A Grower Perspective

Weather totally makes or breaks my day, at least to begin with. When I get up and see a morning star, I know it is clear and not raining. This is good for me, a gardener and horticulturalist at a nursery. So of course I wish upon this star for many things and one of them being that it will be a nice day. For someone from the Great Pacific Northwest this doesn’t mean seventy and sunny but more like fifty and slightly overcast, yet with blue sky and the sun appearing now and then. This is perfect outdoor working/gardening weather, not too hot to get sweaty and sunny enough so you can see what you are doing and stay cheerful. Today is a day like that, morning star, wish, lovely pink sunrise that the gas station girl and I concurred was a good sign (in spite of “pink sky in morning sailors take warning”), nice drive to the nursery and now blue sky full of many colors and kinds of clouds. There is a slight breeze blowing and all this fresh air that has been coming in lately has an invigorating quality to it as well. I suppose all this could change in an instant but for now it puts me in a great mood, improves the my thoughts and thus my work (which I love) and if this happens for some or all of the folks today don’t you think the world will be just a bit better for it?

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Today is the day to add some structure to your garden. It is January and a good time to get in the larger plants that you may have forgotten about or neglected to plant in the fall. By structure in your garden I mean the larger plants that have a year round presence. If you are lacking a bit of piazza in your garden and notice it this month it may mean you need a few more plants that look great year round. It’s a sunny, balmy day here in Pleasant Hill, Oregon and a good day to pick out a few evergreens or maples or sweet osmanthus. A rhododendron or two will add this element, the evergreen leaves and the buds that are appearing now and a lighter green dimension to the plant, almost like an ornament, or how about some brilliant nandina, with the red foliage lighting up the green backdrop. If you are inclined to add more edible plants how about a blueberry or three, some blueberries you will find are evergreen and some of the deciduous varieties have brilliant stem colors in shades of red and bright green. A visit to a nursery will give you some ideas if you don’t already have one and you are welcome here to poke around in the ‘off season’ to fill up a place in your garden that needs a little January kick. We look forward to seeing you.

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 Our Christmas tree is the traditional shape of this holiday tree; the pyramidal shaped Serbian Spruce. It has a slender trunk and two toned needles, dark green on top with silver-blue undersides. It is pre-adorned with red-violet cones that hang down. This tree eventually grows fifty-five feet tall with a twenty foot spread. Omorika grows in a wide variety of soils, is tolerant of air pollution and is fast growing. It can be planted as a stately single specimen or in multiples as a screen. Serbian spruce had a widespread range millions of years ago and was endemic to the Drina River valley in western Serbia and eastern Bosnia. Now in this region it is being crowded out by other native trees. It grows well here and although a bit rare it is readily available and well worth planting. Omorika is the Balkan work for spruce and is the perfect Christmas tree, just like the pyramid shaped ones children draw.

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The next couple of weeks we are featuring holiday trees. In honor of Hanukkah we have 'Green Mountain' Boxwood. Shaped somewhat like a dreidel it can be covered in a string of small white bulbs to add a festive note to this holiday of lights. 'Green Mountain' boxwood is dense in form and naturally shaped like an elegant pyramid. It has bright green leaves that retain color throughout the winter. For a crisper form shear the plant. 'Green Mountain' will grow well

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The weather, what we talk about around here, is crisp, clear, sunny, blue skies and downright cold. I don't know why but it making me a little cranky and maybe it is not the weather but the frozen pipe I have going to the washing machine and just the general concern about plants, animals and all of us in this cold weather. On my way to work I was thinking about what could bring me out of this funk, no need to get crotchety at this glorious time of year.  I looked up and saw the hill, Mount Pisgah, with a lovely pink glow. I could not meditate something this great no matter how long I sat.  Ahh, I can arrive with a little better cheer.

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