vanveenbulbs

2011-01-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Vanveenbulbs.com went off-line last summer after twenty years in business. The owner, Yolanda Vanveen is now working on gardening videos and blogging as well as serving as Moderator for the Facebook Garden Naturally Group. You can find Yolanda Vanveen's gardening videos on youtube and find her on Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1264395417&sk=info

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/yolandavanveen

Moderator, Facebook Garden Naturally Group:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-Naturally-Group/245120832263

Facebook Fan Club:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=323393006853

Garden Naturally Blog: http://gardennaturally.wordpress.com/

E-Mail yolandavanveen@yahoo.com

Gardening Videos by Yolanda Vanveen on Youtube (2 million views):

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=yolanda+vanveen&aq=f

Keep gardening and see you on the internet! Yolanda

Deer Proof Your Garden Speaking at Eugene

2009-10-05T11:46:00.001-07:00

Fall Plant Sale and Speakers!! If you are in the Eugene, Oregon, area Sat Oct 10th I am speaking at the Eugene Home Show, Lane County, Fairgrounds, Eugene, Oregon on Deer Proof Gardens – In Full Bloom for the Butterflies! Plant Now! by Yolanda Vanveen, “Exotic Garden Maven”, vanveenbulbs.com For more info: http://www.eugenehomeshow.com/Fall_09_HowTos.html

Be a Friend on Facebook!

2009-09-29T12:54:00.001-07:00

Check us out on facebook! Go to facebook.com, search Yolanda Vanveen and vanveenbulbs.com and become a friend to keep up to date ~!

Vanveen Bulbs Receives 2009 Best of Portland Award

2009-09-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Vanveen Bulbs Receives 2009 Best of Portland Award
https://www.us-ca.org/PressReleaseUsca.aspx?cc=M9TT-NHCK&utm_source=R-T&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=431&utm_term=U-V1&utm_campaign=N-R

U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

WASHINGTON D.C., June 8, 2009 -- Vanveen Bulbs has been selected for the 2009 Best of Portland Award in the Nurserymen category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).
The USCA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2009 USCA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)
U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose
of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.
The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across

Vanveenbulbs.com Schedule Fall 2009-Spring 2010

2009-08-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Aug 29 Beaverton Farmers Market
Aug 30 Astoria Farmers Market

Spt 5 Beaverton Farmers Market, Beaverton Oregon
Spt 6 Astoria Farmers Market, Astoria, Oregon

Spt 10-13, 2009
Portland Fall Home & Garden Show Portland Expo Center,Portland,
http://www.oloughlintradeshows.com/
Spt 12 Beaverton Farmers Market

Spt 17-20, 2009
Mt. Angel Oktoberfest, Mt. Angel, Oregon http://www.oktoberfest.org/

Spt 26 Beaverton Market
Spt 27 Hillsdale Farmers Market

Oct 3 Beaverton Farmers Market
Oct 4 Hillsdale Farmers Market

Oct 9-11, 2009
Lane County Fall Home and Garden Show, Fairgrounds, Eugene, Oregon http://www.eugenehomeshow.com/

Oct 15-18
Tacoma Fall Home & Garden Show, Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington
http://www.oloughlintradeshows.com/

October 24 Beaverton Farmers Market
October 25 Hillsdale Farmers Market

October 31 Beaverton Farmers Market
Nov 1 Hillsdale Farmers Market

November 8 Hillsdale Farmers Market

Nov 15 Hillsdale Farmers Market

Nov 22 Hillsdale Farmers Market

Nov 27-29, 2010 & Dec 4-6, 2010 America’s Largest Christmas Bazaar
Portland Christmas Show, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Oregon http://www.expochristmasbazaar.com/

2010
January 22-24, 2010Good Earth Home, Garden & Living Show, Eugene, Oregon, Fairgrounds http://www.eugenehomeshow.com/

January 27-31, 2010Tacoma Home & Garden Show, Tacoma, Washingtonhttp://www.oloughlintradeshows.com/

February 3-7, 2010Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, Washingtonhttp://www.gardenshow.com/

February 12-14, 2010Portland Yard, Garden & Patio Show, Portland Oregon Convention Center http://www.ygpshow.com/

Feb 24-28, 2010, Portland Spring Home and Garden Show, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Oregon, http://www.olouglintradeshows.com/

March 11-14, 2010Lane County Home & Garden Show, Eugene, Oregon Fairgrounds http://www.eugenehomeshow.com/

March 24-28, 2010San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, Cow Palacehttp://www.gardenshow.com/

April 3, 2010 Gardenpalooza, Garden Time TV, Fir Point Farms, Canby, Oregonhttp://www.gardenpalooza.com/

April 15-18, 2010 Puyallup Spring Fair, Western Washington Fairgrounds, Puyallup, WA http://www.thefair.com/

April 23-25, 2010 Clark Public Utilities Home and Garden Idea Fair, Ridgefield, Washington,Clark County Fairgrounds http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com/Community/homeAndGardenIdeaFair

May 1-2, 2010Clackamas County Master Gardeners Spring Garden Fair, Canby, Oregon Fairgroundshttp://www.clackamascountymastergardeners.org/

June 11, 12, 13, 2010
Everett Sorticulture Garden Arts Show, Everett, Washington, Legion Memorial Park
www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=1228

July 16-18, 2010 Sequim Lavender Festival, Street Fair, Downtown Sequim, Washington
http://www.lavenderfestival.com/

July 18-24 2010 Perennial Plant Symposium Lloyd Center Doubletree, Portland, Oregon
http://www.perennialplant.org/

NW Flower Show Sold to O'Loughlins

2009-07-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yolanda Vanveen
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=98086390797&h=ufF-o&u=oovDl&ref=nf
Good news-NW Flower and Garden Show has been sold to the O'Loughlins who manage the Tacoma Home and Garden Show and I have worked with them for 16 years! It is going to be a fun 2010!

Business & Technology NW Flower & Garden Show sold to O'Loughlin Trade Shows Seattle Times Newsp
Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Comments

Garden Gal Likes Peruvian Daffodils

2009-06-19T21:41:00.001-07:00

Here is a message I received from Anne Jaeger www.gardengal.tv/ on Facebook-The plant she is talking about is Ismene Exotica, the Peruvian Daffodil:

"Hey Yo. The exotic bulb you gave me just finished blooming. I'd have to go look at the tag to remember the name. But it was just stunning. Grew like an amaryllis, but it's daffodil like flowers were very spidery and bloomed in a cluster. Just loved it. Thank you for the excellent suggestion, my friend."

Check Vanveenbulbs.com out on Youtube and Facebook

2009-06-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yolanda's youtube gardening video channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yolandavanveen
The Ehow Garden Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/ehowgarden
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ehowgarden&view=videos&sort=d
expertvillage.com: http://www.expertvillage.com/expert/921.htm
ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/Search.aspx?s=yolanda+vanveen&Options=0
http://www.ehow.com/members/EV_Yolanda-Vanveen-articles.html
See you on the internet!

Are you on Facebook? Be a friend and keep track of vanveenbulbs.com.
I have been obsessed with Facebook catching up with high school, college friends and customers.
Love flower bulbs and gardening and vanveenbulbs.com?
If you are a facebook member, search Yolanda Vanveen
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1264395417&ref=name
and make a friend request or it is easy to become a member-go to facebook.com and follow the directions...

Vote for your favorite farmers market

2009-06-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Nineteen years ago I started vanveenbulbs.com and put as many buckets of flowers and bulbs that I could in the back of my Mustang hatchback and drove to the Beaverton Farmers Market. Farmers markets were new back then and Beaverton was it in the area.

Now I go to the Hillsdale market on Sundays and have attended the Portland Famers Market in the past. They are also great markets but Beaverton will always be my favorite because of all the memories and because it is a gardener's market with many plant vendors besides fruits, vegetables and prepared foods.

Vote for your favorite:

http://action.farmland.org/site/PageNavigator/Americas-Favorite-Farmers-Markets/best_local_farmers_market_vote

Do Naked Ladies do well in Redmond, Washington?

2009-06-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Yolanda!

My name is Donald and I live in Redmond, WA, and would like to be able to have some of these for my balcony container. I was very much encouraged when I noticed that you live in the same state, for I always thought these bulbs would only do well in much warmer, drier climates. I used to live in southern California and that is where I first saw the Amaryllis Belladonnas, blooming in the dry, hot sun – and alongside a busy, noisy congested interstate roadway! What a beautiful juxtaposition.

Anyways, is there a chance still for me to purchase some of these bulbs at this point in the year for where I live? I hope so; but do please let me know. Also, could you tell me if there is a best type of container to use to plant these in? I am hoping to keep them outside under a covered balcony; as you know, it never really becomes so very cold here, and your description states that they cannot be forced to bloom inside.

Thank you so much for any reply,
Donald

Hello Donald-
Naked Ladies grow very well down to 10 degrees or colder if mulched well so would grow well in Redmond. I will have more by the end of August to plant right away. You can order them on-line at vanveenbulbs.com right now and preorder. We will not charge until shipped. If planted in a container make sure the container is dry in the winter in the garage or under the covered balcony covered in plastic to protect from the cold to be safe.
We still have lilies, crocosmia and calla lilies in stock to plant right now for blooms this fall that can be stored the same way in containers over the winter.
Thanks!
Yolanda

Raised Beds Solution for Soil Lead Poisoning

2009-06-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have always said that making your own compost or bringing it in and gardening in raised beds is the best way to vegetable garden. Here is an article that was in the NYTimes.

From Karen, Clark County Master Gardener
Given that we have a lot of citizens here deciding to put in a garden for the first time, it seems this is something we, as MGs, should be aware of. Older neighborhoods, where lead paint was scraped off houses, are particularly at risk. I think citizens living in older neighborhoods (pre-1978) should consider raised beds with imported soil or a soil test for lead levels.

For Urban Gardeners, Lead Is a Concern
Patrick Andrade for The New York Times
FRANK MEUSCHKE’S garden, which surrounds the house he rents in Brooklyn, is a bountiful source of tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, peppers, lettuce and multiple varieties of flowers. It is also, as he recently discovered to his dismay, a rich repository of lead. He had his soil tested last month, and the analysis showed more than 90 times the amount of lead expected to occur naturally.Mr. Meuschke, an artist who specializes in landscape paintings, is well aware of the dangers of lead paint.

“You know not to eat while you paint,” he said. And he had suspected that paint scraped off houses in his neighborhood might have left lead residue in the soil over the years. “But I really didn’t expect there to be that much,” he said.

Harmful even at very low doses, lead is surprisingly prevalent and persistent in urban and suburban soil. Dust from lead-tainted soil is toxic to inhale, and food grown in it is hazardous to eat.Health officials, soil scientists and environmental engineers worry that the increasing popularity of gardening, particularly the urban kind, will put more people at risk for lead poisoning if they don’t protect themselves.

Thanks in part to the influence of the local-food movement and to economic considerations, more households in the United States plan, like the Obamas, to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries this year — seven million more households, according to the National Gardening Association, a 19 percent increase over last year.

While the increased physical activity and access to fresh produce promised by this trend are certainly healthy developments, widespread lead contamination means that many people are going to have to do more than wear gloves and sunscreen to garden safely. The presence of lead in soil doesn’t mean gardening is out of the question, but it may require a change in plot design and choice of crops, and soil amendments.

“You won’t know if you’re at risk unless you test your soil,” said Murray McBride, a professor of soil chemistry at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., which because of concerns about lead in community gardens began a free soil-testing program last month in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.County extension services as well as local public health departments often offer free soil testing or can recommend schools or companies that do it for a fee.

Individuals generally mail dirt in sealed plastic bags for analysis. Mr. Meuschke paid $12 to have his soil tested by the Environmental Sciences Analytic Center at Brooklyn College; some private companies charge as much as $50.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development advise (but do not require) remediation if lead levels in soil exceed 400 parts per million in children’s play areas and 1,200 p.p.m. elsewhere. But some states and cities have set much lower limits. For example, 100 p.p.m. is considered hazardous in Minneapolis. In the Netherlands, 40 p.p.m. is unacceptable. Unpolluted soil averages 10 p.p.m. Mr. Meuschke’s soil had lead levels of 939 p.p.m.

Since 2003, hazardous amounts of lead have been documented in backyard and community gardens in New York as well as in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Washington. Lead-laden soil has been found not only in inner city neighborhoods but also suburban areas.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor,” said David Johnson, a professor of environmental chemistry at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, where he has found lead concentrations as high as 65,000 p.p.m. in the yards of upscale homes. “Lead knows no socioeconomic boundaries.”

Excessive lead in soil is the legacy not only of lead paint but also of leaded gasoline, lead plumbing and lead arsenate pesticides. Although these products were outlawed decades ago, their remnants linger in the environment. Lead batteries and automotive parts, particularly wheel balancing weights, are still widely used and are sources of soil contamination.

