Most every gardener thinks about things like the condition of their soil, whether/when to mulch and what to use, what kind of fertilizer is best for what they grow, and myriad other questions that have to do with supporting their gardens so that they flourish. Luckily we have lots of experts in our midst here in the Portland gardening community, and one of those folks is Heather Havens of Concentrates Inc. If you’re not familiar with them already, Concentrates is a supplier of agricultural products specializing in organic soil amendments, fertilizers, feeds, minerals, and salts. Concentrates’ staff members include organic…
HPSO’s Fall PlantFest 2018, which includes a lecture followed by a plant sale, features Kelly Dodson of Far Reaches Farm as our lecture speaker. Kelly Dodson and his wife, Sue Milliken, are true plant geeks. Their specialty nursery, Far Reaches Farm, located in Port Townsend, WA is a mecca for gardeners. Kelly and Sue met on a seed collecting expedition to China and the rest is history. The nursery, in its eighth year, offers a wide selection of unique and special plants. Kelly is a well-known speaker and he will regale us with plants from far and wide that are well-suited for our…
ARTICLE BY: MEGAN HANSEN Megan Hansen is a Portland gardener, plant nut, HPSO member and founder of plantlust.com — a searchable database with over 30,000 plants from nearly 100 independent nurseries, many of them located right here in Oregon. [Editor’s Note: PlantLust.com has been an invaluable resource to me as a gardener learning about plants. It provides lots of photos of the plants listed, so you can get different views of them (close up and the whole plant), and see them in different seasons. It also aggregates the information from multiple nursery tags so you can read what the experts…
For us gardeners spring is full of milestones, both big (Hortlandia!) and small (Daylight Savings Time, aka “when I can finally see the garden in the evening, after work”). Plant Nerd Night qualifies as big, after all it’s been the official kick-off for a new gardening season for 17 years now. Plant Nerd Night 2018 occured back on March 2nd, and as is tradition, it was a packed house. The lines formed early… And once the doors opened the crowd rushed to find a seat, and then storm the nursery tables. This annual (free) event features speakers from six local…
Soils, Plants and Gardens: A Plant Lover’s Guide to Rock Gardening THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FROM FEBRUARY DUE TO SNOW Coming up on Sunday, April 22, 2018 Time: 3:00pm (doors open at 2:30pm) Location: Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland 97219 Tickets: $5.00 @ the door, everyone welcome Plants will be available for purchase. Truls Jensen and his wife, Emma Elliott, grow hundreds of unusual alpine, rock garden, woodland and Western native plants at Wild Ginger Farm, their nursery in Beavercreek, Oregon. In his presentation, Truls makes recommendations for creating rock gardens, or adding rock garden plants and features to existing gardens. He’ll discuss…
