Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Daily Inspiration

A few pre-work day shots from my garden...






Don't forget to drop by the Malheur County Fair and see us at our booth in the red barn sometime this week! Have a great day!
~Laura

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Daily Inspiration

'El Desperado' Daylily

I could take so many pictures of beautiful blooms in the nursery right now, 
but this one is really lighting it up today!


Friday, July 26, 2013

Compost Update!


Here is what our pumpkins are looking like 14 days after planting! 
(Worm compost on the left, traditional on the right)


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Daily Inspiration

Bees love echinacea, and so do we! 

I have actually back-planted some of my earlier-blooming, tall perennials (like my delphiniums) with echinacea so that when I cut back the early bloomers, the echinacea can be seen and fill the otherwise colorless void! They are tough and beautiful!


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Daily Inspiration

Miscanthus 'Caberet'

This grass amazes me. It is a zone 6 (we are a solid zone 5), and it comes back year after year and gets HUGE- reaching over 6' (it's only supposed to get 5')! It must love the spot it's in. I give it a 16-16-16 fertilizer a few times per season along with everything else, other than that it gets no special treatment. Because it gets so big, I usually have to fashion some sort of staking system around it to keep it from falling over late in the season. It is such a full grass, though, that you usually can't see the stakes. 

I wish I had such great luck with everything else I planted!
~Laura


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Daily Inspiration

I love walking around in the garden first thing in the morning, coffee in hand, to enjoy the beautiful summer flowers before it gets super hot out! These are a couple I thought were especially pretty this morning...

'Astolat' Delphinium

'David' Phlox


Today I am going to replant some tired pots, replace a boxwood in a new hedge that went in earlier this spring, gather cattails and ditch daisies for indoor arrangements, and plant a 'Sugar n' Spice' Arborvitae to hide electrical/sprinkler gadgetry in the side yard (the very first variety of arb that I actually like)!

~Laura


Monday, July 22, 2013

Daily Inspiration

I have a love-hate relationship with cyclamen. They were one of those houseplants (along with begonias) that I had to learn through trial and error how best to take care of them. Cyclamen can be tricky, but once you find a spot they like, they will perform with abandon! I have found that they like to be moved to the sunniest spot possible in the winter months, and moved to a bright spot, but without direct sun, when it heats up. They don't like a lot of water, and prefer to be watered from underneath when they do get dry. After you get those details figured out, they are a wonderful and colorful houseplant! You should give one a try! 



Saturday, July 20, 2013

Planter's Palette!

I just finished my planter's palette project! This one was super easy and fun! 
I used two 4x4 pieces of wood (we have pallet lids hanging around), a jigsaw, wood stain & sealer, 5 plastic pots (the kind with a lip), a couple tools to represent paintbrushes, plants & soil, and small dabs of whatever color paint you can find for the center! I was going to stick with one color per pot, but I was having too much fun and got carried away!

~Laura

Daily Inspiration

Cabbage has such a cool texture. I love to tuck it into my flower beds for almost instant, bold texture. The key to keeping your cabbage really nice looking is to begin bug prevention really early in the season, before there is even a problem. I usually sprinkle an insecticide around the base of the plant every couple weeks (Corey's Insect Killer or Diatomaceous Earth).  

We will be planting our cabbage for fall harvest in about 2-3 weeks (depending on weather)! 




Friday, July 19, 2013

Daily Inspiration

The hydrangeas are gorgeous right now...GORGEOUS! Give them some shade and a little acidic fertilizer and they are happy campers! This is a 'Limelight' Hydrangea. 
This one grows 6-8' tall and wide. I would love to have a hedge full of blooms like this!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Daily Inspiration

We love succulent planters! 

You get the best of both worlds with these--a great outdoor planter in the warm months and an easy-care indoor planter in the cold months! You can also really play with texture and color with succulents (there are literally thousands of choices)!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Daily Inspiration

Summer blooms at their finest...

Friday, July 12, 2013

Update!

We have FINALLY updated our Compost Chronicles! (Well, at least we can't ever be blamed for doing things in too much of a hurry! :)

Click the link above to see what we are doing!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

What's Next in the Garden!

It's been an age since the last post, and for that we apologize! Spring and the beginning of summer (before all of this insufferable heat) are incredible busy (thank you, thank you, THANK YOU)! While spring and the mild part of the summer are some of the best days of the year, we always look forward to times like this, when we can sit down for a few seconds and try to plan out what's next!

We have been hard at it planning for our Pumpkin Palooza! which happens this October (Saturday, October 19th, to be exact). We are looking so forward to it, and hope that lots of you will be able to come out for it! This event will be full of fun food and activities, but it is first and foremost, a fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank. We are raising funds by holding several different pumpkin growing, baking, and carving/decorating contests. I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with! If you haven't yet, start planning out what contest you want to enter!

Okay, now for what's actually going on in the garden. At the moment, many of us are in 'maintain' mode. When the temps are above 100 degrees, our main goal at the nursery and at home is to keep everything healthy and alive. Water, water, water! We are refreshing pots and little areas in our flower beds as they need it, but what we are really excited about is starting our next round of veggies! In no time at all, we will need to be back out in our gardens with our seed packets and garden hoes, seeding our fall crops! I began to compile the list of fall crops I want to grow this morning--so exciting!

Here is a refresher of the things you can be growing in your own fall garden: 

Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts,
Bunching Onions, Cabbage, Carrots,
Cilantro, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce (& other greens),
Peas, Radishes, Spinach, & Turnips

We always wait until the heat isn't quite as intense, so sometimes we don't seed until mid to late August (especially peas, radishes, & greens, unless you have a semi-shady area). 
And remember, the crops with the longest days to maturity should be planted the earliest to avoid the first frost damaging your crop!