Soil is likely to contain high levels of lead if it is near any structure built before 1978, when lead-based paint was taken off the market, or if a building of that vintage was ever demolished on the site. Pesticides containing lead were often used on fruit trees, so land close to old orchards is also of concern. And beware of soil around heavily trafficked roadways; it, too, is probably laced with lead. But environmental engineers and soil experts said any place is potentially tainted.

“It’s kind of a dirty secret nobody really knows about because we’re all distracted worrying about lead in toys from China,” said Gabriel Filippelli, a professor of earth science at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis who has published several papers on lead accumulation in soil. His and other research indicates lead levels in people’s blood correspond directly to the amount of lead in the soil where they live.

“We have been unable to identify the threshold of lead exposure at which there is no risk to health,” said Mary Jean Brown, chief of lead poisoning prevention in the Healthy Housing Branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control.

“But we know the risk increases with increased exposure.”Fetuses and small children, because of their rapidly developing nervous systems, are more sensitive to and suffer the most harm from lead exposure. Adverse effects include damage to the brain and nervous system, lower I.Q., behavior problems and slow growth. Adults may suffer cognitive decline, hypertension, nerve disorders, muscle pain and reproductive problems.

If soil is found to have high levels of lead, experts advise covering it with sod. Those who want to grow flowers or edible crops can either replace the contaminated soil or alkalinize it by adding lime or organic matter such as compost. Soil with a pH level above 7 binds with lead, making it less likely to be absorbed by plants and the human body if the dirt is inadvertently inhaled or ingested.

The White House is mixing lime and compost into the soil for its kitchen garden, which according to a National Parks Service analysis has 93 p.p.m. of lead — an amount above background levels but not considered hazardous to children or adults by the E.P.A.’s standards.Dr. Filippelli recommends planting kitchen gardens with fruiting crops like tomatoes, squash, eggplant, corn and beans because they don’t readily accumulate lead. Lead-leaching crops, he said, include herbs, leafy greens and root vegetables such as potatoes, radishes and carrots.

Dirt also clings to these crops, making it hard to wash off and thereby increasing the risk of ingesting lead.But some experts advise planting greens, specifically Indian mustard and spinach, for a couple of seasons as phytoremediation, or plant-based mitigation, before growing crops intended for food. By growing spinach for three months, researchers at the University of Southern Maine lowered the lead count in one garden by 200 p.p.m.

Of course, the lead-leaching crop cannot be eaten or composted and must be disposed of as toxic waste.A safer approach, particularly in areas where lead levels exceed 400 p.p.m., is to build raised or contained beds lined with landscape fabric and filled with uncontaminated soil.

Luckily for Mr. Meuschke, many of his edible crops are in containers or pots filled with dirt bought at nurseries.But lead dust blowing in the wind or rain splashing off lead-painted structures can sully food grown even in raised beds or containers. Situating gardens away from buildings is therefore a good idea, as is washing produce thoroughly with water containing 1 percent vinegar or 0.5 percent soap.

“It isn’t that you shouldn’t garden if you find lead in the soil, you just have to manage the space,” said Edie Stone, executive director of GreenThumb, a division of the New York City Parks and Recreation Department that supports urban gardening. “You can’t assume what you buy at the grocery store is any safer.” Peanuts anyone?

Garden Gal Thanks

2009-06-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Yolanda,
Thank you so very much for the bulbs you gave me. I’ve got them all planted and I haven’t moved since….I’m still waiting right by the pots to see their little heads poke out. When do you think I can leave my post and get on with life? Hahahahaha. Kidding. Thank you girlfriend. I’ll try to send a jpeg when they spread their glory!
Yer bud,
Anne Jaeger
www.gardengal.tv/

Using vegetable and fruit oils to kill bugs

2009-06-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Yolanda,I would appreciate if you could help me a little with spraying fruit trees. I have just bought a Stanley plum and a nectarine tree in May. I was looking at your video for when to spray them for bugs and how to do it. You say you think it is only necessary to spray once a year after all the leaves have fallen off the tree just before winter. You also say to use a water and vegetable oil mixture and spray it all over the tree. Can you tell me what the ratio of water is to the vegetable oil? I would like to give this a try. In looking at mixes at the nurseries it says to spray trees many times throughout the summer. Your advice is totally different. I live in Michigan. This is my first time with fruit trees. Thanks for any information you can give me. Pat

Thanks Pat for the e-mail.
I do not use oil on my trees because there are not many bugs in my trees and I can deal with a few spots on my apples.
If there are lots of bugs, by spraying oil on the trees in the winter you stop them from coming out in the spring. If you see bugs anywhere on your trees or plants, use water. I spray the trees with water and hose off all the bugs. Do this three times in a week.
If there are still bugs, you can use a 50/50 mix or less and make sure and shake well when spraying to mix. You can spray anytime of the year with oil and any kind of oil will work as long as it is from a plant-olive, vegetable, canola, sesame.......
The video was about spraying in the winter to stop the bugs in the spring but you can spray anytime. Oil works to kill all bugs including ants and aphids. Don't spray trees if there are no bugs. Thanks!
Yolanda

How to grow daffodils in Australia?

2009-06-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I sore you email address on the internet as l was searching for information on Storing daffodil bulbs, and thought l will ask you directly as l couldn’t get a answer for my question.

Over the Australian summer and autumn, I kept my daffodil and tulip bulbs in there pots from where they were planted and flowered over winter/spring. I removed then from their pots 6 weeks before winter and they looks good. Dry and multiplied. Si l stored then in a paper bag in the bottom of the fridge and planted them a week before winter.

Tulips looked fine, most of the daffodils were soft and squishy. They were a small bulb variety. So l through them away. :( What did I do wrong???

Regards Anastasia, Australia

Dear Anastasia-
When storing bulbs, there are various things that can go wrong. It is like storing potatoes or garlic. In warm climates, tulips and daffodils must have a cooling period to come back up each year so you must refrigerate. If they are in a paper bag sometimes they get dried out and turned to dust. If they are in plastic sometimes they are too wet and rot and turn to mush.
If they freeze without any protection (soil around them) they can turn to mush. If they get too hot outside before you bring them in they can cook in the heat just like garlic when you bake it.

I have had the most success by placing them in dry soil in plastic bags in the refrigerator. That way they are not too wet and should be fine. But there is no guarantee.
Good Luck!
Yolanda

Does Vanveenbulbs.com send out a catalog?

2009-06-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Do you mail order and have a catalog? Jennifer H.

Jennifer-Thanks for the e-mail. We have a web site vanveenbulbs.com where you can order right on-line. We do not send out a catalog because our stock changes all the time.

Thanks!
Yolanda, Vanveenbulbs.com

Callas and Acidanthera in Malaysia?

2009-06-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Yolanda....

i m Norhaini from Malaysia..... i m yearning to plant Calla Lillies and Acidanthera n see them bloom in my garden.... n hoping to buy some from vanveenbulbs ...but before i do that.... i wonder if they would grow n thrive n finally flower in my garden... Malaysia has a hot n humid climate.... i do have some cleomes blooming...n eucharis amazonica that blooms on n off.... n i have chives/allium schoenoprasum growing.... but has not bloomed.... used to have purple coneflower bloomimg in my garden...but has died away n did not return.... based on this info....do u think i can grow Calla Lillies n Acidanthera...??? Pleease help....

Hope to hear from u.....Thanx zillions for your time.... warm regards ..norhaini.

Dear Norhaini-
Callas and Acidanthera (Gladiolus murielae) are from South Africa so they would grow very well in Malaysia. They do not need a cold winter.
I can ship to Malaysia but would need an export certificate (cost $30) and you would need a customs broker in Malaysia to get the bulbs through customs and you would have to speak with your local government agricultural department to make sure there are no restrictions on bulb imports to your country of Malaysia. So in short, it is not easy to ship bulbs internationally but if you want to look in to it on your side, I can ship from my location. Without import certificates and paperwork from Malaysian customs, they could be confiscated.
Thanks!
Yolanda

What to do about Squirrels in Planter Boxes?

2009-06-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Subject: Squirrels and Bulbs

I have 3 planter containers that I planted your bulbs in and the squirrels dug them all up. I guess they eat them, but don't know for sure. What advice do you have for preventing this?

Jim & Gladys

Hello-
You can try spices such as red hot chili peppers, cayenne, pepper on the top of the containers so they don't like the smell and won't dig. That has worked for me-
Thanks! Yolanda

Vanveenbulbs.com Newsletter June 2009

2009-06-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

Vanveenbulbs.com 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, WA 98625 503-970-2992
e-mail: info@vanveenbulbs.com

It is not too late to plant summer blooming bulbs or order spring blooming bulbs for fall delivery!!!

We still have lots of bulbs in stock to bloom this summer or into the fall.Calla Lilies, Lilies, Crocosmia and many more plants are still available to plant right now!

You can order tulips, daffodils, hyacinth now for fall-You won't be charged until they are shipped!!!

Vanveenbulbs.com Summer Schedule 2009-Come See Us!
June 12-14, 2009
Everett Sorticulture Garden Arts Show, Everett, Washington, Legion Memorial Park, Everett, Washington http://www.ci.everett.wa.us/default.aspx?ID=1228

June 26-27, 2009
Oregon Coast Gardening & Landscape Expo, Newport Middle School, Newport, Oregon http://oregoncoastgardeningexpo.com/index.html

July 17-19, 2009Sequim Lavender Festival, Street Fair, Downtown Sequim, Washington http://www.lavenderfestival.com/street-fair/index.html

Beaverton Saturday Market-8:00-1:30 pmFull Season vendor-Mothers day weekend through Halloween weekend. http://www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com/

Hillsdale Farmers Market, Portland, Oregon Sundays 10-2 pm May through October.

* Note: Vanveen Bulbs will not be at markets on garden show dates above.

Summer Bloomers/Kay Balmer of the Oregonian
Thanks to Kay Balmer for featuring Vanveenbulbs.com in the Oregonian's new magazine,
Homes + Gardens Northwest and on Oregon Live.com. For complete article with pictures go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=Xkf49cLsrW4ZzZavkpAA.Q

Yolanda Vanveen has new youtube.com gardening video channel!
We have just finished nearly 1200 gardening videos in the last year. To find them go to:Yolanda's youtube gardening video channel: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=Wb.X156IlmJdAR950sIxEAThe Ehow Garden Channel: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=4XODiRvljxgPBNJbHhtQBA http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=qW02zDe_A5eLRZXcsOKm3wexpertvillage.com: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=ZeN6rAF1xSn2CWX1DaMBUQehow.com: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O5FB4&m=1ZiNNjqXHkrBLD&b=N52k5j_tqlPjJZobVE6spw

Are you on Facebook? Be a friend and keep track of vanveenbulbs.com.
I have been obsessed with Facebook so haven't been blogging much lately on vanveenbulbs.com.Love flower bulbs and gardening and vanveenbulbs.com?
If you are a facebook member, search Yolanda Vanveen
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1264395417&ref=name
and make a friend request or it is easy to become a member-go to facebook.com and follow the directions...

Thanks for reading this newsletter. Your e-mail address will not be sold or used for any other purposes. Happy Gardening!!!!!!!

Are you on Facebook? Be my friend and keep track of vanveenbulbs.com

2009-06-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

I have been obsessed with Facebook so haven't been blogging much lately on vanveenbulbs.com.
Love flower bulbs and gardening and vanveenbulbs.com?
If you are a facebook member, search Yolanda Vanveen
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1264395417&ref=name

and make a friend request or it is easy to become a member-go to facebook.com and follow the directions...
Yolanda

It is not too late to plant summer blooming bulbs!!!

2009-06-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

We still have lots of bulbs in stock to bloom this summer or into the fall.
Calla Lilies, Lilies, Crocosmia, Astilbe and many more plants are still available to plant right now!

This week-
Beaverton market Saturday
Hillsdale market Sunday

Next week-
Portland Wednesday Farmers market
Sorticulture, Everett Washington-Thursday through Sunday so no markets that weekend.

Happy Planting!!!!

May Flower Bulb Availability Vanveenbulbs.com

2009-05-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is our current availability list: You can find photos/prices on Vanveenbulbs.com http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/shop.shtml
Acidanthera Gladiolus Murielae
Astilbe Fanal and Astilbe Peach Blossum
Callas-Colored Zantedeschia and White Aethiopica
Crocosmia Red-Yellow and Orange
Cyrtanthus
Galtonia
Kniphofia Red Hot Pokers
Lilies
Nerine
Scilla Peruviana
Tigridia
Tricyrtis
Tritonia
I have many more plants at the farmers market and the nursery with limited supply.
Thanks!
Yolanda

Summer Bloomers/Kay Balmer of the Oregonian

2009-04-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kay Balmer for featuring Vanveenbulbs.com in the Oregonian's new magazine,

Homes + Gardens Northwest and on Oregon Live.com. For complete article with pictures go to:

http://www.oregonlive.com/home-garden/index.ssf/flowers/summer-bloomers-1.html

Summer Bloomers
Kay Balmer / Gladiolus photo by Marv Bondarowicz

They are such cooperative plants, these old-fashioned gladioluses, gorgeous lilies, fanciful spider lilies and bridal-ready colored calla lilies. These summer bloomers that draw nourishment from nature's underground storage units give their all in the garden in summer. Plus, they're easy to grow, versatile, fabulous in bouquets and they love being in containers.

