Garden University announces addition to 2011 schedule

The Garden University series is adding a program to the schedule for 2011.

On Saturday September 24, 2011, Marianne Binetti will be speaking about "Gardening for Four Seasons." This program will occur at 11 a.m. in the Oregon Garden Resort.

Celebrate all four seasons of the Northwest Garden Style. Learn to love the rich colors and textures of the Autumn garden and the contrasts of our wild and wet winters by adding plants that celebrate these forgotten garden seasons. You'll learn how to use bark, berries and birds to add more delight to late Fall and early winter landscapes.

Showstopping color in spring and summer from the best easy-care shrubs and using groundcovers, sedums and succulents to save water as well as add beauty year round.

Some of the inspirational images that will be shown are from show gardens around the world as Marianne has been leading garden tours to the most spectacular places on the planet. Inspiration from Italy to Australia but purely practical advice on what grows best in the Western climate of the Pacific Northwest.

About Marianne Binetti:

Known for her light-hearted and fun approach to gardening Marianne graduated from WSU with a degree in Horticulture and is the author of 10 gardening books including "Easy Answers for Great Gardens" , She writes and award-winning, syndicated newspaper garden column, appears on local and HGTV. Now that their children are grown, Marianne and her husband Joe lead tours see the most beautiful gardens in the word.

Tickets:

$15 for non-members, includes admission to The Oregon Garden

Free for Garden members

Tickets available at the Visitor Center or by contacting the Membership Department at 503-874-2533 or membership@oregongarden.org

Gardens just right for four-legged friends

Coming June 25th to Garden University: "Pet Friendly Gardens" with Anne Taylor and Melinda Frey

Join landscape designers Anne Taylor and Melinda Frey for a discussion on adapting your garden so that it can be a safe and inviting space enjoyed by your family - including your pets! We’ll address frequent challenges that occur with pets and offer solutions.

Saturday June 25th at 1 p.m.

NOTE: the location of this lecture has been changed to the Education Center

Tickets: $15 non-members (includes Garden admission); Free for Garden members

About our speakers:

Anne Taylor is originally from Wisconsin with an in-born interest in nature. This interest is the reason she started her company Living Elements Landscape. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin. After moving to Portland, she received an Associate of Applied Science in Horticulture. Anne is a licensed landscape contractor, a certified arborist, landscape designer, an organic gardener and animal lover. Through her business Anne shares her skills, beliefs, and obsessions with everything green.

Melinda Frey established Raindrop Garden Design in 2006. A gathering of influences have led Melinda to garden design. Growing up in a family where art and the creative process were encouraged as a means of expression, each member took a slightly different route. Countless hours playing and exploring in her childhood home’s garden left a lasting impression on Melinda beginning a lifelong passion for plants and a love of gardening. A healthy respect for nature also developed early on, exploring the wonders of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

After studying photography at Brookes Institute, Melinda spent many years in the photographic industry developing a strong sense for composition, color, texture and flow, and now borrows from this skill set to visualize and design gardens.

As a lifelong pet owner, Melinda has shared her garden with numerous dogs over the years, implementing pet friendly gardening techniques. Her home garden has adapted to their best friend’s needs as well as being beautiful and inviting surroundings for all who use the garden. In 2009, Melinda launched a collaborated project with friend and associate Anne Taylor to share information and techniques that have worked well in our personal gardens with our own pets. The presentations we offer become as much of a learning experience as a teaching format.

More ideas about designing pet friendly gardens:

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2009/Create-a-Dog-Friendly-Wildlife-Garden.aspx

Ciscoe Morris speaks at The Oregon Garden this week!

Don't miss this opportunity to get some great garden design ideas and to ask your gardening questions! Ciscoe Morris will be speaking at the next Garden University program May 21st at 2 p.m. at The Oregon Garden.

Learn more about Ciscoe at his website, Gardening With Ciscoe

Another garden project from Ciscoe:

Spuds taste best when you grow them in a garbage can.

Kids and adults both love growing potatoes in a garbage can. Begin with a clean 15 gallon can and punch lots of holes for drainage in the bottom. Locate the can in full-sun and fill it with 6 inches of potting soil. Plant the seed potatoes just below the surface and make sure they are completely covered with soil. Either mix in an organic vegetable fertilizer or feed every two weeks with a soluble houseplant fertilizer. Water the spuds and in no time the vines will begin to grow.

When the vines grow about 4 inches, cover all but the top inch with a growth medium such as soil, compost, woodchips or straw. Water as necessary to keep the soil moderately moist, and continue the process of covering the vines until they grow out of the top and the can is completely full. Soon the potatoes will bloom. At this point you can reach and feel around for potatoes. If you find some good sized ones, bring them in and cook them up.

These are new potatoes, not long lasting, but they taste great, especially if you follow Julia Child's advice and add more butter! If you wait until the vines die back in fall, you can store your potatoes for a long period. This is the real fun. Make sure the kids are present before you dump the can to check out the bounty. It's always a surprise. Once I only got 8 potatoes, but the biggest one was the size of a Volkswagen bug! Another time I harvested 55 delicious, good-sized spuds. Buy an extra big plate, just in case you grow a Volkswagen.

Tips on Container Gardening from Ellen Zachos

Container gardening isn't any more difficult than traditional, in-ground gardening...it's just a little different. All those differences make sense when you stop to consider the reduced volume of soil in which you're asking your plants to grow. Think about it: in the ground roots have almost unlimited space to reach out for water and nutrition, not to mention plenty of insulation from extremes of heat and cold. In containers the volume of soil is greatly reduced. It's the gardener's responsibility to make up for that shortfall by increasing attention paid to watering, fertilization, and climate extremes.

Some plants grow better than others in containers, and while limiting their root size may inhibit top growth, that's not always a bad thing. For example, you can have a perfectly happy crabapple tree in a container. It may never get to be 20 feet tall, but a crabapple in a 30" square container can easily grow to 10 feet with excellent flower and fruit production. Don't let the lack of a big yard hold you back. You can pack a lot of punch into a container garden.