Madagascar Program in Two Days!

Don't miss the February 26th presentation of Garden University! Paul Freed will guide us through this marvelous island in "Madagascar: The Real Treasure Island"

1 p.m.

Education Center

The Oregon Garden

$15 non-members, includes Garden admission

Free for Garden members & volunteers

Vote to help the Garden win a $10,000 grant!

Hey Oregon Garden fans, we need you to help The Oregon Garden win a $10,000 grant from Rain Bird.

The project with the most votes by March 22, 2011 will win the grant for the most Intelligent Use of Water. Our grant proposal is for funding for the Wetlands at The Oregon Garden.

The wetlands at The Oregon Garden represent a unique partnership between The Garden and the nearby city of Silverton to recycle treated wastewater from the community. Treated water is piped to The Garden where it charges the wetland area and provides The Garden's irrigation water. These man-made wetlands also help replace naturally occurring wetlands that have been lost to recent development. Here at The Oregon Garden we have created almost 25 acres of new wetland area.

The most prominent wetland feature in The Garden itself is the 4 acre site consisting of 15 linked ponds. These ponds are flooded with treated wastewater from Silverton. After the wastewater goes through secondary treatment, it is pumped through 16" pipe to The Garden. Depending on the time of day and irrigation needs, between 100 and 400 gallons of water are pumped per minute.

Not only does this innovative water feature provide irrigation for The Garden and wetland mitigation for the city, it also offers educational experiences for more than 100,000 annual visitors to The Oregon Garden. Each year 6,000 5^th Grade students learn about “Amazing Aqua Life” with the wetlands as their living classroom.

Help us win this grant by voting every day! You can vote once per day per computer.

How to Vote:

1. Go to http://www.iuowawards.com/Default.aspx

2. Click on "find and vote on the project you want funded"

3. Put "Silverton" in the city/state search field

4. Click on the Thumbs Up symbol for the "Wetlands Treated Waste Water" project to cast your vote.

5. Come back every day and vote!

We'll let you know if we win the grant...Thank you for your help!

Marvelous Madagascar

Madagascar...the topic of Garden University's February lecture conjures images of an exotic location. Paul Freed will be our speaker and will show amazing photos of the flora and fauna of this mysterious island. He will give us a chance to be an armchair traveler during this cold, wet time of year - dreaming of warmer, sunnier climates. Don't miss this chance to get to know Madagascar without having to travel half-way around the world!

About our speaker:

Paul Freed is a herpetologist who travels the globe seeking opportunities to photograph reptiles and amphibians. He retired from the Houston Zoo as the Supervisor of Herpetology after a 25

year career and moved to Oregon where he and his wife found paradise in the Pacific Northwest.Conservation and research projects have taken Paul to 35 countries where he has photographed over 2500 species of reptiles and amphibians. He has amassed an extensive photographic library documenting animals, people, and environments which surround and affect the lives of these interesting creatures.

His images have been published in National Geographic Explorer, Ranger Rick magazine, numerous scientific journals, popular reptile magazines, text books, and many others. Paul is frequently a guest speaker at many herpetological and nature-oriented societies around the country and lectures on reptile and amphibian natural history and travelogues from his research expeditions. In 2003, Paul wrote a book Of Golden Toads & Serpents’ Roads which chronicled several of his journeys and featured his photographs.

Yellow Spotted Reed Frog Chameleon Pair of Brown Lemurs

A few things about Madagascar:

There are eight National Parks with additional dozens of ‘strict nature reserves’, ‘special reserves’, and private reserves.

80% of the plants are endemic (of 12,000 species, 1000 orchid species alone).

There are 150,000 species of invertebrates – 300 butterflies, 4000 moths (many are endemic as well). [Endemic = found nowhere else])

There are 375 species of Amphibians (all but 2 species are endemic); 425 species of Reptiles– (95% endemic); 270 species of Birds, (40% endemic - including five endemic families & 36 endemic genera); and 120 species of Mammals (90% endemic).

Garden University: Madagascar, the Real Treasure Island

Saturday February 26, 2011

1 p.m., Education Center at The Oregon Garden

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

Call 503-874-2533 or email membership@oregongarden.org to reserve or purchase tickets.

Quilting...more than stitches

We are rapidly approaching the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show and the first lecture in the 2011 Garden University series. Terry Grant will be speaking about her fusion techniques...

As we delve into the quilting world, it becomes obvious that quilting history is a fascinating subject. There are many myths regarding the history of quilting in America...Judy Anne Breneman of www.womenfolk.com states "Myths about quilt history are a part of our culture and many have romantic appeal. We can enjoy the myths but need to remember they are tales sometimes passed through generations." Her site gives a wonderfully full history of quilting in America. She talks about the various myths, including quilting being a common task in a woman's life in Colonial America (find the answer HERE).

