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Lane County Home and Garden Show through Sunday

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Gardens showcasing inventive planting placements, water features and inviting hardscape will be on display at the 35th Annual Lane County Home and Garden Show through Sunday at the Lane County Fairgrounds.

Each night, only festival lights in rafters will be used so that the landscapers can demonstrate night lighting in the landscape, setting the stage for a garden party, the show’s theme this year.

Admission is free and so are 50 seminars by national garden writers and local garden gurus including John Fischer, aka “The Relaxed Gardener,” and Jackie Chama, “Bloomers Green Thumb.”

Saturday and Sunday will include Sunset Magazine garden writer Mary-Kate Mackey, who is speaking on the best small trees for the Northwest garden and the best plants for a show-stopping fall garden.

There are remodeling and how-to seminars as well as OSU Extension Service presentations on topics ranging from raising chickens to container gardening.

There are more than 300 home and garden vendors, including contractors, garden nurseries and national manufacturers. See how smart phones apps can adjust your home thermostats at Marshall’s Heating booth or heat up a spa by Cedarworks. A $20 Propane Pal will alert you when the barbecue tank is low and there is an ergonomic paint brush by GalaxG Tools. Johnson Brothers Greenhouse is pairing plantings with herb cocktails recipes.

What: 35th Annual Lane County Home Garden Show

When: March 6-9, 2014

Thursday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Lane Events Center, Convention Center at the Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene

Cost: Free admission and parking! Bring canned food donations to benefit FOOD for Lane County.

For more information visit: www.EugeneHomeShow.com

— Homes Gardens of the Northwest staff

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Indiana Flower & Patio Show to provide breath of spring

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After months of record snowfall, freezing temperatures and killer wind chills, the 56th annual Indiana Flower Patio Show’s glimpse of spring is more than welcome.

About 100,000 people attend the show every year, said Donell Heberer Walton, executive director of HSI Shows, which produces the nine-day event. The show continues through March 16 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

This year’s landscapers designed gardens to fit the theme of Personal Space, reflecting the hobbies and interests of their creators, Walton said. “I asked them to create space in the garden that tells a little bit about themselves.”

For instance, Calvin Landscape’s display is called “Colts Backyard Tailgate”; Hittle Landscaping’s exhibit is “Room

with a View and BBQ”; and Berger Hargis Landscape Management has “Family Game and Garden Movie Night.”

Cool Ponds’ owner Steve Wicker’s garden “For the Birds” reflects his love and interest in our feathered friends. In his landscapes, he plants native perennials and shrubs to support native bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

Some of the plants, such as viburnums, provide shelter and produce berries, which birds like to eat.

For ponds, Wicker said, his “waterfalls always allow (the birds) access to water.” If the water moves too fast or the rocks are not positioned correctly, birds and other animals will not be able to take advantage of the asset. For the Flower Patio Show, his garden will feature a pond and bird feeders placed among the plants in the landscape.

More than 40 gardens make up the show this year, along with about 450 exhibitors. Most of the gardens are in the West Pavilion, but there also will be exhibits in Expo Hall.

The gardens take a lot of planning. Designers developed the gardens in the summer or fall. It’s done this early so plants can be ordered and forced to leaf out or bloom in time for the show. Specialized nurseries, including some in Ohio, do the forcing, and landscapers travel to get the plants. That can be hazardous this time of year because of snow and ice on the roads and the threat of freezing temperatures on plants in transit.

Landscaping: World’s weirdest plantings

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The Alnwick Poison Gardens in England.
The Alnwick Poison Gardens in England.

Ever since I wrote about British gardener Stuart Grindle’s lawn obsession a few weeks ago, I’ve had to stop myself mowing ours more frequently than once a week. Grindle, who’s 70, mows twice a day, three times a week, to keep each blade a uniform 5mm long.

At the other end of the scale, I discovered an 80-year-old man who planted a garden in 1960 and last watered it in 1972. And yes, it’s still thriving. David Latimer planted his garden in a bottle and sealed it shut 40-odd years ago as an experiment to see if it would survive.

The hardy spiderwort plant inside has grown to fill the 38-litre container by surviving entirely on recycled air, nutrients and water. The water in the bottle gets taken up by the roots, is released into the air during transpiration, condenses down into the potting mixture, where the cycle begins again. Clever.