What do they ask in return? Only well-drained soil, organic matter, water and sun.

Yolanda Vanveen of Vanveen Bulbs International outside Vancouver, Wash., says not to worry about following a bunch of rules with these adaptable souls. April through June is prime planting time, but it's fine to go as late as August. Lilies can even be planted in winter, she says.
Vanveen uses the term "bulb" with all of these plants, but some gardeners insist that her definition is too broad for the tubers and corms. Still, it's hard to argue with the success of this third-generation plant expert who learned at the knees of her Dutch-born parents in the family nursery.

Vanveen mixes a variety of bulbs in a container and staggers the planting time in the garden and in containers to have blooms through the summer and well into fall. She's even had gladioluses bloom in the snow.

COLORED CALLA LILIESCOLORED CALLA LILIES (Zantedeschia)

Exposure: Full, hot sun

Planting: April through August. Place 4 inches deep, 1 to 2 feet apart.

Care: Water generously when growing. Every couple of weeks, let dry out for a couple of days -- until they just begin to wilt -- then soak again. Blooms typically appear in July and August.

Don't be confused: These aren't Z. aethiopica, the white and green callas, even though the blooms look much the same. These calla lilies want sunny, dry conditions; Z. aethiopica prefers shade and wetness.

Vanveen's favorite: 'Flame' (shown above), one of the Callafornia Calla series, has fire-colored blooms that last three to four months; its leaves are spotted and no two are the same. Blooms of all the colored callas will last one to two months in a vase. 'Crystal Blush,' with its white blooms edged in pink, is a favorite among Vanveen's bridal customers.

SPIDER LILIES SPIDER LILIES (Hymenocallis, syn. Ismene)

Exposure: Sun Planting: April through August. Place 3 inches deep and 6 inches apart.

Care: Water well when growing; mulch in fall.

Vanveen's favorite: 'Exotica' (shown on the previous page), which grows 2 feet tall. The flowers last up to a month, with orchid-like foliage and a lemony fragrance. They bloom in August and September.

GLADIOLUSES

Exposure: Sun

Planting: April through July. Place 3 inches deep and as close as you want, as they grow tall and thin. They like a little sand.

Care: Tall stems might need staking. Many garden references recommend that you dig the corms in the fall, but Vanveen doesn't bother. Sometimes they don't come back, but she doesn't mind because they're inexpensive to replace.

Vanveen's favorite: She loves all of them for their colorful spikes, but white is especially nice for bouquets. They bloom in July and August.

ORIENTAL HYBRID LILIES

Exposure: Sun

Planting: April through June. Place 3 inches deep and 6 inches apart.

Care: They like heat more than sun, so avoid planting where they'll be scorched by late-afternoon sun. They bloom in July and August.

Vanveen's favorites: White 'Stargazer' and 'Casablanca.' 'Stargazer' is what you commonly see in cut-flower arrangements, and its shorter stem works well for growing in containers. Oriental lilies have a spicy fragrance that can fill a room.

ASIATIC HYBRID LILIES

Exposure: Sun

Planting: Vanveen keeps her bulbs in the freezer, so planting them now through June will bring blooms in 60 to 90 days. They will transition to normal June and July blossoms the following year. Place 3 inches deep and 6 inches apart.

Care: They like heat more than sun. Optimum condition is sun until late afternoon. She tops them when the bloom goes.

Vanveen's favorite: 'Commander in Chief' is a brilliant, true red. Unfortunately, the Asiatics are not fragrant.

How to grow bulbs
Keep it simple, Vanveen advises. No commercial fertilizers or bone meal. Feed the soil with a bit of organic compost.

Remove spent blooms, but trim only what's brown.

Mulch well in fall to protect the plant's food warehouse and in spring to keep weeds down.

Provide plenty of water while plants are growing, but every couple of weeks, let them dry out for a few days. Just as they begin to wilt, soak them again.

Bulbs like to be crowded and they like warmth, Vanveen says, so they are ideal for growing in containers. Even the tall lilies, such as 'Casablanca,' like containers. Just match the size of the pot to the plant.

Vanveen says sheltering the bulbs isn't necessary, but it can't hurt either.

Yolanda Vanveen In person: You can find Yolanda Vanveen and her bulbs on Wednesdays at the Portland Farmers Market in the downtown Park Blocks. Contact: Send e-mails to http://info@vanveenbulbs.com/contact.shtml or call 888-289-2852.

Scientific studies find organic compost best fertilizer not nitrates

2009-04-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here is an article forwarded from my buddy Wayne Chandler from my 2004 Clark County Master Gardening Class in Vancouver, Washington. Researchers at WSU Pullman have found that compost is the best growing medium and that fertilizers high in nitrates are cancer causing when used on vegetables:

MASTER GARDENER FOUNDATION
OF WASHINGTON STATE

USA Today Online Article

News Highlights
Master Gardeners
Organic gardens may yield more nutrients
Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2009
By Dennis Brown, WSU Extension
PULLMAN – One of the hottest trends in gardening today is organic gardening which relies on natural processes to grow plants. There is now a growing consensus among scientists that organically grown fruits and vegetables may contain higher levels of nutrients than conventionally grown produce.

“Organic gardening is experiencing a surge in interest,” said Tonie Fitzgerald, state Master Gardener program leader for WSU Extension, “and there is more information about doing it correctly.”

Master Gardeners are university-trained volunteer educators who answer garden-related questions, teach gardening classes, and manage demonstration gardens on behalf of county extension offices across the state.

There is no question that organic gardening requires more work. Now there is growing scientific evidence showing that the extra effort may pay off in some nutritional benefits.

That was the conclusion of a panel of scientists at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this past February in Chicago. The scientists on the panel, which was organized by Preston Andrews, associate professor of horticulture at WSU, and The Organic Center, reviewed a decade of research comparing the impacts of organic and conventional farming systems on soil and food quality.

Among other studies, they cited research that has found that organically farmed tomatoes have higher levels of soluble solids and secondary plant metabolites. Most of the secondary plant metabolites are antioxidants, which help prevent human diseases.

Studies of 27 varieties of organically grown spinach found higher levels of flavonoids and vitamin C and lower levels of nitrates. Nitrates in food can form cancer-causing compounds.

Improved soil chemical and physical properties were seen in apples grown organically in research in Washington. Improvements in soil quality were shown to lead to added nutritional quality, taste, and storability.

Soil is made up principally of mineral particles, organic matter and microorganisms that break down organic residues into organic and eventually inorganic compounds. Organic matter is the residue of decomposing plant and animal material. Organic matter is the fodder for nutrient recycling in the soil, and it also improves soil structure and water retention.

What lessons can home gardeners learn from this research?
“Increase the organic matter content of your soil,” Andrews said. “I think one of the best ways you can do this is with compost. Feed the soil so that the soil microorganisms can provide readily available nitrogen and other nutrients that plants need, but in a more slow-release fashion than synthetic fertilizers do.”

Composting is the managed decomposition of plant and animal material, and is a way of speeding up what happens in the soil naturally. Yard wastes and vegetable scraps, which comprise as much as 20 percent of household garbage, can be recycled in the soil as compost, according to Craig Cogger and Dan Sullivan, authors of “Backyard Composting,” a free WSU Extension bulletin.

“With composting, you get some readily available sources of nitrogen and ammonium because the soil microorganisms produce them as the digest the proteins and then the amino acids that are broken down from the proteins,” Andrews said.

How long will it take to see benefits?

“It depends on the soil you start with and how greedy you are for producing something from the soil,” Andrews said. For depleted soils, he recommends planting a green manure crop, especially legumes which fix nitrogen from the air, then turning it into the soil and letting it decompose before planting a vegetable crop.

“You can add compost along with the green manure crop,” he said. “It really depends on the condition of the soil you start with and what you want to produce from it.”

“Backyard Composting” is available as a free download from WSU Extension at http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1784/eb1784.pdf.
WSU Extension Master Gardener can provide information on organic gardening and composting. Find one near you at http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/mgpcounty.html; click on your county.

Yolanda Vanveen has new youtube.com gardening video channel!

2009-03-25T15:03:00.001-07:00

We have just finished nearly 1200 gardening videos in the last year. To find them go to:

Yolanda's youtube gardening video channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/yolandavanveen

The Ehow Garden Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ehowgarden

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ehowgarden&view=videos&sort=d

expertvillage.com: http://www.expertvillage.com/expert/921.htm

ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/members/EV_Yolanda-Vanveen-articles.html

See you on the internet!
Yolanda

Vanveenbulbs.com mentioned in Eugene Register Guard

2009-03-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Beautiful inspirations
Ornamental gardening experts will share advice, plant picks and more in free Home & Garden Show seminars.
By Ellen Schlesinger
For special publications
Posted to Web: Thursday, Mar 12, 2009 11:14AM

Rain or shine, calm or blustery, spring is here. If you’re like most gardeners, you’ve spent a good portion of the winter daydreaming about the coming season. Curled up on a sofa, poring over flower and seed catalogs or perhaps reviewing your gardening journal for 2008, you probably made all sorts of promises to yourself (and your garden.) You’ve vowed to do better—learn more, use fewer chemicals, experiment, try new plants or new varieties of old favorites — and now you’re rarin’ to go.

And the good news is that expert horticultural advice and information is right at hand. The March 12-15 Lane County Home & Garden Show is showcasing an impressive group of Northwest nursery owners, growers, garden writers and other plant professionals who will address many aspects of ornamental gardening during their live presentations. The hour-long talks and slide shows are free and questions from the audience are encouraged.

The topics under discussion by these experts cover a broad spectrum from the basic to the whimsical. Attendees can learn about soil amendment, how to prune shrubs correctly, which plants to grow for an abundance of flowers for cutting, how to arrange dazzling container plantings and much, much more.

The clinics offer attendees a chance to absorb the speakers’ expertise and pick up their tips on soil preparation, growing bulbs, perennials, herbs and ornamental grasses, native plant varieties and new introductions.

‘Wow’-worthy blooms
Yolanda Wilson started her company, Vanveen Bulbs of Kalama, Wash., (near Portland) more than 20 years ago. Her grandparents, the Vanveens, grew flowers in their native Holland; her parents grew cut flowers for the Portland Flower Market for more than 30 years.

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with flowers,” Wilson admits. “I went to college, got a degree and went to work in an office. And then one day I wondered what I was doing in a little cubicle. I guess I was genetically programmed to be a grower.”

At the Home & Garden Show, Wilson will discuss proper planting techniques and share her enthusiasm for some lesser-known, more exotic bulbs.

“I think canna ‘Cleopatra’ is a great tropical-looking accent plant,” Vanveen says. “It’s a lush, 5-foot-tall, dramatic stunner with bold foliage and bright flowers. The large leaves are green with a purple stripe and the flowers are a brilliant yellow and orange. It’s a ‘wow’ — in the ground or in a container.”

Spider lily or Peruvian daffodil (Ismene or Hymenocallis) is another bulb that Wilson thinks should be more widely planted. This summer bloomer has large white flowers that thrive in full sun.

“They’re gorgeous,” says Wilson, “and they smell like heaven; just like lemon meringue pie!”

Several other Northwest experts also will share with show-goers their plant picks and pointers for successfully growing stunning blooms, including Sharon Frey of Frey’s Dahlias (Turner, Ore.), Jan Detwiler of The Lily Pad Bulb Farm (Olympia, Wash.), and Linda Beutler, author of “Gardening with Clematis” and “Garden to Vase: Growing and Using Your Own Cut Flowers.”

Ellen Schlesinger is a writer who lives and gardens in Eugene, and the author of “A Gaga Gardener’s Guide to Nearby Nurseries.” She may be contacted by e-mail at sp.feedback@registerguard.com.

