Horticulture Report: Creeping Thyme

Plant Name:  Thymus praecox
Common name:  Creeping Thyme
Plant Type:  Groundcover
Plant Height:  1” – 4”
Plant Width:  6” – 18”
Bloom Time: May – August
Flower Color: Pink White, Purple
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Average, Dry – Medium, Well-Drained; Tolerates Rocky or Poor Soil.
Water Need:  Drought Tolerant Once Established
Fire Resistant: YES.  Plant 30’+ from house.
Attributes:  Leaves in Shades of Light to Dark Green Yellow, or Variegated; Deer Resistant; Attracts Bees/Butterflies.
Uses: Rock Walls; Between Pavers; Rock Garden; Path Edging.
Note:  Cut Back Stems to Maintain Plant Appearance; Susceptible to Root Rot in Poor Draining Soils.
Native to: SW & Central Europe; Greenland; Turkey
Oregon Native:  NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 – 10

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member

Photo Credit: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today in the Garden: August 4, 2021

Flowers & Photo by Carlotta Lucas, AGC Board Member

Squash Bees are in Oregon!

Few insects can digest the pollen of squash plants. But where squash plants go, squash bees have followed. Now, they’ve made it from Mexico and the Inter-mountains West all the way to Oregon. Learn about the journey of these special bees and their kinship to this family of plants.

Oregon State University https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/pollinators/great-oregon-squash-bee-hunt

Journey of the Squash Bee:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAQVNl0C-H0

Rogue Valley’s Bee Girl Website: https://www.beegirl.org/blog/squashbee

Squash Bee Peponapis pruinosa ~ Photo USDA ARS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Horticulture Report: Dead Nettle

Plant Name:  Lamium species
Common name: Dead Nettle
Plant Type:  Prostrate Herbaceous Perennial
Plant Height:  8” – 12”
Plant Width:  12” – 36”
Bloom Time:  May – June
Flower Color: Pink, White, Purple
Exposure:  Part Shade to Shade
Soil Requirements: Moist, Rich, Humus Rich, Well-Drained Soil.
Water Need:  Medium
Fire Resistant: YES; Zone 1-8 – 30’+ from house.
Attributes: Attractive Foliage; Attracts Bees; Variety of Foliage Colors & Textures; Deer Resistant, Drought Tolerant.
Uses:  Spiller in Containers; Dead Bulb Foliage Cover; Groundcover.
Note: Trailing Type Growth; Cut Back or Shear to Stimulate New Growth; Roots Where Stems Touch Ground.
Native to: Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
Oregon Native:  NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 8

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member/ Master Gardener

Photo by: Franz Xaver, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cooper’s Hardy Purple Iceplant

Plant Name:  Delosperma cooperi
Common name: Cooper’s Hardy Purple Iceplant
Plant Type:  Herbaceous Perennial Groundcover Succulent
Plant Height:  1” – 4”
Plant Width:  24” – 30”
Bloom Time:  June – September
Flower Color: Magenta Pink to Purple
Exposure:  Full Sun
Soil Requirements: Sharply Draining Soil; Sandy/Gravelly.
Water Need:  Dry
Fire Resistant: YES; Zone 1 – 10’+ from house.
Attributes: Showy Flowers, Purplish Red in Winter; Tolerates Drought; Deer Resistant; Attractive to Butterflies; Bee Friendly.
Uses:  Rock Garden; Ground cover; Front of the Border; Containers.
Native to: Southern Africa
Oregon Native: NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5 – 10

 

Report by: Viki Ashford and Carlotta Lucas

Photo Credit: https://www.highcountrygardens.com/perennial-plants/delosperma/delosperma-cooperi-coopers-hardy-ice-plant