Almost as clever is a garden so poisonous you can enter it only with a fully qualified guide. The creation of Alnwick Poison Gardens in Northumberland, England, was inspired by the legendary botanical gardens in Padua, where the Medicis plotted to bring their enemies to a mouth-frothing end.

An English duchess created this garden, dedicating it entirely to flora that is deadly and/or narcotic. The tall, black gates imprison about 100 killers including belladonna and hemlock. Wanting in part to hark back to old apothecary gardens, she shied away from healing medicinals and sought out deadly poisons.

She has also cultivated narcotic plants such as opium poppies, cannabis and tobacco, many of which can be grown only with special government permission. Some plants are so deadly they are caged, and the garden is under a 24-hour security watch. Makes my oleander and datura look like pussycats by comparison.

And scarily, Alnwick is not the only garden in the world dedicated to murderous plants. Amy Stewart, author of the book Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, has a small poison garden at her home in California. Stewart’s garden has more than 35 species that can wreak havoc on humankind if mishandled.

The roof garden on the Museum of Modern Art in New York (left) is designed for a birds-eye view.
The roof garden on the Museum of Modern Art in New York (left) is designed for a birds-eye view.

Happily, not all the weird gardens of the world are poisonous. Sydney has the world’s tallest vertical garden, with greenery climbing more than 160m and 15 storeys high up the One Central Park building. It may soon be overtaken by vertical gardens on the 46-floor apartment building under construction in Sri Lanka.

There’s no opportunity to admire at close range the features of the new roof garden at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Created solely as art for working Manhattanites to look down on from above, the garden isn’t even accessible. And probably just as well – it’s made of crushed stone, recycled glass, recycled rubber mulch, fibreglass gratings, PVC fittings and artificial plants. Not the sort of place you’d want to eat your packed lunch, anyway.

Ben Hoyle's display at the Ellerslie Flower Show.
Ben Hoyle’s display at the Ellerslie Flower Show.

Top 10 gardens A Google search for “the world’s 10 best gardens” brings up hundreds of contenders. On one top 10 list I was delighted to find a display garden from last year’s Ellerslie Flower Show. Named “A French Kiss in Akaroa”, the garden by designer Ben Hoyle included a huge floating vine parterre over black water canvas. Islands of perennials were captured within the vine, and it included a pit filled with cushions where visitors could take in a perspective from below the waterline.

And if you thought it was hard to grow beautiful gardens in Invercargill, Stewart Island or the Chathams, take heart from the Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Troms, Norway. It’s the most northern botanical garden in the world and home to an impressive display of plants from all over the world.

UNCANOONUC MT. PERENNIALS

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Posted by Carol Stocker, Globe garden expert, who will answer your questions live on line Thursday, March 6, 1-2 p.m….UNCANOONUC MT. PERENNIALS NAMED A 2014 “EDITORS’ CHOICE, HOME GARDEN AWARD” WINNER BY YANKEE MAGAZINE

Goffstown, NH, February 26, 2014 – Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials is one of my favorite New England nurseries. Nettie Rynearson, Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennial’s owner, does an outstanding job. Now it has been recognized as a 2014 “Editors’ Choice Home Garden Award” winner in Yankee Magazine’s March/April issue. This exclusive designation recognizes Yankee’s editors’ favorite New England home garden shops, public gardens, garden ornaments furniture, garden accessories, and restaurant gardens.

“There are few better ways to welcome spring’s arrival than with thoughts of growing things that bring beauty and nourishment to our lives,” says Yankee’s editor, Mel Allen. “Yankee’s “Home Garden Awards” serves as a guide for both new and experienced gardeners.”

“We are honored to be one of the eight New England nurseries included in the BEST NURSERIES category. And to have been singled out for our roses is very exciting. Yankee Magazine called us a rose lover’s paradise,” said Rynearson. “You’re invited to come experience the beauty for yourself.”

For 34 years Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials at 452 Mountain Road, has been growing healthy, hardy, low maintenance, ornamental plants. For the 2014 season, over 900 carefully selected varieties will be available, of which almost 100 varieties are roses. A park-like setting, with extensive display gardens, a fountain, a formal rose garden and 2½ acres of stock beds and potted plants, there’s something for everyone, gardeners and non-gardeners alike, to enjoy. For more information, see their website: www.uncanoonucmt.com, find them on Facebook or email them at questions@uncanoonucmt.com.