At the Home & Garden Show
Experts on ornamental gardening — with specialties that range from sustainable landscaping to planting flower cutting gardens and stylish containers — will share their knowledge during free presentations at the March 12-15 Lane County Home & Garden Show. These seminars, suitable for gardeners of all levels, will take place at the Green Thumb Garden Theater (see map, Page 5):
Thursday, March 12
• 6 p.m.: “Growing Flower Bulbs and Lilies for Summer Cutting Gardens for Weddings, Celebrations & Scented Bliss” by Jan Detwiler, The Lily Pad Bulb Farm
• 7 p.m.: “Sensuous Gardens: Planning for Scent, Texture and Sensual Pleasure” by Jackie Chama, Bloomer’s Nursery
Friday, March 13
• 7 p.m.: “Dazzling Dahlias: Blazing, Ravishing & Easy to Grow” by Sharon Frey, Frey’s Dahlias
Saturday, March 14
3:30 p.m.: “Fast Facts for a Phat Garden: Selecting the Best Plants for Your Shady or Sunny Garden” by Anne Jaeger, www.GardenGal.TV host
5 p.m.: “Exotic Flower Bulbs for Northwest Gardens: Selections to Care” by Yolanda Vanveen, Vanveen Bulbs
6:30 p.m.: “Designing High-Style Planters & Landscapes with Ornamental Grasses” by Jackie Chama
Sunday, March 15
• 1 p.m.: “Fearless Flowers, Fearless Bouquets: Using Unconventional Flowers, Foliage and Fruit to Create Fearless Bouquets” by Linda Beutler, author of “Gardening With Clematis”
• 2:30 p.m.: “Sustainable Landscaping: All About Selecting the Right Plant for the Right Place” by Nancy Sorensen and Sue Sierralupe, Lane County Master GardenersRelated stories do not exist

On the Road Again-People are Bulb Crazy!

2009-03-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

We have finished the Eugene Good Earth Show, Tacoma Home and Garden Show, Seattle NW Flower and Garden Show and the YGP in Portland. No worries about the recession-for every one person that is worried they may not have a job tomorrow, two people are saying they are not going to Italy or Disneyland this summer so they will spending a lot of time at home and in their garden and want it to be pretty.....

I spent this weekend putting fresh compost over the beds to stop the weeds from coming up and they look nice for now. Crocus, snowdrops and some short Minnow daffodils are blooming!!!

We are gearing up for Eugene and San Fran leaving Thursday for 12 days so I am excited and running hard trying to get everything done. There is snow on the ground here in Kalama, WA in March! My snowdrops are blooming in the snow. So beautiful. It is supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb and we are getting the extremes this year.

The Eugene Register Guard is featuring vanveenbulbs.com in their article about the Lane County Home and Garden Show and I will be speaking on Hardy Exotic Bulbs for NW Gardens on Saturday. Exciting stuff. I love Eugene!!!
Kay Balmer from the Oregonian interviewed me this morning on summer bulbs for the new Oregonian magazine. It comes out in May.

I have my own youtube channel now and I am featured on the home page of ehowgarden with many videos on it. It is fun and my dream come true.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ehowgarden
http://www.youtube.com/user/yolandavanveen

Hope all is well with you. Take care and happy spring planting.... Yolanda

Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden Plants

2009-02-06T12:20:00.001-08:00

Hummingbird gardens-Yolanda Vanveen, vanveenbulbs.com, 1-888-289-2852
info@vanveenbulbs.com
 Make certain that there is always fresh water available for drinking as well as for bathing.
 Create both sun and shade areas in your hummingbird garden. Hummingbirds need a place in shade to perch as well as to build their nests.
 Willows and Eucalyptus trees provide nesting materials which your hummingbirds will use, along with bits of leaves, spider webs, moss, and lichens to build their tiny nests.

Hummingbirds must feed 3-5 times per hour and your hummingbirds may become reliant on your garden for it's food, but there may be periods when there are no blossoms from which they can get nectar. It is a good idea to provide hummingbird feeders hung about thirty feet apart throughout your garden for these times. The best color for a feeder is bright red to attract the birds from a distance. Never fill your feeders with anything but sugar-water mix of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Do not use food coloring of any kind, and never, never use honey. (Honey can develop a fungus which can be fatal to hummingbirds)

Perennials- Bee balm Monarda didyma,,Butterfly weed Ascelpias tuberosa ,,Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis ,,Columbine Aquilegia sp. ,,Coral bells Heuchera sanguinea ,,Cosmos Cosmos,,Dahlia ,,Delphinium Delphinium elatum , Flame acanthus Acanthus mollis, Foxglove Digitalis purpurea (Biennial), Fuchsia Fuschia hybrida ,,Geranium Pelargonium species , Hollyhock Althea rosea (biennial),,Lupine Lupinus hybrids , Monkeyflower Mimulus hybridus,,Penstemon Penstemon,,Red hot poker Kniphofia uvaria , Sage Salvia officinalis, Scarlet sage Salvia splendens , Speedwell Veronica hybrids , Verbena Verbena sp.

Annuals- Mountain garland Clarkia elegans , Four-o'-clock Mirabilis jalapa , Touch-me-not Impatiens sp., Flowering tobacco Nicotiana alata , Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus , Petunia Petunia hybrida, Spider flower Cleome hasslerana , Zinnia Zinnia sp.

Bulbs, corms and tubers- Acidanthera, Gladiolus Murielea, Tuberous Begonia Begonia sp. , Canna Canna sp. , Gladiolus Gladiolus sp. , Iris Iris sp, Montbretia Crocosmia sp. Galtonia, Agapanthus,

Vines- Bougainvillea Bougainvillea sp., Cardinal climber Ipomoea quamoclit , Flame vine Pyrostegia venusta , Honeysuckle Lonicera sp. ,Lantana Lantana sp.,Rosary vine Ceropegia woodii ,Trumpet creeper Campis grandiflora ,Trumpet vines Bignonia tagliabuana , Mandevilla,

Shrubs and trees- Abelia Abelia grandiflora ,Azalea Rhododendron sp,Bottlebrush Callistemon lanceolatus , Butterfly bush Buddleia davidii , Catoneaster Catoneaster sp., Eucalyptus Eucalyptus sp. ,Flowering currant Ribes odoratum , Flowering quince Chaenomeles , Fuschia tree Fuschia arborescens, Hibiscus Hibiscus sp.,Lilac Syringa sp. Mimosa (silk tree) Albizia julibrissin , Strawberry tree Arbutus unedo , Wild lilac Ceanothus griseus ,Weigela Weigela rosea , Fuschia

Butterfly Gardens-Yolanda Vanveen, vanveenbulbs.com, 1-888-289-2852
info@vanveenbulbs.com
 Make certain that there is always fresh water available for drinking as well as for bathing. Butterflies like muddy areas, create a mud bath spa for them
 Create both sun and shade areas in your butterfly garden. Butterflies need a place in shade and green foliage for the caterpillars. No pesticides in your garden to kill any bugs or slugs

Perennials- Bee balm Monarda didyma,,Butterfly weed Ascelpias tuberosa ,,Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis ,,Columbine Aquilegia sp. ,,Coral bells Heuchera sanguinea ,,Cosmos Cosmos,,Dahlia ,,Delphinium Delphinium elatum , Flame acanthus Acanthus mollis, Foxglove Digitalis purpurea (Biennial), Fuchsia Fuschia hybrida ,,Geranium Pelargonium species , Hollyhock Althea rosea (biennial),, Lavender, Lupine Lupinus hybrids , Monkeyflower Mimulus hybridus,,Penstemon Penstemon,,Red hot poker Kniphofia uvaria , Sage Salvia officinalis, Scarlet sage Salvia splendens , Speedwell Veronica hybrids , Verbena Verbena sp. , Rudbeckia, Daisies, Chyrsanthemums, , Ageratum (Ageratum),* Aster (Aster species)Bee-balm (Monarda didyma),* Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia species), Boltonia (Boltonia asteroids, Bugle (Ajuga reptans),* Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa),Chives (Allium schoenoprasum),* Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), ,* Coreopsis (Coreopsis species)Daisy, Shasta (Chrysanthemum maximum), Daylily (Hemerocallis species), False indigo (Baptisia australis), * Gayfeather (Liatris species), Goldenrod (Solidago species)Hibiscus (Hibiscus species),Hollyhock (Althaea rosea,* Ironweed (Vernonia species)* Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum),* Lantana (Lantana camara, L. species)Leadplant (Amorpha fruticosa, Lobelia (Lobelia cardinalis),* Milkweed (Asclepias species)Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum species), Passion flower (Passiflora species)* Phlox (Phlox paniculata, P. carolina),Sage (Salvia leucantha; Salvia species)Sedum (Sed um species), Thistles (Cirsium species),Verbena (Verbena species)Yarrow (Achillea species)

Annuals- Mountain garland Clarkia elegans , Four-o'-clock Mirabilis jalapa , Touch-me-not Impatiens sp., Flowering tobacco Nicotiana alata , Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus , Petunia Petunia hybrida, Spider flower Cleome hasslerana , Zinnia Zinnia sp. Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus), Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana)Marigold, French (Tagetes patula), Mexican sunflower (Tithonia species), Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus),* Sunflower (Helianthus species), * Verbena (Verbena species),Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), Zinnia (Zinnia elegans

Bulbs, corms and tubers- Acidanthera, Calla Lilies, Gladiolus Murielea, Tuberous Begonia Begonia sp. , Canna Canna sp. , Gladiolus Gladiolus sp. , Iris Iris sp, Montbretia Crocosmia sp. Galtonia, Agapanthus, Hostas, Liatris, Lilies, Scilla Peruviana

Bulbs for Year Round Color

2009-02-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of bulbs to select so that you have blooms throughout the year-
Yolanda Vanveen, vanveenbulbs.com

Winter Bulbs for Indoor Forcing-Grow these bulbs inside for color in winter-
Always plant bulbs outside again after forcing to enjoy outside for years to come:
Allium Ostrowksianum-Pink, Allium Moly-Yellow, Allium Purple Sensation,
Chionodoxa, Crocus, Daffodils- Short varieties are best: Daffodil Jetfire, Minnow,
Thalia, Sir Winston
Paperwhites
Eucomis-Pineapple Lilies Pink and White
Grape Hyacinth
Hyacinth
Iris Reticulata-Short
Leucojum Snowflakes
Puschkinia
Scilla Peruviana, Scilla Siberica

Early Spring (February/March) Outside Blooms
Chionodoxa, Crocus, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth-Muscari
Hyacinth, Iris Reticulata-short iris, Leucojum Snowflakes,
Scilla Siberica, Puschkinia,

Late Spring (April/May) Tulips, Alliums, Dutch Iris, Siberian Iris, Japanese Iris
Lily of the Valley,

Early Summer (June) Giant White Calla, Green Goddess Calla, Peonies
Asiatic Lilies, Ornithogalum, Scilla Peruviana-Cuban Lily

Summer July/August
Acidanthera, Agapanthus, Astilbe,Brodiaea,
Calla Zantedeschia-Colored Calla Lilies
Cannas, Crocosmia, Eremurus, Kniphofia
Oriental Lilies-Stargazers, Casa Blanca, Begonias
Colocasia, Gladiolus, Gloriosa, Haemanthus, Ismene, Liatris
Tigridia, Tritonia

Autumn September/October
Amaryllis Belladonna, Lycoris, Nerine Lily,
Eucomis Pineapple Lilies, Cannas, Tricyrtis Toad Lilies, Aconitum
Begonias, Crocosmia, Galtonia, Colocasia, Cyclamen Neopolitanum

Vanveenbulbs.com Bulbs Up for Garden Show Season

2009-02-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

By Yolanda Vanveen
So I take everything back that I said about global warming. We had the coldest winter in 30 years with snow on the ground for three weeks. We are not used to that here in the Northwest. I only lost a few plants including my scadoxus formerly known as haemanthus because they were too wet in the greenhouse. Check out our winter pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29252080@N03/

Come visit us at the garden shows: We may attend the Spring Fair in Puyallup in April -

Winter 2009
January 23-25, 2009 Good Earth Home, Garden & Living Show, Eugene, Oregon, Fairgrounds www.EugeneHomeShow.com

January 28-February 1, 2009 Tacoma Home & Garden Show, Tacoma, Washington www.oloughlintradeshows.com

February 7, 2009 OSU Master Gardener Training, Hood River County, Yolanda Wilson instructor, "Introduction to Flower Bulbs, Exotic Bulbs, Bulbs for Year Round Color, Responsible Gardening"

Feb 18-22, 2009 Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Seattle Convention Center, Washington www.gardenshow.com

February 27-March 1, 2009 Portland Yard, Garden & Patio Show, Portland Oregon Convention Center www.ygpshow.com

March 12-15, 2009Lane County Home & Garden Show, Eugene, Oregon Fairgrounds www.EugeneHomeShow.com

March 18-22, 2009San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Mateo Convention Center, San Mateo, California
www.gardenshow.com

March 27-29, 2009 Portland Better Living Show, Home, Garden & Lifestyle, Expo Center, Portland, Oregon www.betterlivingshow.org

April 4, 2009 Gardenpalooza, Fir Point Farms, Canby, Oregon www.gardentime.tv

April 11-12, 2009 Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Spring Plant Sale, Portland, Oregon Expo Center www.hardyplantsociety.org

April 24-26, 2009 Clark Public Utilities Home and Garden Idea Fair, Ridgefield, Washington,Clark County Fairgrounds www.clarkpublicutilities.com/Community/homeAndGardenIdeaFair

May 2-3, 2009 Clackamas County Master Gardeners Spring Garden Fair, Canby, Oregon Fairgrounds

May-October Beaverton Farmers Market Full Season-Mother's day weekend through Halloween www.beavertonfarmersmarket.comww.extension.oregonstate.edu/clackamas/homeHort/activities

June 12-14, 2009 Sorticulture Garden and Art Show, Everett, Washington

Mint Julips in Minnesota

2008-11-11T22:04:00.000-08:00

Hi, I have a quick question about the Mint Julip Calla Lily that I bought from you in May at the Portland Farmer's Market. They were beautiful, but I live in Minnesota and don't know the proper care for this particular bulb. Since it was snowing here yesterday, I need to do something soon! > thanks Paula

Hello Paula-
Thanks for your purchase. Treat the calla like a dahlia or other tender bulb. Keep it in a pot with dirt or keep it dry in a bag or box or wrap with newspaper. Do not let it freeze so keep in garage if it is heated, basement or anyplace you can keep it from freezing hard (they can go down to 10 degrees outside if planted) but not too warm. Make sure it does not get too dry either so run them under water in the winter if they get dry-Replant in May of next year.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks!
Yolanda Wilson
vanveenbulbs.com

Hello from Iris at KGON

2008-11-11T21:53:00.001-08:00

Hi, It's Iris from KGON. Love your website. Just wanted to say hello.

