Dirt Therapy

I brought this handy reference card home from work and thought it was worth sharing. Oregon State University did a nice job of showcasing how native plants can be used in the landscape (in this case, exclusively so. OSU is a great resource for gardeners. I use their Landscape Plants database often and their Extension Service page is excellent. The back of the card shows a listing of the plants and a color-graph to show the time of bloom. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

As the nation goes up in flames, both physically and figuratively, maybe it is a good time to look at hydrangeas, the plants that hate the heat as much as I do yet offer a cool, refreshing dose of tranquility as long as they are happy. The hydrangeas have been doing great this season due to our cool and rainy spring. This week is another story, as we are in for a long stretch of 90+ days and probably at least two days at 100 or more. (((Sigh))) This would happen right as the hydrangeas begin to reach their peak. I don't cut a lot of flowers to bring inside but I thought it would be worthwhile to do so if they are ruined in the garden. As you can see, I didn't go all out on this but did bring a bit of cheer inside - I did do a thorough inventory of all the hydrangeas in the garden and photographed each one with the exception of the Climbing Hydrangea petiolaris which bloomed about a month ago. Altogether, there are 29 . So far, I've only lost one - 'Wee Bit Grumpy' ...

It is always interesting to see someone else's photographs of your garden. My friend and co-worker David Goddard was recently over. He is an excellent photographer. Here are some photos he shared - Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Clematis gets the slogan "Queen of the Vines' for good reason - few vines can put on such a show. This year our cooler temperatures and generous rainfall has caused a prolonged display of lovleliness over the garden gate - 'Jackmanii Superba' on one side and 'Madame Julia Corevon' on the other. The show started in early June and is still going strong.  This year I have four new clematis to add to the collection, thanks to Spring Hill Nurseries who generously provided me with the plants in exchange for an honest review. Upon arrival, the plants looked nice and healthy as I removed them from the box - After unpacking, I completely submerge the plants in water until the air bubbles stop rising. This will ensure that there are no air pockets in the root ball and the plants are saturated. Another tip (and I do this for clematis only) is to trim the plant back. Since these plants were already small, there wasn't a lot of trimming to do. Do remove any brown stal...