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SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 132 • July 4, 2009

VIDEO ARCHIVE


Happy 4th of July. The summer season is here and in full swing. You can tell by the heat! That heat means your plants might need a little more attention than usual. If you are looking for information on watering in the garden, check out this publication from OSU Extension. You should also remember to keep your pets well watered. Put out an extra water dish for your outdoor animals and create a shady area for them outside. If you feel the need to work in your garden, try to do the most work in the cooler morning hours and take lots of water breaks. Better yet, put off the yard work until the heat goes away and just enjoy your time in the garden! To help you enjoy the time in the garden check out the Garden Time blog where we talk about holiday bar-b-quing and Gartner’s Meats!

This week we featured...

Smith Berry Festival

It is time for the 7th Annual Berry Festival at Smith Berry Barn (503-628-2172) on Scholls Ferry Road. On the 4th of July from 11am to 4pm, you can stop by and enjoy fresh berry desserts, hot off the grill sausages and hot dogs, and live music. This is a family friendly event with a petting zoo, face painting and balloons. You can also stop by the gift shop to pick up some gourmet products and sample a fresh berry milkshake. Plus there will be a ‘Berried’ Treasure Hunt for the kids. You can also go out and do a little u-picking of your favorite berries. Joelle showed us some of the varieties available right now in the fields. They have “Willamette’ and ‘Cascade Dawn’ raspberries, Tayberries, Loganberries, and ‘Silvan Black’ blackberry. They have all of these ripe for the picking and you can take them home to remember your day in the country!

Medicinal Plants

For centuries if you were sick you relied on the healing properties of plants to help you get better. These days we have forgotten about some of those plants and the benefits they can provide. We met with Laura at Portland Nursery (503-231-5050) to check out some of the plants that are commonly used in the landscape for their beauty but also have a medicinal purpose as well. The first one she pulled out for us was the Motherwort, used for uterine health, then Arnica which is used to treat bruising. She then showed us Rue ‘Jackmans Blue’, which, in addition to its lovely ornamental effect in the garden, can be used to aid digestion. The Chinese have long used plants for medicinal purposes and we moved to the Goji berry which is used as an overall health tonic since the berries are loaded with antioxidants. Another Chinese herb is Dang-shen also used as an overall health tonic and wellbeing. It is a relative of ginseng and is prepared in many different ways for use. Lavender was next on the list and this one is well known to most people. Its fragrance has a calming effect on most people and it can also be used to promote the healing of scars.

Laura then moved to the Monarda (Bee-balm) which is an antimicrobial and can help prevent the onset of colds if used in a tea with Echinacea. The next plant was one that William tried just to see what it would do. The Toothache plant (Spilanthes acmella) has a numbing effect when eaten and can be used for toothaches and teething. William is able to report that it works! It was hard for him to finish the story because his mouth was so numb! We finished the story with Yarrow and Blueberries. Yarrow is known as the ‘Nosebleed plant’ because it does slow and stop the bleeding of minor cuts and blueberries are not only loaded with antioxidants, it makes a great tonic for overall men’s health. We recommend that you don’t start eating the flowers in your garden right away. Always check with an expert herbalist before you start using the plants for medicinal purposes. If you have questions, you can check with the experts at Portland Nursery or with Laura at Mostly Medicinals.

Water and Bog Plants

If you have a water feature or pond you may have some beautiful plants in it, but if you have a marshy area you may be looking for some plants that will thrive in that area as well. We stopped by Hughes Water Gardens (503-638-1709) to learn more about water and bog plants from the expert, Eamonn Hughes. First he covered a bunch of water plants. These plants either live in the water or can handle lots of moisture without rotting. These plants will help add character and depth to your pond and also create a habitat for wildlife. Eamonn started with some low growing plants. These will help soften the edges of your water feature. He showcased Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia ‘Aurea’), Corkscrew Rush (Juncus effusus ‘Spirallis’) and the Marsh Fern. Next we moved to the medium height plants like Yerba Yerba, Sagittaria ‘Silk Stockings’ and the Purple Pickeralweed (Pontaderia cordata). He then highlighted the taller water plants like Cannas, Iris Ensada, the hibiscus and the Egyptian papyrus.

We then moved over to the bog type plants. These can handle lots of moisture, but don’t like to be immersed in water for extended periods of time. Some of these plants included Rumex, Pitcher Plant (a great fly catcher) and one of the buttercup family and even some lobelia. As you can see there are lots of different plants that you can use in your pond, bog or even the soggy places in your garden. To check out more you can stop by Hughes Water Garden. Also, check out this month's Garden Time On-line magazine to read the feature article on Eamonn.

Container Hostas

When people think of hostas they will always think of a landscape plant that has to be in the ground in your garden. We stopped by the Sebright Gardens (503-463-9615) to talk to Thomas about changing that perception. Thomas is a true believer in placing hostas in pots. If you pick the right varieties and put them in pots you can enjoy these plants even more. They can be moved easily around the garden and can even be placed on your deck. They are perfect for containers because they are so forgiving. If you forget to water them they will wilt and tend not to fry in the heat. As an example of what they can do Thomas placed 3 different hostas in the 3 containers that were identical. They all looked very different. The 3 hostas were ‘Night before Christmas’, ‘Lakeside Cupcake’ and ‘Lucy Vitols’.

We then talked about the Mini-hostas. These hostas are 8 inches or shorter. These can be lost in the average garden, but are perfect for containers. Thomas had a friend use some of the mini-hostas in some hypertufa pots with other low growing plants. These smaller varieties included ‘Tears of Joy’, and ‘Lime shag’. You can also use some of these smaller types of hostas in a rock garden if you are selective about your other plant material. If you are interested in these hostas or any of the other 500 varieties they have for sale, stop by the nursery, give them a call or check out their website.

 
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