And A Good Time Was Had By All

Thanks to all of our Garden Time friends that stopped by to say hello at GardenPalooza. William & I are so very happy to have met you all.

We had a great time last Saturday at Fir Point Farms. So what the weather was very cool & windy. So what that it sprinkled on & off all day. We all got to shop for plants, garden art & tasty treats!!!
Plants were flying out of the tents. I saw Fritillarias, Hydrangeas, Hellebores & Senettis in many people’s arms. There were bags with bulbs & garden gloves & many a piece of garden art in the hands of happy gardeners.
All in all there were smiling faces. We are a strange lot, us gardeners. We brave the cold & wet to get together & celebrate Spring!

Take Care,
Judy

The Traveling TV

Update on the TV set planter from the YGP show

Many of the audience of Garden Time had seen the TV planter William & I and Show producers, Jeff & Therese created for the Yard, Garden & Patio show in February. The whole TV planter concept was very fun & a lot of donations were made for all the containers in the Celebrity container event. (All monies were donated to the Humane Society of Oregon)
A wonderful G.T. audience member, Laurel, had the winning bid for the TV planter. We were all thrilled. Not only did Laurel win the TV, she did a great deed & turned around and re-donated it to her church silent auction. That TV is on wheels!
We are all happy our ‘creative project’ made the rounds & won a lot of money for great causes.
Thank You Laurel!

Judy's Top 10

Since the weather has been very Chicago-like, I have made up a “Top 10 things to do when you can't garden”.

10.Sit under a heat lamp & dream of Oregon in August
9.Read a garden book & dream
8.Read a seed catalogue & place an order
7.Check out the Garden Time Web-site.
6.Look at your garden from different rooms inside your home.
Take notes for possible improvements to that view.
5.Clean out your garden area in your shed or garage.
Clean & sharpen tools & get ready for Spring.
4.Take a Winter tour of all your favorite Garden Centers.
3.Buy Primroses & enjoy them on your window sill.
2.Plan your visit to the Portland Yard, Garden & Patio Show February 15-17
1.Click on your favorite Garden Time Segment from 2007

I know some of these are corny but you get bored in winter & need to do silly things.
Indulge yourself.

Take Care,
Judy

Belated Merry Christmas to All!

Spending time visiting my family in Chicago really makes me count my blessings about living in Oregon. Wow, did they have a lot of snow over the holidays.
I flew in with about 8 inches of snow on the ground & left with almost that much. It snowed, and then it rained & washed it away & then snowed again. It was getting ridiculous!
I did learn some important lessons. Gardeners in the Willamette Valley are lucky.
We have a lot of green in our winter landscape & I’m not talking about just the Doug Firs. We have Rhodies & Camellias (which may be blooming), Hellebores, Pansies, Nandina (Heavenly Bamboo), Eucalyptus, Choisya (Mexican Orange), Heuchera (Coral bells) etc. I did not see any of these plants even when the snow was in the melted stage.
I did see my advice of leaving seed heads undead headed for Winter Interest.
I’m bias as it is my Mom’s Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ covered in a heavy dusting of snow in the photo. She is not big gardener so I don’t know if she just didn’t get to cut the plant back or she left it intentionally. Either way it looked nice. The Yew in the front of her home also looked pretty with the snow cover. I did brush off the snow later in the day, as when snow accumulates too much it will break branches. I was out shoveling for the 2nd time that day anyway.
Enjoy your Winter Garden
Judy

P.S. If you want to see more snow, check out the New Year’s Photos Next Week.

Fallen Leaves

Ahh, autumn leaves, the colors are beautiful. I should say were beautiful. The Oregon rains have begun in earnest & the beautiful autumn leaves are now on the lawn & driveway. I could let them lay where they are, but it is destructive to the grass & unsightly on the driveway. I’ll leave them gratefully, on the flowerbeds to decompose & add organic matter to my clay soil.
Armed with rakes, brooms, garden debris totes, shovel & lawnmower, I am ready for leaf clean up. A great way to ‘rake’ the leaves off the lawn is to mow them. Set the lawnmower blade a bit higher, unless the lawn needs to be cut. Make sure the grass catcher is attached to the mower. The leaves are picked up, chopped up & bagged.
It makes this job a lot easier & faster! I just took the full grass catcher & emptied it on the perennial beds or empty vegetable bed. The leaf mulch will protect the soil from getting compacted by the winter rains. They eventually break down & are a good source of compost for the beds.
Now to the driveway. I had an idea. Why can’t I use the lawnmower on the driveway? I swept the leaves into rows & set the lawn mower blade to the highest setting. I rolled it over the leaf rows. It wasn’t a total success or total failure. I’ll take what I can get. I had to sweep the rest & deposited those leaves in the composter to break down this winter.
I need to research a machine to vacuum, chop & bag leaves from solid surfaces. I don’t know if there is one out there.
Please let me know of one. I’ll put it on my Christmas list.

Take care,
Judy

‘Fuyu’ Persimmon

Yeah! My ‘Fuyu’ Persimmon tree finally has ripened fruit.
This is the 4th season for this tree. I had almost given up seeing & tasting persimmons from my very own tree. If you’ve never seen or tasted persimmons, please take time to read this blog. The trees alone are worth growing in your garden. They grow to 30 feet tall & wide but can be kept smaller as fruit trees should. In summer, the foliage is shiny green. The fall leaf color is a beautiful blend of yellow, orange & red tones. The best part, once the trees are mature, is the orange fruit that hangs on the tree. The fruit is noticeable when it is growing during the summer, but it’s best seen when the fall color display is over. The fruit hangs on the tree after the first frosts to finish it’s ripening. The effect is very pretty.
‘Fuyu’ persimmons are squatty shaped like a flatter tomato. The fruit is a very unique taste. The texture is kind of like an apricot but flavored like an apricot-cantaloupe. It’s hard to describe. You can eat them when firm or a little soft.
I love to slice them & serve with a baguette or crackers and a sharp cheese like gorgonzola. The sweet persimmon & tart cheese tastes great together.
I have also used persimmon in cakes. I even cooked them in a Risotto with Gorgonzola. It wasn’t a pretty dish but very tasty. I haven’t tried it yet, but you can dry them too.
If you’re into trying new foods, just look at your local produce store & pick up a ‘Fuyu’ persimmon. You may even want to plant a tree!
Take care,
Judy

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

This tends to be a time of year when we nestle into our homes, open our doors and hearts to Family and Friends, and see people a little less harshly than we might usually...
I was thinking the other day...What would these wonderful seasonal holidays be without the gifts brought to it by this delightful industry I work in?
Starting in October, there would be no bales of straw for decorating, no garland of brilliantly colored leaves, no pumpkins, squash and decorative corn swag. As the fairer holiday, Christmas, approaches; the tree, the evergreen boughs and holly would vanish. There would be no pungent fragrant narcissus blooming, no large, brightly colored amyrillis trumpeting their beauty. So much of what brings joy to our hearts during these holidays comes directly from nature herself; adding tremendous beauty and life to our world.
So if the winter tends to get you down. If grey, cloudy skies and continuous rain darken you vision...I invite you to go to one of the many independent garden centers. Get something that reminds us that we are all surrounded by nature and it's beauty. Let that one small plant give you joy. Because before you know it...Spring will be here and the party starts all over.

May each of you have the Happiest of Holidays, filled with love and laughter, and the Warmest of Celebrations with Family and Friends.

Seasons greetings!
William