Event: Poinsettia Festival

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Ashland Greenhouses    Saturday, Nov 30th, 2019
Time:  10:00am-4:00pm
Ashland Greenhouses annual Poinsettia Festival is where you can walk through thousands of colorful poinsettias, enjoy a hot beverage, snack, and some festive music. Local holiday vendors are selling handcrafted items.  There is even a staged area to take your Christmas photo with a sea of red behind you.  Everyone gets a free raffle ticket upon arrival for a chance to win great prizes.

Photo by: Carlotta Lucas, Ashland Garden Club

Thumbs-up for Messy Winter Gardens!

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By: Dianne Machesney, Master Gardener, Allegheny County: “Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and one-third of our food supplies depend on pollination. Pollinators need plants year-round. The succession of flowers throughout the seasons provide nectar, eggs are laid on host plants ensuring reproductive survival, plants and debris left in the garden serve as safe places for pollinators to overwinter. By planting a variety of native flowering species, and leaving them to stand in our winter gardens, we greatly add to the diversity and abundance of pollinators. ” Penn State Extension: https://extension.psu.edu/fall-garden-care-for-pollinators

By Justin Wheeler, Xercres Society: “One of the most valuable things you can do to support pollinators and other invertebrates is to provide them with the winter cover they need.” https://xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves

By Jessica Walliser, Savvy Gardening :  “Our gardens play an important role in supporting wildlife and what we do in them every autumn can either enhance or inhibit that role.”    Six Reason to NOT clean up the garden this fall

Horticulture Report: Winterberry

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Plant Name: Ilex verticillata, cross of Ilex verticillate & Ilex serrata
Common name: Winterberry
Plant type: deciduous, medium to tall shrub
Height: 4’-12’
Spread: 4’-10’
Bloom Time: May, June 
Flower Color: White
Exposure: Full sun to Partial shade
Soil Requirements: average soil conditions.
Water Needs: average to low
Attributes: Grown for showy red winter berries on leafless stems. Berries feed overwintering birds.  Butterflies are attracted to flowers. Deer Resistant shrub.
Note: Winterberries are dioecious (separate male & female plants are needed for berry production; one male plant for 10-20 females. Flowers on new growth in late spring. Natural habitat Swamps, streams, river banks, near lakes or ponds.  
Uses: Stems are cut for use in winter floral displays.
Native to: China, Japan and Eastern North America
Oregon Native:  NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8

*Link to “Guide to Growing Winterberry Holly”,  by: Stacey Hirvela  for Proven Winners: https://www.provenwinners.com/learn/finding-right-plant/ultimate-guide-winterberry-holly

A few  varieties are: Berry Heavy ®, Berry Poppins™,  Jim Dandy (male)

Report by: Gena Goddard, Ashland Garden Club