Plant Name: Helleborus orientalis ( Lenten rose)
Plant type: Perennial
Height: 12” – 15”
Bloom Time: February to April
Flower Color: Varies – Purple, Whitish Yellow, Whitish Green, Pink, Burgundy
Exposure: Full Sun in Winter, Partial Shade Rest of the Year
Soil Requirements: Well Drained Soil
Water Needs: Medium
Attributes: Early Bloomer, Deer Resistant , Waterwise plant, Long Bloom Season
Note: Mulch to maintain summer moisture
Uses: Borders, Containers, Mass Plantings, Woodland Garden
USDA Zone: 2-10
Tag Archives: gardening
Speaker Program: Unusual Plants
Permaculture Lecture
Permaculture Gardening Strategies
Prepared for Siskiyou Permaculture, Permaculture Design Course January 2011
1) Plan for plant succession. Start gardens on your worst soils. Remember trees and shrubs fill in and are the natural successors of pioneer plants like vegetables. Ideally, start with veggies and end with forest garden. Be aware of arrested succession.
2) Rainwater harvest. Consider size of storage and amount needed, seedlings love rainwater, planting basins, swales, deep mulch, gravity feed from rain tanks, greywater, city water costs.
3) Frost drainage. Layout the garden to drain cold air from planting beds and down paths. Cold air flows like molasses and can be drained from garden under gates and fences.
4) Sheet mulch. Suppress weeds and increase soil fertility and moisture by mulching with newspaper and cardboard. Deep (1 ft.) straw mulch for late summer.
5) Attract Pollinators and Beneficial Insects. Plant a series of flowers that provide nectar flow and habitat year round to encourage insect diversity to your garden.
6) Small ponds. Create habitat for frogs, toads and birds by building small ponds in your yard.
7) Collect micro-climate information. Set up a mini-weather station in your garden with a rain gauge and a maximum/minimum thermometer. Weather information will help you determine where and when to plant your garden. Record on desk or large wall calendar.
8) No till. Plant perennials. Perforation, mulch, top dressing and plant roots build soil structure from the top down.
9) Benefits of home gardening: Psychological health, fresh medicinals, increased nutrition in your food, seed saving, developing soil for future needs, learning how to do it in case we need to know.
Garden Elements: Additional things to think about in planning your home landscape and garden.
- Wind protection for both house and garden
- Sun bowl
- Shade your house in summer, preserve solar access in winter
- Water drainage
- Outdoor rooms
- Wildlife to invite in and wildlife to keep out (distract)
- Frequently visited areas near the house and main walkways
- Height layers
- Maximizing usable space
- Dynamic accumulators
- Plant guilds
- Plan for the amount of time you can spend gardening
- Field crops (corn, beans, squash) in community gardens and open spaces
- Share specialties from home micro-climates
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A FEW FAVORITE GARDENING RESOURCES
Books:
Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally, by Robert Kourik, 1986
A permaculture based overview with extensive sections and charts on fruit trees, companion planting, cover crops, and more. Author based in northern California.
Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley, Year ‘Round & Month by Month, Jackson County Master Gardener Association. Not strictly organic, but it de-emphasizes nonorganic methods. Gives you important local recommendations for timing and success in our climate.
Gaia’s Garden; A guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway, updated 2009
The permaculture backyard classic explains how to get your garden to pop.
Sunset Western Garden Book
Still the landscapers essential guide. Organized as an encyclopedia, and addressing western climate issues, it includes lists of recommended plants for wind, deer resistance, sizes, etc.
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, by Carol Deppe, 2000
The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe
Four Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman, 1999
The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming, Fukuoka, Masanobu. Reprinted 2009. Edited by local permie Larry Korn!
