar-sized juicy tomatoes.
  • Oregon Star: Ripens in 80 days. An early-maturing, red paste-type tomato. Large, seedless fruit. Good for fresh eating and for canning.
  • Santiam: Ripens in 65-75 days. Suited for salads and fresh eating; good, tart flavor.
  • Siletz: Ripens in 70-75 days. Reliable tomato with good flavor; ideal for eating fresh from the vine. Not resistant to late blight.
  • Indigo Rose: Ripens about 80-90 days after transplanting. First of a new class of tomato that is high in antioxidants. Its purple color comes from the anthocyanin pigment in its fruit. This open-pollinated variety is semi-determinate – or larger than a determinate type but smaller than indeterminate types – and a prolific producer. Get the best flavor by picking the tomato at its ripest; it will turn a muddy brown, dull purple color in September when ripe.

Find these tomatoes in the seed catalogs from Territorial Seed Co., Victory Seed Co., Ed Hume Seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Nichols Garden Nursery. 

Except for Indigo Rose, these tomatoes are determinate types, meaning that they are bushy in form and have fruit that sets on the bud at the tip of the stem, Myers said. They continue growth from side branches. All tomatoes from determinate type plants ripen in a concentrated period of time. Indeterminate tomatoes, on the other hand, will grow vigorously to heights of up to 12 feet and produce fruit until frost kills them.

If you’re overwhelmed by all the tomato choices and only have limited space, Myers has some advice.

“Find a few tomato varieties that work really well for you and use them as standbys, but reserve some space every year for experimental types that you want to try,” said Myers, the Baggett-Frazier Professor of Vegetable Breeding in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

By Denise Ruttan, denise.ruttan@oregonstate.edu, on Twitter at @OregonStateExt
Source: Jim Myers, myersja@hort.oregonstate.edu
This story is online at: http://bit.ly/OSU_Gardening2324

About Gardening News From the OSU Extension Service: The Extension Service provides a variety of gardening information on its website at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/community/gardening. Resources include gardening tips, videos, podcasts, monthly calendars of outdoor chores, how-to publications, information about the Master Gardener program, and a monthly emailed newsletter.

Horticultural Report: Ornamental Grasses

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Ornamental grass species offer distinctive foliage and varying textures to blend and contrast with the more standard flowering perennials.

There are two types of grasses:  warm-season & cool-season. The warm-season grasses are mainly deciduous, growing from spring through summer, blooming in fall, & going dormant in winter.  Cool -season grasses are usually evergreen & start their growth in fall, flowering in spring and summer. Both types have their flower clusters atop slender stems which bend & flow in the wind making them an interesting feature in the garden.

Ornamental grasses also have two growth habits:  running & clumping. Running grasses multiply by spreading stolons or rhizomes, and can be invasive.  The clumping type is not invasive.

There are ornamental grasses for all light conditions & soil types, and many work as container plants.

Early spring is the best time to plant & divide, & cut back & tidy up clumps of dead leaves & flowering stems from the previous year.  When planting the grasses, work organic matter, compost, and a complete fertilizer into the soil, & plant the crown above the soil line to encourage drainage & prevent rot.
Carex buchananii - Leatherleaf Sedge-'Red Rooster'
Carex buchananii – Leatherleaf Sedge – ‘Red Rooster’
Light -full sun to part shade
Height – 18″ – 24″
Bloom – insignificant
Care – thrives in moist, rich soil
Featured uses – cool-season grass; narrow copper-bronze foliage; maintains color all year; upright-clumping form; ideal for containers
Other notes – Carex or Sedges are not true grasses, but their appearance is grass like.

Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 3′
Bloom – May – July; tan to cream flower spiked bloom on arching stems
Care – needs very well drained soil; feed in early spring with all purpose
fertilizer; comb out old growth Featured uses – cool-season grass; accent, borders, mass planting; semi evergreen perennial; stiff, clumping blue/gray to blue/green foliage

Imperata cylindrical – Japanese Blood Grass – ‘Rubra’
Light – sun or shade, but color is more intense if full sun or where
sunlight can shine through foliage
Height – 12″ – 24″
Bloom – none
Care – good soil & moderate watering
Featured uses – warm-season grass; moderate growing; clumping; deciduous; broadleaf foliage that is the most colorful of the grasses with the blood red color at the upper half of the blade

Pennisetum alopecuriodes – Dwarf Fountain Grass ‘Hameln’
Light – full sun
Height – 3′
Bloom – tan foxtail like flower plumes on slender stems rise above foliage from late summer into autumn
Care – average to good soil & regular watering Featured uses – warm-season grass; clumps of broadly arching foliage

Pennisetum setaceum – Fountain Grass – ‘Rubrum’
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 5′
Bloom – long plumes of dark rose colored flowers fading to beige from July to October
Care – drought tolerant
Featured uses – warm season grass; dense clump of bronzy, purplish red
foliage.

by: Viki Ashford

How to get rid of moss in your lawn

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CORVALLIS, Ore. – With the rainy season in full swing, it’s time to count yourself in one of two camps: You either love or hate the moss that invades Pacific Northwest lawns.

But if moss is your nemesis every winter, there are some things you can do to combat this ancient plant, according to Alec Kowalewski, turfgrass specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service. Moss is a sign of too much shade and wet soil conditions, he said.

“One of the best ways to control moss is to increase sunlight,” Kowalewski said. “If you have a shaded lawn, I would suggest pruning your trees to a height of six feet and keeping the branches open for sunlight. Decide whether it’s more important to you to have trees shading your lawn or a healthy stand of turfgrass. If turfgrass is a priority, thin the density of your trees to increase sunlight.”

If you don’t shine more light on your lawn, moss will come back every year no matter what other steps you take to control it, Kowalewski cautioned.

Consider improving the drainage of your lawn as well. Install a bioswale or rain garden to catch stormwater runoff, Kowalewski suggested. Water less frequently and more deeply during the hot days of summer. Don’t stress out your lawn either, he said: “Heal” your lawn to keep the moss at bay.

“Turfgrass, like all other living things, requires sunlight, water and air movement to photosynthesize and grow,” Kowalewski said. “If there’s a problem with any one of these three things, you can expect moss and weeds to invade your grass every year.”

Here’s one way to stress out your lawn: The more grass you remove when mowing your lawn, the more likely moss will invade, Kowalewski said. Grass mowed to a height of less than two inches will open the door for plant competition, he explained.

Fertilize your lawn with 2-4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet two to four times per year in the spring and fall to increase the density of the grass and decrease the density of moss, Kowalewski said.

Additionally, several gardening products are available for moss control. Kowalewski recommends potassium soap as well as sulfate products such as ferrous sulfate, iron sulfate and ammonium sulfate. These are all non-synthetic, environmentally friendly options, he said. Apply by spot treating as soon as moss appears.

Sulfur products such as these will lower the soil pH, making conditions acidic – but turfgrass does not like acidic conditions, Kowalewski said. So an occasional application of lime, which will raise the pH, is recommended when you are making frequent sulfur applications, Kowalewski advised.

If you decide to use a synthetic pesticide, Kowalewski recommended that gardeners choose products with carfentrazone as an active ingredient. Read labels and follow all safety precautions when using pesticides.

“It’s not a long-term cure,” Kowalewski said. “If you applied pesticides or other moss control products but you did not improve your turfgrass density or sunlight exposure, moss is going to come back next year. The most important factors to improve are sunlight, water and air movement.”

Kowalewski holds the N.B. and Jacqueline Giustina Professorship in Turf Management within OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

By Denise Ruttan,
Oregon State University Extension Service

To learn more, see the OSU Extension publication “Maintaining a Healthy Lawn in Western Oregon” at http://bit.ly/OSU_EC1521.

Source: Alec Kowalewski, alec.kowalewski@oregonstate.edu