Tag Archives: gardening

Today in the Garden

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Madia elegans:  Elegant tar weed.  This is blooming right now.  It is a sun-loving native annual that self-sows widely.  Drought and deer tolerant.  Blooms morning and evening, but closes up during the middle of the day.  See the bumble bee getting pollen off the flowers.  The plant is about 3′ high and 1 1/2′ high.  

Madia elegans:  Elegant tar weed

Epilobium canum, or California Fuchsia.  It used to be called Zauschneria californica.  It is a later blooming perennial.  It is drought and deer resistant.  This one is right near an alley and a driveway, and is fine with hot, dry soil.  Hummingbirds love it.  I plant it with dark blue Bachelors’ Buttons, annuals which seed around.

Epilobium canum: California Fuchsia

Gaillardia , or Blanket Flower.  It is a long-blooming perennial with interesting round seed heads.  If  some of the seed heads are left on, it will self-sow.  This particular plant is probably a hybrid, called Gaillardia x grandlora ‘Goblin’, which is a more compact cultivar.  The native is Gaillardia aristata.  It is drought tolerant and deer resistant.

Gaillardia: Blanket Flower

Praying Mantis on Verbena, previously seen eating a bee from the head down.  After crawling up on this bloom, she crawled down on the stem and basically disappeared, lurking until another insect came along.

Praying Mantis on Verbena

Photos and article by Sherri Morgan, AGC Vice President

Today in the Garden: August 4, 2021

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Flowers & Photo by Carlotta Lucas, AGC Board Member

Squash Bees are in Oregon!

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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

July 2021; Garden of the Month

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1023 Linda Avenue:

The fascinating garden at 1023 Linda Avenue is the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July.  Owner Sandra Archibald is completely responsible for this garden, including design and maintenance.  She does have a guy who mows the shrinking lawn in the back and helps with cleanup in the Fall.

The most remarkable feature of this garden is the living fence of weeping blue atlas cedar that Sandra planted in the northeast corner of the property a year or two after moving in late in 2007 and has trained along the deer fence since then, protecting her raised planting beds and the rest of the yard.  She designed the curving paver paths and trellis along the front of the house.  There are more curved paths and walls she designed in back as well as a charming gate and peaceful Japanese garden section.

This is her favorite time of year in the garden with coreopsis and poppies putting on a grand display.  In Spring, large established iberris plants make a nice show against the conifers.  Other times echinacea is a standout.  As the back garden has become shadier over the years, she has added mini-hostas and plans to add more conifers since discovering the fabulous variety at the Oregon Garden in Silverton.  She loves the Japanese forest grass she has in pots because it’s always beautiful, even when it dries out annually.

Sandra urges persistence in the garden.  She adapts readily to the changing environment, trying things and sometimes moving and replacing plants that don’t thrive.  She averages at least ten hours per week working in her garden all seasons except Winter.  Her hard work and creativity are evident.

Article by: Ruth Sloan, AGC Garden of the Month Chairman. (Thanks Kaaren Anderson for bringing this garden to my attention years ago.)

All photos by Larry Rosengren

The under-explored vegetable: Daikon Radish

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Daikon Radish: There are over a hundred varieties of daikon radishes, but to most people in America this root is a vegetable of mystery.  Daikon radishes are popular in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China, so in the states it is often found in Asian grocery stores, ethnic specialty stores or growers markets where large Asian-American populations occur.  But, luckily for us, most of Ashland’s grocery stores carry daikon radish year round   

Daikon radish is a member of Brassica family; a cool weather vegetable. This tuber forms a large cylindrical tap root 12-20 inches long and 2-4 inches in diameter. Its root pushes deep in the soil like a giant carrot, but leaves 2 to 6 inches protruding above the ground. Its skin is pale green or all white, similar to a turnip.  The flavor is tangy with a crisp juicy texture, and depending on the variety, it can be a mild to fiery hot, like a horseradish.  Its mildness or hotness also depends on growing conditions and the amount of water it receives during the growing season.

Daikon radish origins trace back to the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. It found its way to Japan approximately 1,300 years ago where it became popular nationwide in the Edo period (1603-1868). Many varieties of the daikon radishes are near extinction due to the lack of commercial value, but a few specialty farmers, especially in Japan, are growing heirloom varieties for chefs and these prized radishes can fetch a high price.  But the most cultivated daikon radish for the world market is the Aokubi Daikon, which is a milder sweeter variety.  Japan produces 90% of the worlds Daikon radish crop, and they consume most of this crop as well.

In the United States there is growing interest to use daikon radish as a winter cover crop. Some of this crop is used for consumption, but most of it is plowed under to add nitrogen to the soil.  Purdue University reports that daikon radish as a winter cover crop suppresses weeds in fall and winter, helps break up compacted soil, and because its contains a lot of water, it decomposes in a short period of time providing a flush of nitrogen for early spring crops.

Daikon radish can be consumed raw, cooked, or pickled. You can shred it to use in salads for a crisp crunchy texture and a peppery bite. You can add thin slices into miso soup, or braise it in thick chunks for stews. Boiling daikon chunks in water for 30 minutes then adding to a recipe allows the radish to absorb the flavors of the dish. Amazingly, this root holds its shape and texture after an hour of cooking.   The tops are edible too; sauté in oil until wilted then add seasonings.  Daikon Radish seeds are readily available because daikon radish mico-greens are popular.  

To start your sprouts, soak seeds in a bowl of cool water for 6 hours, or overnight, making sure seeds are submersed. This softens the seed coat and promotes germination. Grow as mico-greens, or sow directly into the garden for mature vegetables.  OSU Department of Horticulture states in Oregon daikon radishes require a full growing season to reach maturity and for the best root quality and development irrigate well to maintain uniform, vigorous growth.    USDA Hardiness Zone 2-11

Daikon Radish Salad –   https://www.japancentre.com/en/recipes/1313-daikon-salad

Miso Soup https://www.japancentre.com/en/recipes/1534-daikon-radish-and-abura-age-fried-tofu-miso-soup

Article by: Carlotta Lucas