Fusing is often thought to be a new method of quilting, but it seems that paste was used previously..."It appears that paste was sometimes used to adhere the motif fabric to the background before appliqueing. Quilt historian, Kimberly Wulfert shares the following information on pasting. "In more than one source I have read paste was used in the early 1800s by women making cut-out-chintz quilts. A later reference is in 'Chintz Quilts, Unfaded Glory.' Bullard and Shiell quote from the 1882 Dictionary of Needlework to describe how to make broderie perse quilts and paste is mentioned. The fabric is stretched on a frame before the fabrics are pasted down and allowed to dry. Then remove it from the frame to stitch the edges down. There's no mention of what the paste is made of." Read the full article HERE.

Did you know that fabric scraps were not necessarily a measure of frugality? "Although some quilters used scraps from clothing in their quilts others bought fabric specifically for the quilts they made. Other times quilts were made with a combination of both. The frugality theory also implies that quilt making was a necessary drudgery. Instead we find that most women enjoyed the creativity involved in making a quilt whether with new fabric or scraps. Although quick and simple quilts were made for everyday use many quilts were far too intricate in the piecing and quilting to have been made just for necessity."

We oohh and ahh over hand-stitched quilts now, admiring the detail of the stitches and the effort of the quilter, but piecing and quilting by hand has not always been prized over using a sewing machine.

"When the sewing machine became available the possession of one was quite a status symbol. Piecing was often done by sewing machine and a few women even machine stitched their quilting or appliqué. Considering how much harder it must have been to do this compared to using modern sewing machines it certainly wasn't out of laziness but because of a desire to use the sewing machine. These visible stitches advertised that the quilter was a proud owner of a sewing machine. Sewing the binding by machine was another way to show off machine stitching.

During the Colonial Revival around the turn of the last century hand quilting was valued more but this was a part of a movement toward going back to fine handcrafts. During the earlier years when the sewing machine was first available we do not find that most people considered hand piecing and quilting to be the superior method."

Find more information about these myths and more at www.womenfolk.com

Don't forget to join us for the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show and Terry Grant's lecture (January 29th, 11 a.m. Education Center). For more information call 503-874-8100.

2011 Garden University Series

Welcome to the Garden University blog! We will be posting information about upcoming Garden University events, bios on GU speakers, and helpful hints from our experts. Garden University is a program of The Oregon Garden. Events are open to the public. Garden members receive free admission to lectures as a benefit of their membership (workshops may have additional fees).

We have a great series lined up for 2011 - see our listing below. Additional information will be coming about each individual event - complete description, author bio and other pertinent info, so check back often. Admission to each lecture is $15 for non-member (includes Garden admission); free for Garden members unless otherwise noted.

2011 Garden University

January 29th - "Quilt Fusion: Unique Techniques" with Terry Grant

11 a.m., Education Center

February 26th - "Madagascar:The Real Treasure Island" with Paul Freed

1 p.m., Education Center

Book signing to follow: Of Golden Toads and Serpent's Roads

March 26th - "Annuals for an Indoor/Outdoor Show" with Ellen Zachos

Workshop 10 a.m., J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Pavilion

*$35 non-member; $30 Garden member

Must pre-register, limited number of spots

March 26th - "Professional Tips for Impressive Containers" with Ellen Zachos

Lecture 1 p.m., OSU Room, Pavilion

Book signing to follow: Down & Dirty: 43 Fun & Funky First Time Projects &

Activities to Get You Gardening

April 9th - "Twigs & Berris: A Pruning Demonstration" with Dawn Hummel

1 p.m., OSU Room, Pavilion

Tour of Silverton Market Garden to follow

May 21st - "Spicing Up Your Garden With Environmentally Friendly Design Ideas"

with Ciscoe Morris

2 p.m., Education Center

Book signing to follow: Ask Ciscoe: Oh La La! Your Gardening Questions

Answered

June 11th - "Small Trees for Small Spaces" with David Leckey and Anne Marsh

1 p.m. Education Center

Tour of the Conifer Garden to follow

June 25th - "Sharing Your Garden With Your Best Animal Friend" with Anne Taylor and

Melinda Frey

1 p.m., OSU Room, Pavilion

Tour of the Pet Friendly Garden to follow

August 20th - "Charms and Challenges of Bible Plant Research"

with Lytton John Musselman

1 p.m., Education Center

Book signing to follow: Figs, Dates, Laurel and Myrrh: Plants of the Bible

and the Quran

Also to follow: Plants of the Bible tour of the Garden

September 10th - "Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen" with

Chef Eric Nelson of Wellspring's Vitality

1 p.m., Founder's Square

Attendees will get to sample the dishes created by Chef Eric

November 1st - "Dramatic Vignettes for Your Garden in Winter" with Carol Lindsay

6 p.m., Education Center