LSA News

No. 98, June 2009

New Places, New Plants
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Camas Lily

"My favorite is a northwest classic, the camas lily. It's a tall, stately plant with lovely spikes of blue blossoms. It's best massed in a large area, but the individual blossoms are also wonderful close up. It is just finishing its blooming cycle now. Camas self-propagates from seed very easily, or the seed can be harvested once the pods have dried. At that stage the stalks make a rushing, rattling sound when shaken. The tubers grow deep in the soil, which makes transplanting tricky. This part of the plant was dug by Northwest Indians, roasted in pits, and used as a staple food crop. It is important to distinguish the edible tubers of the blue camas from the poisonous tubers of the white-blossomed "death camas", which I don't believe I have ever seen. The plant is reputed to be resistant to deer, but for the past two seasons I've had to protect mine with "Liquid Fence", a benign deer-repellent made from putrefying egg. That prevents the deer from chomping the flower heads, but not from bedding down among the plants." — Tom Stave

Camas Lily
photo by Jennifer Rowan

Runner Beans

"For me there are several extremely reliable items, but they are kind perennial and indestructible (like bamboo) and should be used with caution in rental spaces, if at all: elephant garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, rhubarb, Egyptian onion. So I'm gonna recommend Runner Beans. Reliable, not greedy in soil, good when pods are small, better matured, shelled, dried, as a baked bean (they get as big as limas and have a really superior flavor IMO) — store well, good germination. They do take up space — can grow to nine feet or more in height and you might think trellis or arbor." — Risa Bear

Runner Beans
photo by Risa Bear

Petunias and Calibrachoa

"I don't really consider myself a gardener since most of my gardening is container variety. I put herbs in a self-watering pot so I can dress my salads all summer and then grow pretty annuals so I have lots of color around my patio furniture. Favorite annual: petunia. Also I've just used Calibrachoa for the first time." — Laura Willey

Petunias photo by James Miller	Calibrachoa photo by Ann Miller

Lady's Mantle (alchemilla mollis)

"Compact, with round, lobed leaves and chartreuse flowers, does well in sun or shade. It's a modest plant, setting off other flowers in the bed or border. I love it first because my late friend Jim Gordon encouraged me to cut it from his garden for my bouquets. It is now established in my garden in several places and I eagerly await its green flower each spring as filler for all the other brilliant June blooms. In garden lore the dew collected from the 'shield shaped' leaves was thought to have alchemical properties. One year I placed a new garden statue of the Virgin Mary in the Lady's Mantle bed and each day photographed the snails who gathered under her mantle (and under her chin.....) for protection. I have a lovely photo of this year's dew on the leaves, and some old photos of 'Our Lady of the Snails' in the archive." — Marilyn Mohr

Lady's Mantle
photo by Marilyn Mohr

Snow Pea — "Oregon Giant"

"Like Risa, I think of edible plants first, so that's what I will focus on, though I can't help mentioning one ornamental plant too.

This is very difficult because I consider so many vegetables essential in the garden, and so many grow well here. But if I could only grow one thing, I think it would be snow peas — "Oregon Giant," to be specific. I love them for so many reasons:

• They are very easy. Poke the nice big seeds in the ground in the early spring, with very little prep. The only other thing I do is make a simple tepee trellis with bamboo poles and some string, but with this variety you can get by without trellising at all.
• After that, they just grow and grow. Our climate seems to be perfect for peas. You can grow them in the fall too, just not in the heat of summer.
• You could grow them in a container (I never have though).
• The only additional work after planting and trellising? Occasionally nudging the little tendrils toward the trellis to make sure they grab on (which is kind of fun).
• They're the first thing growing in the garden after the long winter.
• They're really beautiful. The leaves are huge and gorgeous. They do start to get ugly around July, when the vines start turning brown.
• They're fabulous to eat, right in the garden — juicy, crisp, mmmm. I try to plant enough that we can actually have them at meals too, but mostly we all graze in the garden.