Tips for manure use on home gardens

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If you are making plans to amend garden soil with manure prior to spring planting, be aware of safety recommendations for manure. The key point is that fresh manure should not be applied to fruit and vegetable gardens during spring. If fresh manure is used, only apply it during fall.

Animal manures often contain microorganisms that are harmful to humans, such as Salmonella and E. coli. For this reason, the use of fresh manure is not recommended in vegetable gardens, especially during spring, where microorganisms could contaminate food as it is grown and harvested.

Composted or aged manure, which has been allowed to sit and begin to break down for at least one year, is a better choice for vegetable gardens. If fresh manure must be used, do not add it to garden soil within 120 days of the next harvest.

On vegetables with soil contact (carrots, beets, potatoes), fresh manure applications need to be made at least four months prior to harvest. On other fruit and vegetable crops, fresh manure applications should be made at least three months prior to harvest.

Horse, cow, sheep, or poultry manure is fine to use, but do not use swine manure because of the higher potential for contaminants. When manure is used as a garden soil amendment, always wash hands after working in the garden and wash all produce prior to eating it.

Other disadvantages of manure include potential for salt build-up in soil, weed seed introduction, and possible burning of roots and foliage due to high ammonia. Burning is more likely with fresh manure, especially poultry manure, which should not be applied to gardens in spring. Following this safety rule will reduce the risk of burning.

Repeated or heavy applications of manure can lead to a salt-build-up in soils which can harm plant growth. Salt content may be high in fresh manure but will decrease over time with exposure to rains and irrigation which leach salts. Feedlot manure is often high in salts since a salt additive may be used in the livestock diet.

To help avoid salt problems, limit applications to one inch of composted manure per year tilled six to eight inches deep in the soil. If manure will be used as an amendment on a regular basis, test the soil for salt content before adding large amounts. Avoid use of manure on soils that are already high in salts.

Weed seeds will be introduced into the garden through manure. If weeds are well managed in a garden, and not allowed to go to seed, this should not be a major issue. If manure is composted prior to use, don’t assume weed seed will have been killed by this process. Weed seeds will only be killed if all seeds in the pile have been subjected to compost temperatures above 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

In place of manure from a local farm, bagged and composted manure is now available at garden centers. While more costly, composted and bagged manure has fewer odors. It may be easier to haul and store, and the composting process used for commercially bagged manure may be more likely to kill weed seeds.

However, salts can become concentrated during composting as moisture is lost and volume is reduced. Many bagged manure products can still be high in salts. Also keep in mind the nitrogen in composted manure is in an organic form that will be slowly released to plants. This is also true of aged manure right off the farm.

Source: Colorado State University Extension CMG Garden Notes 242.

Kelly Feehan is a UNL extension educator-horticulture. She can be reached at (402) 563-4901 or by email at kfeehan2@unl.edu.

Veggies to plant in the garden now: This week’s gardening tips – The Times

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into your South Louisiana garden this month (frost-wary gardeners can wait until mid-March to start planting): cantaloupe, collards, corn, cucumbers, cucuzzi, lima beans, mustard, mirliton, pumpkin, radishes, snap beans, Southern peas, summer squash, Swiss chard, watermelons, winter squash. Plant transplants of the following: eggplant (late March), kohlrabi, peppers and tomatoes. Mirlitons are planted using…
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Plant seeds of the following vegetables into your South Louisiana garden this month
(frost-wary gardeners can wait until mid-March to start planting):
cantaloupe, collards, corn, cucumbers, cucuzzi, lima beans, mustard,
mirliton, pumpkin, radishes, snap beans, Southern peas, summer squash,
Swiss chard, watermelons, winter squash. Plant transplants of the
following: eggplant (late March), kohlrabi, peppers and tomatoes.
Mirlitons are planted using the entire fruit with the sprouted end
buried in the soil about 3 inches deep.