Note-I met Iris in 1984 when I was a KGON scholarship winner to Linfield College. I spent a day with her on the job. She was the first DJ to play Pat Benatar and Def Leppard as well as many other bands. I went to high school listening to KGON radio in Clackamas, Oregon. My husband phones her often at the station and she has come by to say hello at the garden shows and has a few of our bulbs in her garden. I am honored to know her.

Iris-It was such a pleasant surprise to receive the e-mail....It was 1984 > when I came to the station and spent the day with you-that is 24 years ago now you know- I have been writing, producing and appearing in now over 400 how to garden videos for expertvillage.com. They are 1 to 3 minute segments that come up when you google gardening questions. So I feel like I am using my Communications degree from Linfield College. Thanks KGON for the scholarship. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go to college and thanks for keeping in touch with us-My husband Peter the Englishman says hello.... Take care!! Peter and Yolanda Wilson

Some videos:>
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/147721_growing-hydrangea-bushes.htm>

Hi Yolanda!
That's the most incredible story. You got the KGON scholarship! And to hear that you are combining the gardening and media elements of your life is outstanding. Thanks for letting me know about the videos. Now I'll do better in the yard!!
How wonderful that you and Peter THE AMERICAN are together and have the kids. Life is good.
Take care!
Iris

How to grow tulips in San Diego

2008-11-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Yolanda,

My husband and I live in Santee California, a suburb of San Diego. We were watching your how to grow tulips videos and we weren't sure what you meant by the term cutting them out in your choosing tulip location for gardens. We wanted to know what your thoughts or opinions are on growing tulips in the southern california area? Like you, I also love lots of color in my garden especially Tulips.. We want to let you know how happy we were to find your web site and how informative it was for us. Thank you for your wonderful videos.-Jim and Debbie

Dear Jim and Debbie-Thanks for the e-mail. I am thrilled to find out people are watching the videos.
Cutting the tulips out means just cutting or breaking them off when they turn brown. I think it is worth the effort to grow tulips in San Diego. I grow Mandevilla and Hibiscus (actually I kill Hibiscus) but they are beautiful and make it for a few years-I throw them in my unheated greenhouse and it gets too cold for them. I am keeping the Mandevilla in a container in my laundry room. I just brought it in because it is getting cold at night. Even though I lose them some years they are still beautiful for 8 months of the year. Oh well if they don't come back.
Annuals don't come back. So try to grow them and let me know if it works-
San Diego is very special to me I spent two winters in Solana Beach 13 years ago before I got married. I was addicted to the beach, happy hour in La Jolla and Sea World. I loved it!!!
Enjoy the sun. Yolanda

Hi Yolanda,

It's us again Jim and Debbie. There were a few questions I forgot to ask you in my last email. In your video growing tulips in warmer climates you suggested digging up the bulbs and putting them in a paper bag in the refrigerator. My first question is.... I wasn't quite sure when to pull them out of the ground and put them in the refrigerator and then when to take them out of the refrigerator to be replanted in my garden. My second question is..... I wanted to plant them in the front yard, where do you suggest the best location would be. Thank you again.

Jim and Debbie-Thanks for the e-mail and the support. If you live right on the beach, plant in the sun. If you live inland a bit where it is really warm in the summer, plant in part shade.

In the West, tulip planting time begins in September in the coldest climates, and in December in Southern California and the desert (to allow for the soil to cool). To get the best selection, shop at nurseries or by mail as soon as possible. Buy only top-quality bulbs.

In mild climates, chill tulips before planting. Store the bulbs in paper or netted bags - not plastic - for six to eight weeks in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. Do not mix them with fruit. Dig them up in October-store in refrigerator for 8 weeks and replant end of December.

IN THE GROUND
* Plant in full sun or part shade in well-drained soil. If the soil is heavy, add plenty of organic matter or plant in raised beds. In coldest climates (Sunset zones 1-6), where bulbs will live on for more than one season, mix a bulb fertilizer into the soil.

* Plant three inches deep.

* Space them correctly. Set tulip bulbs 2 to 4 inches apart. Exception: When planting forget-me-nots, pansies, violas, or other flowers above the bulbs, plant the tulips 8 inches apart on center and the flowers 10 inches on center.

* Water well after planting, and often enough to keep the soil from drying out if rain doesn't come. When stems emerge from the soil, water to keep the soil moist.

* After bloom, in mild climates, continue to water until October by planting summer bulbs in the same bed, dig up, chill for 8 weeks, replant in December. In cold climates, for bloom next year, snip off spent flowers. . Cut the leaves off when they turn yellow.

IN A CONTAINER
* Plant 3 or more bulbs in a container almost touching. Once they have bloomed, set the container out of the sun in the garage, dig up in September, chill, replant December.

* Arrange the outermost bulbs so their flat sides are against the rim of the container (the first big leaf appears from the fiat side of a bulb and will gracefully drape over the edge of the pot).

* Cover with 2 to 4 inches of soil. Water well and monitor the soil to make sure it doesn't dry out. Set the container in shade until stems first emerge, then move the container to full sun. Water regularly after bulbs emerge.

Tulips: which class is best for your region?
* SINGLE EARLY: NW, MTN (with exceptions as noted). Large, single blooms on sturdy 12- to 18-inch-tall stems. Favorites: 'Apricot Beauty', 'Beauty Queen' (salmon and pink). Both also perform well in Northern and Southern California. Early.
* FOSTERIANA (Emperor): NW, NC, SC, MTN. The largest flowers of all varieties grow on 12- to 16-inch-tall stems. Come back reliably in colder climates. Favorites: 'Orange Emperor', 'Red Emperor'. Early.
* TRIUMPH: NW, NC, SC, MTN. Hybrids of Single Early and late-flowering tulips with large flowers on 12- to 20-inch-tall stems. Favorites: 'Douglas Baader' (light pink), 'Dreaming Maid' (lavender), and 'New Design' (pink and yellow). Midseason.
* DARWIN HYBRIDS: NW, NC, SC, D, MTN. Known for their tall (20- to 24-inch), strong stems and bright flowers. Widely adapted; the best tulips for the desert. Come back reliably in colder climates. Favorites: 'Apeldoorn' (red), 'Daydream' (apricot-orange), 'Pink Impression'. Midseason.
* FRINGED: NW, NC, SC, MTN. Petal edges are fringed. Stems grow 20 to 24 inches tall. Favorites: 'Emmy' (red and apricot), 'Fringed Elegance' (yellow), 'Swan Wings' (white). Mid- to late-season.
* DOUBLE LATE (PEONY): NW, NC, SC, MTN. Full, double flowers that look like peonies. Stems grow 14 to 20 inches tall. Favorites: 'Angelique' (pink), 'Mount Tacoma' (white). Late
* SINGLE LATE (Mayflowering): NW, NC, SC, MTN. Large blooms in a wide color range, and strong 24- to 28-inch-tall stems. Favorites: 'Maureen' (yellowish white), 'Menton' (pink, rose, and apricot), 'Renown' (carmine-rose). Late.
* LILY-FLOWERED: NW, NC, SC, MTN. Graceful blooms with pointed, flaring petals. Stems grow 18 to 24 inches tall. Favorites: 'Mariette' (deep rose pink), 'West Point' (yellow), 'White Triumphator'. Late.
* PARROT: NW, NC, SC, MTN. Exotic-looking tulips with frilled, ruffled, and flared petals. Stems grow 16 to 26 inches tall. Favorites: 'Apricot Parrot', 'Estella Rijnveld' (red and white). Late.
NW = Northwest (Sunset climate zones 4-6). NC = Northern California (zones 7-9, 14-15). SC = Southern California (zones 18-24). D = desert (zones 10-13). MTN = mountain (zones 1-3).

Vanveenbulbs.com Newsletter November 2008

2008-11-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

Vanveenbulbs.com, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, Washington 98625 503-970-2992 Toll free 1-888-289-2852 info@vanveenbulbs.com

It is not too late to plant spring and summer blooming bulbs! We will continue to ship bulbs through the winter to milder climates on the West Coast and the Southern United States!

New!!! Gift Ship!!!
We are have added a gift shop to the web page. Let us send your christmas gifts this year! More categories to be added soon.

Peacock Feathers- 12/$20 50/$50 100/$85
http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=vanveen&Product_Code=IT123

Christmas-Mistletoe, Swags, Holly, Ornaments, Statues and more!
http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=vanveen&Category_Code=christmas

November Schedule:
Tuesday, Nov 4 Clark County Master Gardening Foundation Meeting 7pm
Brush Prairie 1104 NE 149th St Vancouver-Speaking and bulb sale
Saturdays Nov 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Portland State Farmers Market 9:30 am -2 pm.
Saturday Beaverton Market Holiday market Nov 22
Sundays Hillsdale Farmers Market-November 9, 23

You can always order on-line at vanveenbulbs.com anytime of the year!!

New Flower Pictures on-line:Check out our Vanveenbulbs.com Gallery of Favorite Photos now on Flickr!
http://www.flickr.com:80/photos/29252080@N03/

Expertvillage.com Videos-We just finished our 400th video and have another 100 to film this month:
http://www.expertvillage.com/expert/921.htm

We will continue shipping our fall bulbs tulips, daffodils, allium, hyacinths and more through the winter. Order now because we have a limited supply on many items. Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.

Thanks for your continued support in the gardening world.
Happy Planting!!!
Vanveen Bulbs, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, WA USA Vanveen Bulbs, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, WA USA

Gardening in Your New Climate Zone

2008-11-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

Yolanda Wilson
Gardening in your new climate zone

The United States Department of Agriculture is working on a new climate zone map for the country that was scheduled to be finished three years ago. It is difficult to do because there are so many climate zones within each geographical area between the mountains, the lakes, the valleys and the oceans.

To top it off some winters in Portland, Oregon are a zone seven, others a zone nine. It just depends on how cold it gets each winter. Every seven years or so we have really a bad ice storm that causes major devastation to exotic plants because plants turn into an ice cube for a few days. When they defrost they turn to slime.

Because the Earth is the right distance from the sun and we have the right combination of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen, so we can live on this planet. It is a beautiful place to be. Our temperatures have gotten a little warmer in the summer and the winter. Blame it on a cycle, carbon, or overpopulation. It has happened in the past when humans were not on the planet and it is happening again. The experts say we are speeding it up.

The Clackamas River froze completely over when I was in primary school way back in the seventies as my daughter tells me. We could walk across the river to the other side. We threw big boulders onto the ice and it didn’t crack. I can’t imagine that ever happening again. It froze in Oregon for nearly a month straight then. Now it rarely freezes for more than a day. Just the ice storm every few years that gets a few exotic plants but never all of them. Especially if they are near the eves or have really good drainage.

Pictures of the past remind us of the change. The museum in Seaside, Oregon has photos of the city from one hundred years ago.. They had a few feet of snow every winter and people owned sleds they could hook up to their horses to get supplies. They used sleds to get to town. That is hard to believe.

Plants Acclimate to Assimilate
Climate change is great for exotic gardening. Twenty years ago an agapanthus or palm tree could not survive our cold winters. Now they can in Portland, Oregon .Many plants can go down below freezing for short periods of time. I have tried to over-winter banana trees outside but have lost them each time. Maybe when we have no freezes at all, then we could grow nearly all the plants from the tropical areas again here in the Northwest. History repeats itself they say.

