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Get this on your calendar! September 13 - 21
Le Tour des Plants is less than a month away!
This free, fun, self-guided excursion for gardeners was created to inspire fall gardening among new and seasoned gardeners alike. Explore the area’s garden centers, specialty nurseries and display gardens. Soak up new ideas from some of the Northwest’s leading gardening experts. Gather friends and family to tour with you and see Oregon at its best! We have contests, tips, tour routes, and coupons from participating nurseries. Feel free to forward this to friends and family. Look for Le Tour des Plants Magazine in participating garden centers in the weeks to come with all the dates, activities and discount coupons at participating garden centers. |
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Container Photo Contest Winners
| Congratulations to Dorothy B. and Carmie K., $20 gift certificate winners for their container photos! Dorothy's photo of her patio containers is shown here.
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Photo Contest
Maybe it’s your dog, your chicken, or that carved bunny under the hosta, but they are always with you as you tend your plants. Send in your pictures of your favorite gardening companion, and our panel of judges will pick one or two for a for a $20 gift certificate at your favorite Le Tour des Plants garden center. Email your photos (jpegs no larger than 2MB please) to: LeTour@oan.org
Pet-Friendly Gardening Tips
Since we are on the subject of pets, how about a couple of pet-friendly gardening tips?
- Put your birdbath or water feature low enough so your pet can get a drink too.
- Tomato juice won’t cure pee burns in the lawn. Neither will extra salt in their food or baking soda in their water. Rinse the spot with water to dilute the nitrogen that causes the ‘burn.’
- Create a doggie comfort station and train your pet to use it. Some pets appreciate a screen for their business. A ‘pee post’ for the leg-lifters will help keep them off the shrubbery.
- If your cat has been using your veggie patch for a potty, try keeping the area moist and covered with straw mulch. Cats prefer dry, loose soil for their ‘digging.’
What not to plant? For a list of plants that are toxic to pets, visit the ASPCA Animal Poison Control site at http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_common
Taste melons in Albany or tomatoes in Lake Oswego, plant a kitchen garden container in Salem, and savor apple sausage in Hillsboro.
| Whether you are bringing in the harvest, planning next year’s food crops or just want to sample the Northwest’s bounty, Le Tour des Plants has something to offer. Participating garden centers and nurseries will have coffee, tea, pastries, wine, lavender lemonade and barbecue, along with a celebrity cook-off, recipes, and food crop classes. |  |
Look for a bumper crop of tastings, cooking classes, and food production activities during Le Tour des Plants at: Lavender at Stonegate, Bauman Farms, Boring Bark & Landscape Materials, Dancing Oaks Nursery, Drake’s 7 Dees, Ferguson’s Fragrant Nursery, Garland Nursery, Heirloom Roses, Larsen Farm Nursery (both locations), Out in the Garden Nursery, Dennis’ Seven Dees (Lake Oswego), Madrona Hills ACE Hardware, Red Ridge Farms, Nichols Garden Nursery, Secret Garden Growers, Shorty’s Garden & Home (Vancouver), and Smith Berry Barn.
Get going
For convenience, garden centers are grouped into three general areas, North, Mid-Willamette, and South Willamette. Here is a preview of the South-Willamette group.
Coupon special
Carol Westergreen of Out in the Garden Nursery recommends the following plants for beautiful fall color and texture:
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Panicum ‘Shenandoah’ An upright, 4-foot tall ornamental grass with wispy flowers and red-tipped foliage late summer into fall, ‘Shenandoah’ loves full sun and is adaptable to many soil types.
Pennisetum ‘Karly Rose’ is a wonderful hardy fountain grass with fluffy pink flowers from July to frost. ‘Karly Rose’ grows to 3 feet tall in full sun.
Rudbeckia ‘Chim Chiminee’ An unusual black-eyed Susan that blooms from July to October. Flower color ranges from yellow to gold, to rust, often with quilled petals. A great addition to the fall border and ornamental grass companion, ‘Chim Chiminee’ grows to 3 feet in full sun.
Artemisia Guizhou Group Low mounds of ferny dark green foliage sets the stage for 4-foot spires of creamy white flowers on dark mahogany stems. Blooms July and August. In the northwest, the foliage is evergreen. |
Print off this coupon and get acquainted with Out in the Garden Nursery, in Molalla.
Gardening Tip from Blooms-N-More Nursery
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Gardening Tip from Joleen Hope at Blooms-N-More Nursery: Don't do so much fall clean up! Native wildlife feeds on the seeds and uses the fallen leaves and brush for cover. The fallen leaves help protect the plants throughout the winter by creating a mulching effect. |
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Stay tuned for more:
- Activities
- Contests
- Tour suggestions, with restaurants and local highlights
- Tips
- Coupons
- Destination display gardens
Find out more about Le Tour des Plants, including a list of participating garden centers, at www.letourdesplants.com.
About Oregon Association of Nurseries
– Producer of Le Tour des Plants
 The Oregon Association of Nurseries, based in Wilsonville, represents more than 1,500 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. For information visit www.oan.org or call 503-682-5089.
Sponsored by:
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