More gardening tips:

  • Clean out your aquatic garden. It is advisable to do this if there is a thick layer of gunk on the bottom. It is best to get this done while the weather is cool, the plants are dormant and the fish are less active. Pond cleaning is the best time to divide and repot water and bog plants that are dormant or semi-dormant. Do not divide those in active growth, such as Louisiana irises and calla lilies.
  • Continue to plant roses purchased in containers. Bare root roses available at hardware stores, garden departments of chain stores and supermarkets should have been planted last month. They should be planted immediately at this point.
  • Make notes on your spring-flowering bulbs over the next few weeks while they are blooming. Record when they bloom, how well they performed and other relevant information. This will help you plan for planting this coming fall.

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THE FRAGRANT GARDEN: Designing a garden to share with neighbors – Austin American

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When we walk and drive the streets of our small towns, or even outlying areas, many of us notice when our neighbors have made an effort to share their gardens with us. It might be as simple as a vine on the mailbox, an arbor over the entrance to the front walk or unobstructed views into the garden itself.

I am working with a couple, new to the area, who live in the burned area off SH 71 near McAllister Road, east of Bastrop. Fortunately their home and all but the back 30 feet of their nearly one-acre lot was spared from the fire, but much of the landscape has suffered greatly in the recent drought. I am working with them to restore the Post Oak Savannah landscape to its former glory (and more), and with an eye on creating a garden both they and their neighbors can enjoy.

They do not have sidewalks in their locale, but we have made an attempt to dress up the area along the road as an “offering to the street.” There will be three Parsley Hawthorne (Crataegus marshalii) trees, native to the Post Oak Savannah (which do well in an under-story setting) scattered along the driveway at the road to driveway entrance. In spring, their white apple-blossom like flowers will show against the existing Post Oaks and Yaupon and their small parsley-like leaves will turn red/orange/yellow in fall.

Across the rest of the front 180 feet, we will add a mix of American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) shrubs and Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus drummondii) under the existing trees for blooms from spring to fall and brightly colored berries in autumn. At the other end of the front property line, we’ve place a double wide parking pad of gravel edged with limestone blocks. Surrounding the pad will be planted Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) and Mexican Feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima) and it will continue to adorn (at intervals) the flagstone in sand pathway that climbs to the front door. We are also adding a couple of Sour Gum or Tupelo trees (Nyssa sylvatica) to provide shade and autumn color over the parking area. These are native to the Post Oak Savannah, but need a little supplemental water here in the heat of summer.

The next feature that will provide a connection with the homeowners and the passing road is a roughly circular small patio at the connection of this (distant parking pad) pathway and the pathway from the driveway to the front door. It won’t be large; only big enough to fit a small round table and a few chairs, but allow the clients to see (and be seen) by those passing by. Many old Texas farmhouses had large front porches, but they are seldom seen in more modern stone abodes such as this one. This was our solution to the problem.

In a small town or city setting, providing shade trees over the sidewalk is a neighborly thing to offer those walking by. It also creates a more favorable climate for any plantings in the parking strip, which can often be insufferably hot and dry otherwise. Another option that will allow for plantings that can show to the street is to set the fence and gate back a few feet from the property line or sidewalk. Here the fence may be lower, perhaps only 2-feet high, allowing views to more extensive plantings close to the house. In my 1910 California bungalow in Menlo Park, I planted some low/cascading shrub roses in front of a low white picket fence as an offering to the street.

Creating a wide walkway, and planting the sides with a variety of low shrubs or perennials, will lead visitors (both visually and transitionally) to the front door. Providing landscape lighting (soft and somewhat hidden … not the airport landing pad variety) will welcome visitors at night. Fixtures should be placed evenly so that there are no light/dark areas and both young and elderly will find a safe path to the doorway.

Finally, planting the foundation and area to the sides of the entrance will draw the eye to your door and perhaps provide a fragrant experience for those passing by. Shrubs such as Myrtle (Myrtus spp.), Roses, White Mistflower (Agaratina havenense), Honeysuckle bush or vine (Lonicera spp.), Cherry Sage (Salvia greggii cvs.) or perennials such as culinary herbs can provide fragrance in flower or foliage on the way to the front or side door. With a little thought in terms of landscape design, the exterior of your home can be a pleasure to both you and your neighbors.

Please address any questions or suggestions you might have for me by visiting my website www.thefragrantgarden.com and clicking on the “CONTACT” tab.”