Memorial Day Weekend Garden Trip

Here are three wonderful display gardens all within an easy drive from Portland or Salem.  They are relatively close to each other and can all be visited in a day.  All three gardens are quite diverse and many plants are at their peak at this time of year.  The display gardens of all three are open to the public at no charge.   

3625 Quinaby Road, Salem,

www.schreinersgrdens.com

Display garden hours, dawn to dusk.  The largest bearded iris grower in the United States, Schreiner’s not only offers views of the iris growing fields, but has a spectacular 10 acre display garden for viewing.  The display garden is not just iris, but includes many other perennial and annual plants that compliment iris.  Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) is the Annual Chicken BBQ served from 11:30am-4pm.  For $11.00, this includes chicken, coleslaw, baked potato and beverage.  You are welcome to bring a picnic.  The Capital City Jazz Band provides entertainment from 1pm-5pm.

Adelman Peony Gardens

5690 Brooklake Road NE, Salem,

www.peonyparadise.com

Open Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day Weekend from 9am-6pm.  The bloom season is progressing rapidly and this is an ideal time to visit.  The display garden has over 200 varieties of peonies to view with the midseason and late season peonies in bloom now.  This is a great opportunity to see peonies growing as they would in a garden setting.  The indoor showroom has vases of peonies on display and cut flowers of peonies will be available this weekend. 

Sebright Gardens

7185 Lakeside Drive NE, Salem,

www.sebrightgardens.com

Hours are 10am-5pm and there is no charge for visiting the display garden.  Specializing in shade plants, the display gardens here are wonderful and I never cease to be amazed at how well everything all flows together.  There are several hundred varieties of hostas available and 800 varieties on their website.  They also have over 100 varieties of hardy ferns and 65 varieties of epimediums.  Plus you will see many companion plantings of other shade loving plants. 

Tags: In The Garden, Schreiner's Iris Gardens, Adelman Peony Gardens, Sebright Gardens

Alice Doyle's New Tomatoes

My guest (show of 5/11) Alice Doyle from Log House Plants, is the supplier of these new tomatoes.  She will be speaking as part of The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Gen(i) us Series which will be on Tuesday evening, 7pm, Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy (Portland).  Fee; $5.00 at the door.  She will have plants for sale.

Garden Conservancy Open Gardens 2013

This year’s Garden Conservancy Open Gardens for metro Portland includes five private gardens in the Lake Oswego/West Linn area plus the Rogerson Clematis Collection.  The Garden Conservancy is a non-profit national organization created to help maintain public and private gardens throughout the US.  My (Mike Darcy) own garden is included this year and I hope that many listeners will visit.   

The gardens included this year are the Darcy Garden which has many new featured added since our last open garden.  We have new water features, many new containers, new garden art and a children’s garden.  Across the street from us is the Ervin Garden which in addition to a spectacular view of Lake Oswego and Mt. Hood (on a clear day) has an emphasis on urban food sourcing.  There are raised vegetable beds, aquaponics, chickens, ducks, bees and a small vineyard.  The Tuttle Garden (also in Lake Oswego) has extensive plantings of fuchsias, hydrangeas, clematis, fruit trees, vegetable garden and many new iron structures.  In West Linn, the Sheng Garden overlooks the Willamette River and is lushly planted offering vignettes of plants and garden art as well as water features and metal plant structures.  Just outside the city limits of Lake Oswego is the Bates Garden which is a collector’s garden that has been developed for over 70 years.  It has many unusual and not often seen plants as well as a hardy fuchsia collection, many native plants and a Chilean garden.  The Rogerson Clematis Collection is part of the tour this year and this botanical garden showcases one of the most complete collections of the genus Clematis in North America.

The date is Saturday, June 29, 2013 from 10am-4pm.  Tickets are $5 per person per garden or 6 tickets for $25.  Tickets are available from The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, www.hardyplantsociety.org or the Garden Conservancy www.opendaysprogram.org         

12TH ANNUAL PLANT NERD NIGHT