Fifty million years ago, the Pacific Northwest had lush tropical flora and marine fauna similar to the South Pacific today. Behind the high school in Fossil, Oregon you can find leaf prints of species of plants such as bananas that indicate the habitat of O. borealis would have been similar to today's subtropical and tropical forests.Then everything started to cool down during the Eocene-Oligocene epochs nearly 40 million years ago.

The forests in the Pacific Northwest changed from tropical plants to a combination of conifers, broad-leafed evergreens and deciduous plants that were adapted to cooler climates.Banana plants ultimately became extinct in the Northwest because they could not survive in the new temperate climate. They still don’t make it most winters but if experts are correct, they will survive outside in Oregon twenty to fifty years from now.

We all know we should reduce, reuse, and recycle to slow down global warming. Instead of pointing fingers, let’s concentrate on acclimating to our new climate zone. There are many things that we can do in the garden particularly to prepare for our future. It may take twenty, fifty, or even one hundred years or more before we notice some of the changes so don’t panic, just think about what you can do to help your plants adjust.Find ways to use less water.

*We will have longer drier summers and warmer wetter winters. Storms and summer heat will be more intense.

*Plant drought tolerant plants from South Africa (Red Hot Pokers, Agapanthus, Crocosmia), the Mediterranean (Euphorbia, Salvia, Allium, Grapes, Figs), and Mexico(Cannas, Begonias and Dahlias)

*Add small round or crushed rock to the top of your beds because they do not give off carbon, they keep plants moist, and keep weeds down.

*If it is over 90 degrees outside in the day or if there is no dew at night, water in the evenings after 9 pm for only a short time so that the plants can hydrate overnight.

*Watering in the mornings is also good but when it gets that hot that fast, plants will need more time to hydrate if they are to survive. Never water between 9 am and 9 pm outside when it is really hot out.

*Set hanging baskets in a bucket of water and let them soak the water up. Spray the foliage with water at night as well. Instead of fuchsias, invest in geraniums that don’t need as much water and they can handle the heat much better and need less water.The raising price of water and water restrictions

*You will be forced to decide which trees, shrubs and perennials you can not live without and water them above others. Sentimental, historic, endangered, and expensive plants will be at the top of your list and your lawn should be at the bottom.

*Plant raised garden beds with groups of plants crowded together that are drought tolerant. Mix vegetable, exotic and native plants together.

*Cover with rock, mulch, and bark dust to help retain the water.

*Water will be expensive but we will have more rain in the winter so we will find ways to collect it in tanks to use for the summer.Save the native plants

*Eradicate all invasive plants like English ivy and keep wildlife areas native.

*Plant exotic flora next to your home and in the city but be careful not to plant anything invasive next to a state park or natural habitat.

*In the future there will be no dew at night. Native plants will need to watered lightly at night for them to survive the hot summers.

*Place natives in more shade so they don’t get as hot.

*Send a few up north to any place that used to have our climate zone. Friends, botanical gardens and parks in cooler climates will think they are exotic and they can be saved on earth.Garden organically with no fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides

*Americans spend $956 million on synthetic lawn fertilizers and $1.5 billion on pesticides and herbicides. Most of it goes into our waterways. Stop using it and you will find your lawn and plants will still grow wonderfully without it.

*Most lawns are placed directly on top of clay with no compost underneath. Either start over with a layer of compost or add sand or compost to the areas of your lawn that are not doing well and sprinkle with grass seed each spring and fall. You will be amazed how well it will do.

*Hand pull weeds in your lawn and garden. By adding grass seed each spring and fall, you will choke out the weeds so there will be no need for herbicides to kill your weeds.Using a hand held flame burner after it has rained so you don’t catch the neighborhood on fire also removes unwanted weeds from gravel and garden areas..

*Currently, in colder climates we use Kentucky bluegrass, perennial rye, bentgrass and fescue. Many of these varieties have become invasive weeds in natural areas so we need to watch out where we plant them. When temperatures continue to rise into the triple digits for days at a time, our lawns will burn. They can not handle that much heat.

*Eventually we will have to switch over to warm climate grasses such as Bermuda or Zoysia grass in order to have a lawn without burn spots. They can not handle freezes so we will have to deal with our current lawns for now.

*Another option is to remove your grassy areas and replace with flower beds or rock gardens.

*Fertilizer will not make a plant healthy, moving it to a location with more drainage, more sun or shade, adding compost or watering less or more is usually the answer. Think of it this way. You can not give someone that is starving vitamins and expect them to become healthy. A good diet (for plants that is compost) is the key. Change is good.Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs

*Because our winters will be milder, insects will not die in the winter so we will have more of them in our lives. Pesticides are not the answer (although there are some organic options that aren’t too bad for the environment) but watch out because even if it is organic it may be very poisonous.

*We deal with bugs when we travel to Hawaii, we will have to deal with them in colder climates as well soon. They will be a fact of life.

*There are some options: Cover your body with cedar oil, rubbing alcohol,, vaporub, vanilla, garlic, or mineral oil to ward off fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes.

*At the first sign of insects on your plants, spray them off with plain water. If that doesn’t work spray watered-down dishwashing soap or oil (canola, olive, soybean or vegetable) on your plants. It works on aphids, ants and many other insects.Grow vegetables that can handle heat

*Eggplant, gourds, melons, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cowpeas, peanuts, snap beans and limas love warm summers.

*Cool-weather vegetables including cabbage, onions, potatoes, lettuce, peas, radishes, carrots and greens will need to be planted earlier or become a winter crop.Flowers will bloom at a different time and for a longer season

*The bloom date for flowers will continue to change. Most plants now bloom at least one week to one month earlier than they did one hundred years ago. Summer blooming flowers will bloom in the spring and spring blooming flowers will bloom in the winter.

*Many annuals will become perennials because we won’t lose them and they will continue to bloom through the winter. Pansies, petunias, cosmos, marigolds and begonias will not have to be replaced each year.

*Perennials will become annuals. In San Diego cold climate bulbs such as lilies, tulips, crocus, lily of the valley and peonies must be pulled up and placed in refrigeration to grow the next year. Even then they do not do so well because of the heat. In the future, we may have to treat cold climate plants as annuals.Trees will have to handle wet winters and dry summers

*Silver maple, black cherry trees, sycamore, yew, magnolia, eucalyptus and willows thrive in warmer weather and are resistant to storm damage. Be careful to plant them where they will not become invasive to native trees.

*Spruce, pine, fir, and alpine trees will grow further up mountains and will need water to survive in the garden.

*Acid rain and pollution will continue to be a problem for some conifers, oak trees and other plants around the world. They will have to be relocated to remote areas only that are not near any major cities.

When one door closes, another door opens. Embrace our climate change and take it one day at a time. It won’t happen over night but if we take steps to save our native and endangered exotic plants now we can look forward to a beautiful garden for many years to come. We acclimate when we go on vacation to Hawaii. Plants can do it as well.Someday, I will enjoy my pineapples, oranges and bananas that I grew in my Northwest garden and you will too!

1 Comments:
Rina said...
People should read this.
November 11, 2008 2:57 AM

Rina-Thanks for the comment. I will publish it again-Yolanda

Kansas City Ismene

2008-10-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Yolanda,

I am in the central portion of the country (Kansas City area), and one of my landscaping customers acquired some of your Ismene calathina and Ismene exotica bulbs this past summer. I planted the bulbs in mid August and they all produced foliage and the Ismene exotica even bloomed. Through my research on these bulbs, however, including information from your website, I understand that these are not able to survive our winter weather.-Roger

Thanks for the e-mail-Here are some answers:

1) When should the bulbs be dug up for winter storage?

A: As soon as the foliage turns brown or heavy frosts at night. If in the ground dig them up or grow them in containers and cut the greenery off and store container in a spot that never freezes.

2) What is the proper method to store the bulbs during the winter?

A: Dry in a paper bag, box, in shavings, newspaper or a container with dry soil. Treat them like a dahlia in colder climates. They make it most of the winters in the Northwest but we can lose them if we have ice storms or a few days straight of freezing temperatures.

3) When should these species be replanted?

A: When the evenings warm up in late spring and no chance of heavy freeze-not until at least May.

Vanveen Bulbs Garden Maven Newsletter October 2008

2008-10-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Vanveenbulbs.com, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, Washington 98625 503-970-2992
Toll free 1-888-289-2852 info@vanveenbulbs.com

New!!! Gift Ship!!!
We are adding a new gift shop to the web page where you can purchase many items. So far we have added Peacock Feathers.
Coming soon: Mistletoe and Holly

Peacock Feathers- 12/$20 50/$50 100/$85

Each feather 2-3 feet tall. Peacocks are beautiful birds and their feathers are a symbol of good luck and well-being throughout Asia and most of the world. According to eastern beliefs, the place to locate the feathers are near the front door of your home or business. Peacock feathers are excellent amulets to protect one against accidents, illness, burglaries, misfortunes and to ward off disease. The lovely feathers are also symbols of royalty, compassion and immortality, by virtue of their ability to absorb and neutralize bad energy and sickness. These exquisite birds are a symbol of beauty. The male peacocks molt (drop) their feathers each autumn and grow a new set of feathers over the winter in time to impress the chicks each spring so they are cruelty free. Not to mention they make great cat toys, fly fishing lures, earrings and tickle tools. They also look great in a vase alone or with floral arrangements and will last for decades. Please allow up to three weeks for delivery. Order by December 18th for Christmas Delivery. Items shipped separately. Additional shipping charges may apply. Great gift for yourself or others anytime of the year. Shipped USPS priority mail triangular tube.

To order:

http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=vanveen&Product_Code=IT123

Please go to vanveenbulbs.com for more info or contact us at info@vanveenbulbs.com or phone us at 1-888-289-2852

October Schedule:
Saturdays October Beaverton Farmers Market 8-1:30 pm.
Saturday Beaverton Market Holiday market Nov 22

Saturdays October-December 20th PSU Portland Farmers Market 9-2 pm.
Sundays Hillsdale Farmers Market-October through December
Wednesdays October 10-2 pm Portland Farmers Market., Park and Salmon
You can always order on-line at vanveenbulbs.com anytime of the year!!

New Flower Pictures on-line:Check out our Vanveenbulbs.com Gallery of Favorite Photos now on Flickr!
http://www.flickr.com:80/photos/29252080@N03/

Expertvillage.com Videos-We just finished another round of videos:
http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/9091_gardening-tips.htm

We still have green goddess callas, Large White Callas, Scilla Peruviana, and Naked Ladies Amaryllis Belladonna available.

We will continue shipping our fall bulbs tulips, daffodils, allium, hyacinths and more through the winter. Order now because we have a limited supply on many items. Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.

Thanks for your continued support in the gardening world.

Happy Planting!!!Vanveen Bulbs, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, WA USA

Ooh La La La Ciscoe-Thanks for the galtonia plug!!!

2008-09-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ciscoe's To-Do List: Hardy hyacinth is a late-summer standout
By CISCOE MORRIS
SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE P-I

It's surprising that you don't see Galtonia candicans (summer hyacinth) in many Northwest gardens. This intriguing member of the lily family hails from South Africa, yet is hardy to minus-20 degrees. The perennial bulb produces straplike leaves up to 3 feet tall beginning in spring.

Then in August, stunning 2- to 4-foot flower spikes rise from the tufts of foliage bearing up to 30 pendant, funnel-shaped, enticingly fragrant white flowers along the spire. They must be loaded with nectar, because hummingbirds find them irresistible.

Plant the bulbs in fall, 10 inches apart in a sunny location in well-drained soil amended with organic compost. Give them plenty of room as Galtonia resents being crowded by surrounding plants. The bulbs tend to rot if the soil stays overly wet in winter, so mulch yearly in fall with evergreen fern fronds to help repel excess rain.

Look for the bulbs at your local nursery, or buy them online at vanveenbulbs.com or
888-289-2852.

Ciscoe Morris is a King County Master Gardener who regularly gives gardening advice on radio and television. His Web site is ciscoe.com

A Portuguese Thank You

2008-09-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Yolanda Vanveen
I just wanna thank you, for your posted advices in Expert Village, witch i follow, and learn so much. I don't have much experience, but I'm learning a lot with all your knowledge, that you, so gracefully, share with all of us.
Thank you!
Susana Gonçalves, Portugal

An American Obrigada
Susana-
Thank you for the e-mail and the support. I was so excited to receive the e-mail! I can't believe someone in Portugal is watching the videos.
Keep checking for more videos on expertvillage.com. We filmed 58 segments two weeks ago that are now in editing and we are planning to shoot more tomorrow. I just returned from Octoberfest in Mt Angel, Oregon, a four day festival where we sell bulbs and I returned late last night. It is a crazy day today and I often think no one watches the videos so it is nice to know you care. It is giving me stength to get through today.
Ciao!
Yolanda

Bulb Watch 2008-Update from Fillmore Street Gardeners in San Fran

2008-09-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

So I noticed that the fillmore street gardeners posted an update to their Bulb Watch 2008 and they noticed that we are watching anxiously for each posting. Thanks to the Sparkles Matt and Jennifer! Looking forward to seeing you in San Mateo this March-The San Francisco Garden Show gardenshow.com is moving from the Cow Palace to the San Mateo Event Center. The word is that it will be an even better event for everyone! I can't wait to see you .