My favorite ornamental plant is columbine. I am not at all experienced at or good with ornamentals, so I need super easy, low maintenance, hardy plants. I had some columbines (from Victoria's starts) that were so lovely and non-demanding." — Lori Robare

Oregon Giant
photo by Audrey Robare

Nepeta x faasennii (Hybrid catmint)

"A hardy, drought-resistant perennial, with fuzzy gray-green leaves and lavender-blue flowers, deer and snail/slug resistant, and not picky about soil. Want a change from lavender? This relative of catnip is extremely easy to grow, and a great border plant. The only caveat is that young plants must be protected from kitties (e.g. a little wire fence or cage around) until they are large enough to stand up to blissful feline rubbing, rolling, and chewing. Bees also adore it. Plant them in your driest, sunniest spot, and they'll need no supplemental water once established. They bloom all season (don't set seed), but it helps to shear them back at some point to tidy them up and encourage better late bloom. They go dormant in the winter; cut stems nearly to the ground in early spring. Well-known cultivars are 'Six Hills Giant' (very large), 'Dropmore,' and 'Walker's Low' (named for a place, not its size.)" — Victoria Mitchell. Also recommended by Lisa Sieracki. GardensandPlants.com has a nice photo of some blooming catmint.

Aquilegia (Columbine) — the long-spurred varieties, e.g. "Mrs. Scott Elliott"

"A plant for the Pacific Northwest that can take full sun but prefers partial or light shade, can take some drought (although it would rather not) and seems to stand up pretty well to the gastropods: Columbines are charming, easy, and perfect for partially shaded woodland margins. The nodding blossoms, often bi-colored, with their long 'spurs' in back are delicate and graceful. (Which can not be said for the fat, chunky, double-flowered columbines — an abomination, in my opinion.) They self-sow in a manageable way, so you'll always have more. A must for the shady PNW garden or cottage garden." — Victoria Mitchell. Also recommended by Lori Robare and Harriett Smith

Columbine
photo by Laura Damiani

Thornless, climbing rose "Renae"

"I would not be without this rose. A product of the genius of Ralph Moore, this rose has thornless, lax (easy to train) canes; long, drooping foliage (reminiscent of peach leaves) that is also very clean and healthy; and blooms nearly continuously from late spring through fall, with clusters of small, warm pink flowers whose sweet fragrance wafts gently on the breeze. What more could you ask for? Like all roses, she likes the sun — especially for abundance of bloom — although "Renae" is one that allegedly tolerates some shade. Not as well known as it deserves, you won't find this rose at local nurseries but it can be mail ordered from a variety of suppliers, including Rogue Valley Roses." — Victoria Mitchell. There's a lovely photo of this rose at the Cass's Garden with Roses site.

Basil

Paul Harvey stopped by the other day and showed me pictures of his developing garden. I couldn't resist adding a picture of his perennial herb plot. Someday I hope to have something similar. When I asked him what plant he would recommend he immediately answered, "Basil." Paul's planted only six varieties this year!

Harvey's Herbs
photo by Paul Harvey

Blueberries

"Well, I don't really have a garden. I have mostly geraniums, young citrus trees, and avocado trees in pots. But I have a list of what I'd grow: sour cherries, lilacs, roses, wisteria, tomatoes, daphne, columbines, chard, lettuce, mustard, Italian prune plums, apples, concord grapes, honeysuckle, sugar pie pumpkins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, elderberry, black-currants and red-currants." — Harriett Smith

Blueberries

Geranium ("Orkney Cherry")

I had only some success with hardy geraniums in North Carolina, it got too hot in the summer for them. But I love these plants with their bold colors and sprawling foliage and look forward to growing them here where they have fewer challenges. This is Geranium "Orkney Cherry" developed, as the name implies, in Scotland. I bought this at Territorial Seed Company in Cottage Grove. It lives in a pot by my front door.

Geranium
photo by Ann Miller

Rose "Souvenir de la Malmaison"

I had this lovely Bourbon rose in my garden. I'm not a huge rose fan, but I do like them as garden shrubs and this was ideal for me. It's fairly compact, is a repeat bloomer and has an amazing fragrance. It's also great as a cut flower. This is one which I'll be adding to my garden again. It is also available from Rogue Valley Roses.

Rose "Souvenir de la Malmaison"
photo by Ann Miller

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