February 2019
We have an exciting list of plants we are planning to grow for the annual June 8 plant sale at Sahalee Park. A few varieties were seeded in December, but the majority were seeded on Monday, February 18th. Eight garden club members came up to Marilyn’s house and we seeded out 12 trays of perennials. (Given a tray has 36 plants, that equates to 432 seedlings!)
Most notably, several varieties have already sprouted as of 2/27/19:
• Agastache: Apache Sunset and Tango
• Echinacea: Cheyenne Spirit, and Red/Orange
• Salvia: New Dimension Blue Queen
• Rudbeckia: Cherry Brandy
• Joe-Pye weed
The varieties planted earlier in December and January are growing rapidly and will need to go out to the greenhouse in a couple of weeks, assuming it stops snowing!
• Caryopteris (Dark Knight) is very prolific, and we already have 60 seedlings shifted into 4” pots. They should be gallon size by June.
• A Hibiscus variety called Luna Mix has been a moderate success with a germination rate of only 50%. We have 10 plants that are about 7 inches tall already! These are a hardy Hibiscus, zone 5 – 9.
• A Lavender variety, Provence (zone 5 – 9) seeded in December has thus far had about a 50% germination, and we have 10 seedlings about 1 ½ inches tall.
Many more seeds were planted on February 18 which have not yet germinated. And we have more to seed up as room becomes available under the grow lights. Here are some of the other seeds we started yet to germinate:
• Western White Clematis (a native to Oregon)
• Delphinium, Magic Fountains
• Delphinium, Dark Blue
• Delphinium, Pacific Giant Astrolat
• Gaillardia (Fanfare)
• Magnus Coneflower (reddish pink)
We have about 20 – 30 more flower seed packets we will be planting over the next couple of months, plus several vegetable varieties. Don’t miss our plant sale June 8h. We will update the varieties available in future newsletter updates.
The Seattle Spring Garden Show was a colorful event three of our garden club members attended last week. The show is an annual event and was held Wednesday through Sunday Feb. 20 – 24 at the Convention Center in Downtown Seattle. Although our members attended only one day, they enjoyed seeing all the plants, show gardens, yard art, bee-keeping supplies and attending some of the seminars. Let’s put it this way, the car was packed with goodies from the show!
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Update January 14, 2019: We have really exciting news for 2019. So many things:
- Website. We launched our website to provide improved communications between members and to eliminate some paper. We have included sections for resources, club activities and field trips, meeting and program agenda, and a confidential member section for the posting of meeting minutes and member contact information. Look for monthly news in the newsletter section.
- Garden Tour. The prestigious OSU Extension Service annual High Desert Garden Tour is coming to Jefferson County in July 2019. Best of all, the homes on the tour are Madras Garden Club members or former members! Three homes are in Madras and three are in Culver. Also, the demonstration garden at the OSU Madras Extension/Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center will be featured. The garden club members are excited to host this year’s tour and have been working on planning to optimize the visitor experience for a month now. Save the date – Saturday, July 20, 2019. The cost of the tour is $10 and we believe tour guests will receive quite a show. There is a great deal of variety on this year’s tour. More details to come.
- Annual Plant Sale. This year’s sale will be held Saturday, June 8th at the Saturday Market at Sahalee Park in Madras. The Saturday Market hours are 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Last year we sold about 1,000 plants and we expect to top that this year. Although some of our plants are dug from our gardens, many annuals and perennials are grown from seed. We will also be selling annual plants for baskets and deck planters. Expect to pick up some real bargains as our prices range from $1 to $5.
- Club meetings. We meet from February through November on the second Wednesday evening of each month. Whenever possible, we meet at the home of one of our members. We even moved up our starting time to better enjoy the mini garden tour. The monthly meeting consists of three components: Homeowner garden tour (when applicable) begins at 5:30 p.m. The program topic of the month begins at 6:00 and lasts a half hour. Program topics vary and are posted ahead of time. The monthly meeting begins promptly at 6:30 and concludes by 8:00 with treats. If you are unable to attend the entire evening, you are welcome to attend part of it.
- Member dues. Member dues remain at $10 per year. You will receive a lot of gardening tips and social opportunities for this price.
- Tours and Events. We have set dates for our outings this year, which are all posted on our calendar. If you ever forget, you can just check the website calendar. Whenever possible, we carpool to our tours, so you can ride along if you don’t feel comfortable driving. Our usual trips include the Oregon Garden, peach picking in Kimberly, Fall Fruit Loop Tour to Parkdale/Hood River.
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June 9, 2018. The club held it’s annual fundraising event – the annual plant sale. This event is held the second Saturday of June at the Saturday Market at Sahalee Park in Madras. This year, we sold over 1,000 plants and raised $1,150 to support our projects. From these proceeds, the club revamped the landscape plants at the Madras Senior Center, maintained the Memorial Rose Garden at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, and hosted the Jefferson County Fair Flower show for which the club pays the winners for their awards.
July 20, 2018. The Senior Center foundation landscaping plants were removed and replaced with six carpet roses, nine Hidcote dwarf lavender plants and decorative rocks and bark mulch. Landscape fabric to keep the weeds down and a drip irrigation system with timers was installed to keep the plants watered regularly.
July 24, 2018. The Jefferson County Fair flower show judging is coordinated and managed by the Garden Club. Five hundred entries were received and recorded, judged and placed on display at the Fair. Winning entrants were paid their award by the Garden Club. Both arrangements and individual flower categories were included.