The guy on the street is the Crocosmia Lucifer-I am going to add your pix to my Flickr page as well-

http://fillmorestreetgardeners.blogspot.com/2008/08/bulb-watch-long-overdue-update.html

Welcome to Fillmore Street Gardeners. A blog about planting flowers on Fillmore Street/Lower Haight neighborhoods in San Francisco!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Bulb Watch - Long Overdue Update
Sadly life and work taken away from our gardening time this summer. The result has been very few posts over the last few months. The thing I love about bulbs is that they mostly take care of themselves. So while I have been working they have been blooming!It has been a couple months since the first of the bulbs we got at the home and garden show bloomed.

The first was the Fangio Red Lily. It bloomed and faded before anything got close.Well it is late summer now and we have had a heated race for second and third place.

The second one to bloom was the Casa Blanca . This was a stunning beauty. Huge blooms and it smelled delightful. At the garden show they called it the mother of all lilies and I was right there with them until......

The third place winner emerged. The is the "Aubade - White/Yellow" This is a stunner. I love this lily! The blooms are almost the size of the Casa Blanca but I find them much prettier. There were also more of them. I realize growing in containers limits you somewhat but I was thrilled with this Lily. Next year I am getting much more of these!

So our Bulb Watch has been all about lilies. Until this guy showed up on the street.I had thought this was the Acidanthera but it looks different than I imagined. The only other bulb it could be was the Crocosmia but it does not look like that either. Whatever the case this is a pretty cool flower. The foliage had been around all summer and I did not think it was going to do anything and then one day I notice the flower. I have anoter one of these out back but not much is happening.

Sadly our Dahlias did not really materialize. One out front got cut down before it could flower and the one in the pot is not doing well. These guys need a little more love than I have to give them I think.I still have a Begonia that has just started to break the surface. Which I hope to share with you at a future day.

So that is what is blooming around here. Looking back, the first bulbs to sprout, bloomed in the order they first broke the ground. I had a lot of fun with these bulbs. I can't wait until the garden show next year.

I will be sure to visit Vanveen Bulbs again. By they way they have been watching the results. Someone is reading the blog, besides my mom and our good friend Andrew! If only we could update it more.
Posted by Matt and Jennifer (The Sparkles)

Oregon Garden-A lesson in Sustainability by Yolanda Wilson

2008-09-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Oregon Garden Photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com:80/photos/29252080@N03/

Here is the article that just came out in the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Fall Bulletin I am honored to be able to share this wonderful information on sustainability-Way to go Oregon!

The Oregon Garden-A Lesson in Sustainability

By Yolanda Wilson

Many plant lovers are cancelling their garden tours to Europe, Africa and even Canada because of the increase in fuel, exchange and travel prices. We are looking for destinations that can be visited in a day that become memorable vacation experiences. At the same time we care about the environment and want to support sustainability and learn something along the way.

There is an answer. There are many public gardens to visit that are located in your own state. You don’t have to travel overseas or to another state to visit a beautiful garden- you can travel an hour south of Portland to the Oregon Garden. Where else can you go to see blues genius Jonny Lang or classic rocker George Thorogood in a gorgeous garden on a nice summer day?

The only poison you will find at the Oregon Garden is the 80s hair band, Poison. The best part is you can be home the same evening on a half a tank of gas.The Oregon Garden near Silverton, Oregon is a secret to many Oregonians. It is a beautiful oasis in the country with year-round activities to enjoy including concerts in the park, holiday festivals, roadster shows and plant sales. There is a tram, gift shop and café as well.

The directions to the Oregon Garden can make you feel like you belong to a secret club because it is easy to get lost. Once you are off of I-5 there are few signs so you must pay attention to the road signs. To go to the Oregon Garden is to go on a treasure hunt, you must have a map. Once you arrive you realize you are in for a treat. The garden is beautiful any time of the year and like everything else in Oregon, it is an example in sustainability that we can be proud to share with the world.
________________________________________________________

The Oregon Garden, 879 Main Street, Silverton, Oregon 97381 Toll Free-1-877-674-2733

From I-5 As you are traveling, look for the brown and white Oregon Garden signs as well as signs leading you to Silverton.When driving down I-5 south:Take the Brooks Exit, exit 263.
Turn left off the ramp to head east towards Silverton.At intersection with blinking red light turn right onto Hwy 99E.Left onto Hazelgreen Road. .

When driving up I-5 north:Take the Keizer/Chemawa Exit, exit 260.Turn right off the ramp onto Chemawa Rd. to head east towards Silverton.Stay straight at the intersection where Chemawa becomes Hazelgreen road4. Now both travelers who have originated from the North and South will be following the same directions. You will arrive at a four-way stop, stay straight to remain on Hazelgreen Road.5. At the next four-way stop, turn right onto Howell Prairie Road.6. At the following four-way stop, turn left onto Silverton Road.7. Turn right at the light onto Westfield St. You will pass a Dairy Queen, Safeway and Robert Frost Middle School. You’ll soon reach a stop sign where a large church stands in front of you.8. Turn right onto Main Street/Cascade Highway. The Garden is just a short sprint down the road on the left.
_______________________________________________________

Jill Martini, Horticultural Manager for the Oregon Garden explains how the Oregon Garden uses very little chemicals in their garden-

Compost Tea - Compost tea applications on the roses and vineyard. Organic Fertilizers- The kitchen garden is organic using bone meal, fish meal and blood meal for fertilizer.

Organic Deer Deterrants-Blood meal is used to keep the deer away.

Organic Insect Control-Neem oil and other horticultural oil for aphid control and other insects.

Worm Bins- Marion County has a home demonstration site at the garden with different composting techniques including an active worm bin which we use the end product and put all of our kitchen scraps from the cafe in the worm bin or in our compost piles.

Compost Piles-The Horticulture department composts all of the kitchen scraps. All debris from the garden is composted unless it is diseased or infested with insects then the material is burned. Noxious weeds such as horsetail and nut sedge are also burned.

Manure- Local dairy and horse manure is used in our annual display beds.

Recycling-All offices at the garden recycle paper.

Chemical alternatives in water features-The Oregon Garden use beneficial bacteria in some of the water features.

Organic Weed Control- Corn Gluten is used as an organic approach to pre-emergent weed control in beds, as well as numerous approaches to organic deer repellents. We also use hot water weed control on broadleaved weeds. We are in the process of converting our rose garden over to an organic approach.

Beneficial insects-Beneficial nematodes are used on plants with severe weevil damage and we have introduced lady beetles for aphid control in our roses.Invasive Plant Control using Seed Beetles-The Oregon Garden is working with the Oregon Department of Agriculture on scotch broom control using an insect called the seed beetle that attack the seedpods of scotch broom plants. The Bruchidius villosus or seed beetle larvae fee on the seeds in the seedpods of scotch broom and the adults feed on the pollen. It has been used successfully in New Zealand. For more information go to the ODA website: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/WEEDS/bio_profile_brvi.shtml

There are times, however, when there are no alternatives to chemicals because the insects can not be controlled with any other method yet.Insect Problems –The Oregon Garden uses pheromone traps to find out what kind of insect problems we may need to act upon. Some chemicals are used but no restricted chemicals have been used to date. Glyphosate has been used for weed control if it can not be controlled mechanically. The Garden has had crane fly issues in the past and have used pesticides on them. Hanging baskets have used Bt for control of budworm.

Renee Stoops is the Oregon Gardens Wetlands Coordinator and works with the Sustainable Plant Research and Outreach Center Center (SPROUT). She is an expert in sustainable wetlands. The Oregon Garden water features are an example of how the Oregon Garden has created a sustainable garden using waste water.

Recycling City Waste Water-The water in the wetlands and irrigation system is treated waste water from City of Silverton- secondarily treated (which means solids separation and stabilization of organic load) and also disinfected by ultraviolet light (more environmentally friendly than chlorine). The nutrient load in our water is high enough to yield unexpected growth rates in many of our trees and aquatic species but low enough that by the time our water returns to the local watershed (Brush Creek), the nutrient load has almost all been used or converted by the plants and beneficial bacteria in the wetlands.

Organic Algae Control-In many of the interactive water features here, we use potable water, but in the A-Mazing Water Garden, we started using the wetlands/treated wastewater about 5 or 6 years ago. To keep up with the extra algae pressure this caused, we used regular additions of commercially-produced beneficial bacteria in addition to adding fish/koi, which eat lots of algae. About 3 years ago, we started working with Oregon State University on research using barley straw to control algae. We no longer add bacteria as the barley produces or hosts enough on its own; we add new barley straw about twice per year. We have never added any copper treatments or similarly detrimental chemical treatments to our ponds.

Using Plants as Filters-A floating wetland has been added to The A-Mazing Water Garden to enhance the role that plant roots play in filtering the water. Plant roots suspended in the water perform a different filtering role than species planted in the soil around the pond edges. We are hoping to soon completely eliminate the mechanical filtration we do in this feature (which is high energy use and high maintenance) and use only the floating wetland filtration

Recycling Rain Water-Storm-water management is also important to the Oregon Garden and they have begun to incorporate features such as a Sustainable Parking Lot and the NREC Building Rain Garden. There is a green-roof on one of the smaller buildings and another green-roof to a larger shed was added in the spring. The Oregon Garden hopes to raise the money one day to put a large-scale green-roof on thel argest building, with a 20,000 sq ft roof.

A new resort at the Oregon Garden is scheduled to open in Fall 2008. It will be surrounded by even more luxurious gardens, a restaurant, lounge, spa and meeting spaces. It is a great location for conventions and weddings in a garden that is an Oregon treasure and an example in sustainability. Oregon Garden Resort Reservations can be made at 1-800-966-6490.

The entrance fee for the Oregon garden is $10 or less depending on the season and children under 7 are free. For more information about the Oregon Garden, go online at www.oregongarden.org or phone them at 1-877-674-8733.

Vanveen Bulbs Garden Maven Newsletter September 2008

2008-09-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Vanveen Bulbs Garden Maven Newsletter September 2008

Vanveenbulbs.com, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, Washington 98625 503-970-2992 Toll free 1-888-289-2852 info@vanveenbulbs.com

Vanveenbulbs.com Schedule September 2008-
Please go to their websitesor contact us at info@vanveenbulbs.com to request more information about any of these events:

Sept 11-14th Oktoberfest Mt. Angel, Oregon Note: We will not be at the farmers markets next weekend because we will be selling bulbs and doing the chicken dance in Mt. Angel!

Sept 20-21 Hardy Plant Society Sale, Expo Center, Portland, Oregon. We will be at the Beaverton and Hillsdale Markets this weekend and for the rest of the season. We will be at the Portland market when possible until the end of October and then every weekend through November and December.

Sept 25th Longview Garden Club, Longview, Washington 10 am

Late Sept/October Beaverton Farmers MarketLate Sept/October Wednesdays Portland Farmers MarketOctober-December Saturdays Portland Farmers Market

You can always order on-line at vanveenbulbs.com anytime of theyear!!

New Flower Pictures on-line:Check out our Vanveenbulbs.com Gallery of Favorite Photos now on Flickr! Since we receive so many photos from customers and people that visit the booth, I thought I would add them to flickr for all to see-These are some of my favorite flower pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29252080@N03/

Expertvillage.com Videos-We just finished another round of 56 videoswhich should be available to watch shortly. We have 250 videos on expert village currently. Search google videos flower bulbs or goto expertvillage.com to experts Yolanda Vanveen or to vanveenbulbs.com media page.

http://www.expertvillage.com/expert/921.htm?index=4

The Hardy Plant Society Fall Bulletin just came out with our article on the Oregon Garden. Go to Vanveenbulbs.com and to our blog to check it out in our June Articles!

http://vanveenbulbs.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

We have green goddess callas, Large White Callas, Scilla Peruviana, and Naked Ladies Amaryllis Belladonna available this weeek.

We will be shipping our fall bulbs tulips, daffodils and more starting the last week in September. Order now because we have a limited supply and many preorders on file.

Thanks for your continued support in the gardening world. Happy Planting!!!

To sign up to receive this newletter monthly go to vanveenbulbs.com on enter e-mail address on top of home page. Thanks!

