A Grower Perspective

Back in the day, as they say, when I was a kid, long ago but not that long ago, a typical homeowner was daring to even grow a tomato around here let alone get ripe fruit. A cherry tomato was a more reasonable way to go. My dad used to yank the whole plant out of the ground and hang it upside down in the garage so the cherry tomatoes would ripen after the first frost came. It feels like the weather of the late fifties and sixties again.It would be warm in late May and as soon as school let out it began to rain. So here we are again. For the first time in 28 years lilacs were blooming as late as May 21st. How do I know that? It is our wedding anniversary and I had a huge vase of them on our table this year. In 1983 there was not a blooming lilac to be found, they had all bloomed earlier.

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 It's snowing here at the nursery! We are happy to see the plants covered in snow, it doesn't happen very often around here.  It's worth noting that the snow will protect the plants when the weather turns very cold tonight- they are predicting about 12 degrees. The snow will insulate them and should protect them from any freeze damage.

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 This morning Ashley and I joined Jane for a walking tour of the U of O campus.  Jane is the campus landscape designer for the U of O.  She has been coming out to the nursery for years to buy plants and we thought it was time for a field trip to her ‘garden’.  The three of us appeared to be the only ones walking on campus fully decked out in rain gear head to foot.  The weather would have no impact on our tour.  We started with the new buildings, the coliseum, the alumni center and the very impressive student/athlete study center.  Modern buildings are sometimes a challenge for me, but this one pulls everything together and is so thoughtfully done and you feel very much in nature; with water and a well appointed planting surrounding the building, lots of wood and stone and natural light inside the building and even a cozy fire surrounded by bright yellow couches just inside the door.  It was cool, just edgy enough to be avant-garde, and comfortable enough to make you want to sit down and have a warm beverage.  I felt like I was somewhere besides Eugene, it feels big town, new, nice and exciting.

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 We have had some substantial rain fall here in the valley and we have started digging our ball & burlap material.  Today the crew is working on leylandii cypress, otto luyken laurel, and schipka laurel.  When we get a solid frost and the deciduous trees drop their leaves we will be able to start digging those as well.  Let us know if there is something specific you would like

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We're getting lots of calls and drop-in visitors with questions about damaged/sickly plants in their landscape. Just a few moments ago, we had a gal drop by this morning with branches from a dead plant. Let us put your minds at ease: You did not kill your plant. It is not your fault. Remember, we had a very tough winter with three days of subfreezing temps. It was very hard on all but the hardiest of plants.

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