Happy Father’s Day! Time for dads to relax and
enjoy their weekend. We have some special stories
just for dad on this week’s Garden Time.
This week we featured...
Portland Nursery Strawberry Social
If
it’s Father’s Day, it means strawberry time at
Portland Nursery at 90th and Division
(503-788-9000). We paid a visit to Bebhimn Smuda of
Portland Nursery to learn about all the events of
the 12th annual strawberry social. Every
year, Portland Nursery combines the best of local
strawberries with a touch of community involvement.
With local music, earth friendly products and free
shortcake for Dad on Father’s day, you can’t go
wrong. Plus by simply printing the coupon from
their website you can save an additional 15% on your
plant purchases during this weekend. Just look for
the large inflated strawberry only at 90th
and Division for a wonderful kick-off to your summer
season. Bring a can of food for Portland Impact and
get a free 4” strawberry plant of your own to take
home.
Backyard Birds
The sign of a healthy garden is not only based on
color. The amount of wildlife you attract is an
indicator of the health of your garden. Scott
Lukins from
Backyard Birdshop (503-635-2044) joined Judy to
talk about ways of attracting and keeping our local
birds in your garden. He demonstrated different
types of feeders including fly through feeders,
ground feeders and hummingbird feeders and why each
is important. He also talked about the importance
of choosing the right seed for the type of bird you
want to attract. Water is also essential for a
healthy bird population. Scott demonstrated
accessories for attracting birds to your water
features and bird baths. If you have questions
about attracting birds to your garden, feel free to
contact the Backyard Birdshop.
Hughes Water Bowl
Adding a water feature to your garden, deck or patio
may not be as expensive or time consuming as you
think. We went to
Hughes Water Gardens (503-638-1709) to learn how
easy and inexpensive it is to assemble a small water
bowl. Eamonn Hughes showed us how easy it is to
create a beautiful water feature with a small list
of ingredients including a bowl, pump, rocks and a
few plants. The plants he used included Canna
“Watermelon”, Columbia Sedge, water lettuce and
fairy moss. In less than 15 minutes you can create
a simple water feature that can live indoors or
outdoors and provide unending joy.
Kindergarden: Shish-ka-bob Pot
Most dads love to grill. Our Kindergarden segment
combines gardening and grilling. Our young
volunteers, together with Amy Bigej of
Al’s Garden Center (503-981-1245) put together a
pot that contains all the essentials for creating a
tasty, mouth-watering shish ka bob. Peppers, cherry
tomatoes, onions and zucchini are all planted in one
pot and even includes a Rosemary spear to cook them
on. It’s a perfect gift for the dad who grills and
a great way for fathers to do a little gardening
with their sons and daughters. We found everything
we needed at Al’s Garden Center in Woodburn, but you
can find the same plants at your local independent
garden center.
Pest Patrol: Spittle Bug
Our pest this week really isn’t a pest. It’s more of
a nuisance. The spittle bug is easy to find at the
base of branches on your smaller shrubs and plants.
It’s easily identified by the ball of spit in which
it lives. What is interesting about the spittle bug
is that is does no real damage to your plants. If
the spit bothers you simply wash it away with a
hose.