New Roots For Agriculture, Jackson, Wes, 1981
Teaming with Microbes; the Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, Lowenfels, Jeff and Lewis, Wayne
The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book, Stout, Ruth. 1979
On-line Resources:
The Future is Abundant, Species Index, by Shery Litwin. Available on the Siskiyou Permaculture website. http://www.siskiyoupermaculture.org
Plants for a Future, database for edible and useful plants. http://www.pfaf.org/user/plantsearch.aspx
OSU Extension Gardening Encyclopedia online: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/
Sowing Calendar, Hardiness Zones 7-8; Local chart for numerous vegetables prepared through research not experience, but likely still useful.
Click to access Sowing%20Calendar01-14-11.pdf
Pros and Cons of Deep Mulch Gardening, article, http://theprepperproject.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-deep-mulch-gardening/
Siskiyou Permaculture
Melanie Mindlin
Lecture: Nov. 2, 2015
Horticulture Report: Oakleaf Hygrangea
Plant Name: Hydrangea quercifolia 
Common Name : Oakleaf Hydrangea
Cultivar: Ice Crystal
Plant type: Deciduous Shrub
Height: 3-6 Ft tall – 3-6 Ft wide
Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
Flower Color: Creamy White aging to Pink (clusters of conical shaped flower heads)
Exposure: Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Acid soil, Excellent Drainage
Water Needs: Low to Moderate ( prefers drier soil after established)
Attributes: Showy Flowers, Interesting Leaves that turn red in Autumn, USA Native, Compact Mounding Shrub, Papery Bark, Multi-Stemmed, Fragrant Flowers.
Note: Will not tolerate “wet feet”. Plant will get root rot very fast if left in soggy soil!
Uses: Woodland Plant, Borders, Group Plantings
USDA Zone: 5-9 ( hardy to -20 F)
By Carlotta Lucas
Garden of the Month: Sept. 2015
The home of Barbara and Len Eaton at 841 Beswick Way was purchased in 2011. The house was remodeled extensively, and a year later they had their daughter-in-law Kelly Eaton design the landscape plans.
Barbara requested that Kelly use native plants and grasses to provide habitat for bees, butterflies and birds. They had two oaks and a small madrone in front, and the few tall pines in the back that were the backbone of the garden. Some grading was done, the paths and structures put in and the drip irrigation and dry cree
k bed Installed.
The front was done first with many native tall and short grasses, manzanita, echinacea and an orange witch hazel next to the dry creek bed. In addition, a royal purple smoke tree and a crepe myrtle grow on the right side of the walkway. The wood arbor at the entrance has an Akebia vine which will shade the lovely swing from which you can sit and view Grizzly Peak. Star Jasmine climb the screens on the right. The large pots, overflowing with bright orange lantana and red geraniums, give a happy welcome to visitors.
Walking down the driveway you can look up and see the bee hive in the oak. Kelly put in a few plants that have drip only to preserve the oaks. When you enter the back gate you will be met with a lovely cascade of hardy geraniums, alyssum, yellow lantana, a family fuchsia and a pink crepe myrtle. Lizzy the family dog sits on the stairs to greet you and lead you into a path that takes you to the center three-tiered fountain.
When you look to the back garden there is a very large wood-beamed arbor with a wisteria that will shade the right side. In the center is a fireplace. Again Barbara has filled some large pots with blue black salvia and more lantana which the bees are feasting on. To the right and down behind the garage are raised vegetable beds that produce a variety of tomatoes, string beans and pumpkins.
The garage wall has a large espaliered Star Magnolia and two pot stands filled with cascading Creeping Charlie and Creeping Jenny. Under the towering pines is a Cherokee Chief dogwood and a flagstone pathway which has Blue Star Creeper and flowering thyme covered with many happy bees. Another lime- leaf smoke tree and a yellow witch hazel complete the path. The city of Ashland did audits for water use and fire safety which passed, with the City even putting photos of the garden on their website. This garden was on the garden to
ur of the AAUW in 2014.
Len has a shop where he will be building the gate to their own piece of paradise. He also mows the lawns and helps with the fall cleanup while Barbara maintains the gardens. They have achieved their desire for a habitat that keeps the bees, birds and butterflies happy and “at the end of the day” they both enjoy sitting in the swing and looking up at Grizzly Peak.