Vanveen Bulbs, 423 Modrow Road, Kalama, WA USA

Beautiful Flower Pictures added to flickr

2008-09-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I just received some great pictures from my daughter Victoria when she was home from college and my Beaverton Farmers Market customers John and Michelle. Thanks for the photos! Check out our Vanveenbulbs.com Gallery of Favorite Photos now on Flickr!
Since I receive so many photos from customers and people that visit the booth, I thought I would add them to flickr for all to see-These are some of my favorite flower pictures:
http://www.flickr.com:80/photos/29252080@N03/

Internet Sales Gain as Retail Sales Slump

2008-08-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

Are you tired of hearing about the economy and how all the chains are closing their retail stores?
What the media has failed to mention is that most of these companies still have on-line stores but they are just dropping their retail stores because no one is shopping at the malls anymore.

They are going to farmers markets in their neighborhoods and they are going on-line to purchase what they formerly purchased at the mall. They are not renting movies when everything is on the movie channels. It is not the end of our economy.... it is a change in our economy. And luckily on-line businesses such as vanveenbulbs.com internet sales will continue to grow. Ten years ago my internet sales were maybe 10% of the total. Now it is up to 25% of my total sales.

I just thought I would mention that many of these companies still have web sites and many have outlet stores still. So when customers ask me if we will be opening a store anywhere my answer is a definate no! Not when we are at four farmers markets a week and 15 garden shows not to mention the internet. Why would I be that stupid?

CompUSA closed its stores because their online sales were huge and they didn't have any of the expenses of a store. It is too expensive to run a store when the internet sales are gaining such a huge percentage of the market:
Internet:
no employees
no insurance
no taxes
no theft (Huge part of loses in retail)
no warehouse size stores-Just drop ship items as ordered without having any on hand

I think you will find many of these companies will show huge profits in the coming years without the stupidity of retail stores. Even Macys and Nordstroms are hurting at the stores but apparently on-line sales are great.

I am getting more internet orders than ever because of the price of gas. Even someone in Salem ordered on-line and when I told her we are in Beaverton 45 minutes away each Saturday she said, "I don't want to pay that much in gas. It is easier and cheaper in the long run to stay home and have it shipped."

So I think that is the future.

Here is the list of closing stores-Again, what this info fails to mention is that most of these companies still have on-line stores and their profit margin on internet sales is ten times more than in a store. Hopefully, they can survive the transition from retail stores to internet.

STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS If you have gift cards, hurry up and use them!!

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide
A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month

Eddie Bauer to close more stores
Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.Cache closing stores Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide
The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming stores this year.The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores
About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming stores.. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill , another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.

Gap Inc. closing 85 stores
In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic . The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.

Foot Locker to close 140 stores
In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment

Wickes is going out of business
Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Goodbye Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already
The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay .

Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores
The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores
The Walt Disney Company announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords. Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney in the news release said it has also obtained theright to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.

Home Depot store closings (E. Brunswick, Rt 18 just put up their closing sign) ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc. announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S. stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those who have a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

Macy's - 9 stores

Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy The video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500

Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.

Pacific Sunwear - 153 Demo stores

Pep Boys - 33 stores

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back

Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed last May.

Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.

Bombay Company: (Freehold Mall store closed) The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information

Dillard's to Close More Stores
Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.

Vanveenbulbs.com Gallery of Favorite Photos now on Flickr

2008-08-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Since I receive so many photos from customers and people that visit the booth, I thought I would add them to flickr for all to see-These are some of my favorite flower pictures:

http://www.flickr.com:80/photos/29252080@N03/

Vanveen Bulbs featured in California newspaper article

2008-08-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Summer and fall blooming bulbs
By Jane Scurich

Years ago I thought of bulb planting as a fall activity coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday. Daffodil, tulip, and hyacinth bulbs promised a colorful spring garden.
More recently I have learned that bulbs, rhizomes, corms, tubers and tuberous roots can provide year-round color in my garden by choosing a variety of spring, summer and fall bloomers. The vast array of bulb choices far exceeds the gladiolas, dahlias and lilies available in the local nursery.

An alternative to shopping for these summer specialty bulbs from print material or websites is to visit the Marketplace at the upcoming San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, March 21-25 at the Cow Palace. I have been shopping the Marketplace for several years and my garden has benefited from the variety of outstanding bulbs I have purchased there.

Most of the bulb exhibitors are the actual growers. You will have an opportunity to discuss your garden and receive expert advice on optimum planting and growing conditions.
Take a few moments to meet Peter and Yolanda Wilson, Master Gardeners who own Vanveen Bulbs International in Washington State. They offer an outstanding variety of bulbs you will not easily find in other places. Visit their website at www.vanveenbulbs.com for a preview of what they will be offering at the Marketplace.

My favorite purchase from the Marketplace last year was the Ismene exotica, White Ismene (is-mean), also known as Peruvian Daffodil, or Spider Lily. This is a lovely frilly white flower which resembles a spring daffodil but graces the summer garden. It is named for Hymen, the Greek God of marriage and the son of Apollo. I am planning to add more white and some yellow Ismene to my garden from this year’s Marketplace.

Another bulb which flowers in late summer that I enjoy is Liatris, (lee-at-ris) also
known as Blazing Star. In late summer, up to 2 foot tall spikes of white or rose-purple flowers open bloom from the top down. I have been growing these for several years and have been impressed with how effortlessly they multiply and produce delightful cut flowers for summer arrangements.

For late summer or early fall blooms Amaryllis belladonna or Naked Lady is a familiar sight around our dry September landscape. Trumpet shaped, rosy pink flowers on tall stems with no leaves appear out of the most unwelcoming looking soil. Contrast the Naked Lady growth habit with another fall bloomer, Aconitum (ak-o-ni-tum) or Monkshood, which should never be allowed to dry out. Try them in a moist shaded area of the garden and you will be rewarded with deep blue, helmet shaped flowers very similar to delphiniums but with very different cultural habits.

A few of the bulbs I am planning to try this year are Eucomis (yoo-ka-mis) or pineapple lily and Tricyrtis (Trai-seer-tis) Toad Lily. The Eucomis grows best in rich soil in sun to part shade. The Tricyrtis prefers rich moist soil, never going completely dry. The blooms are purported to make excellent cut flowers resembling orchids.

Note: The San Fran show has been moved to San Mateo for March 2009. For more information go to gardenshow.com. Thanks Jane for being a great customer and garden writer and for featuring our business!!!

Vanveen Bulbs Garden Maven Newsletter August 2008

2008-08-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Vanveen Bulbs Garden Maven Newsletter August 2008
Modrow Road, Kalama, Washington 98625 info@vanveenbulbs.com 503-970-2992

New gardening video series
GardenTime.tv, the local Portland, Oregon gardening show aired our segment on colored calla liles and cannas. Check them out on our media page on vanveenbulbs.com or go to gardentime.tv
http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/media.shtml
Color Calla Lilies
Smart Gardening Garden Time TV
or go to expertvillage.com and go to experts then y for Yolanda
See you in cyberspace!
How to Understand & Appreciate Bamboo
How to Grow Your Perfect Garden
How to Grow Healthy & Beautiful Tulips
How to Pick the Right Summer Flower Bulb for You
How to Pick the Right Spring Flower Bulb for You
How to Keep House Plants Healthy & Alive
Compost
How to Create a Moon Garden
How to Plant Square Foot Gardens
Planting Fall-Blooming Bulbs
How to Pick Flower Bulbs
How to Pick Garden Decorations
Extreme Makeover for Houseplants
How to Identify Spring Flowers in Bloom
Planting Flower Bulbs in Containers
South African Flower Bulbs
Flowers for Shade Gardens

Check out our blog on our website for recent articles on invasive weeds, the Oregon Garden and more at:http://vanveenbulbs.blogspot.com/

It is time to order Spring Blooming Bulbs at vanveenbulbs.com!
We are looking forward to mid September when tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, iris, crocus and unusual bulbs such as lycoris will be in stock. We have a limited supply so order early at vanveenbulbs.com.

Where to find us this summer:

On-line at vanveenbulbs.com

Saturdays
Beaverton Farmers Market
Portland State Farmers Market

Sundays 10-2
Hillsdale Farmers Market

Wednesdays 10-2
Portland State Farmers Market

For market information check out their websites:
Beaverton Farmers Market, The Hillsdale Farmers Market and the Portland Farmers Market

The following bulbs are available to plant right now:
Crocosmia Lucifer
Crocosmia Yellow
Tricyrtis Formosana
Astilbe Fanal
Astilbe Peach Blossom
Aconitum
Yellow Calla Lilies
Ismene Exotica White
Scilla Peruviana
Cyclamen Neapolitanum

The following bulbs will be available later in the month:
Large White Calla Aethiopica
Green Goddess Calla
Amaryllis Belladonna

You can order them on-line at vanveenbulbs.com
or phone us at 1-888-289-2852or 503-970-2992
or e-mail us at info@vanveenbulbs.com

Just Say No to East Coast Plant Invaders

2008-07-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Approximately 20% to 30% of all plant species growing in the U. S. have come from other continents with several having the potential to become serious problems to gardeners and environmentalists. Many plants are a problem on the East Coast and are moving West at a rapid rate. Did you know bachelor buttons and kudzu are invading many areas of the East?
Wild west gardeners beware and spread the word not the flowers.

Invasive plants reproduce rapidly crowding out native species, damaging natural areas, and altering ecosystems. Many were brought into the U.S. as landscaping plants and have escaped cultivation. Most produce large numbers of seeds that are dispersed over large areas by the wind or birds and other wildlife making them difficult to control. Mechanical removal and non-chemical treatments should be used to control these invasive exotics whenever possible. These include methods like hand pulling, digging, tilling, cutting, girdling, mulching or burning.

As a last resort a chemical herbicide can be used. A glyphosate herbicide such as Roundup, or Rodeo (for aquatic areas) is often recommended where mechanical removal is not effective. Read and follow all instructions when using any herbicide applying the least amount of the safest chemical to specific species of plants in a specific area. This is only a partial list

INVASIVE TREES
Acer ginnala, (Amur Maple) introduced in the U.S. in the 1860s is native of China, Manchuria, and Japan. There are extensive wild populations in Illinois and Missouri. The seeds are widely disseminated by the wind. It displaces native shrubs and understory trees in open forests, and shades out native species in prairie habitats. Control wild populations by cutting and treating the stumps with a glyphosate herbicide. It can also be controlled with fire in prairies.

Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-heaven) introduced as an ornamental tree in the 1780s is native to China. It is found in the wild from Massachusetts to northern Florida, and Texas, and west to California, and Washington. Its seeds are spread by the wind and it has abundant root sprouts that can develop into extensive thickets displacing native vegetation. In urban areas it is a maintenance problem for landscapers. Control by cutting and treating the stumps with a glyphosate herbicide.

Melia azedarach (Chinaberry Tree) introduced in the southeast in the 1830s is native to southwestern Asia. In Florida it is listed as a category 1 invasive plant. It spreads at a phenomenal rate, outcompeting native herbaceous and deciduous plants in open and wooded habitats from the Carolinas to Texas. Seedlings can be hand pulled and the seed producing mature tree should be removed.

Paulownia tomentosa (Princess Tree) introduced in the 1840s as an ornamental is native to China. It has escaped cultivation in the eastern half of the U.S. where it can grow in most habitats and outcompete native species. It can cause maintenance problems along roads and utility rights-of -way and in gardens. Control by hand pulling small seedlings and by cutting larger trees and treating the stump with a 50% solution of glyphosate herbicide.

Ulmus pumila (Siberian Elm) introduced in the 1860s is native to China and Siberia. It has escaped cultivation and has invaded areas from Utah and Idaho and eastward. Seeds are disseminated by the wind forming thickets that can invade and dominate prairies. Control by hand pulling seedlings and girdling larger trees or by cutting and treating the stumps with a glyphosate herbicide or by regular controlled burns in prairies.

INVASIVE SHRUBS Berberis thunbergii ( Japanese Barberry ) introduced in the late 1800s is native to Asia and has become extremely invasive in recent years in the East and Midwest. It grows in sun or partial shade in most soil types forming thickets that shade out native plants with possible adverse effects on birds and other wildlife that depend on native plants. Control by hand pulling or digging plants, regular mowing, and with prescribed burns in prairies and savannahs. Can be treated with a glyphosate herbicide.

Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian Olive) was brought to the U.S. in the early 1900s and is native to Europe and western Asia. It was used for windbreaks and erosion control and in landscaping. It has escaped cultivation in 17 states and continues to spread, quickly taking over streambanks and wet meadows, choking out native plants and adversely affecting the birds that depend upon them. Small trees can be removed with a weed-pulling tool when the ground is moist. Larger trees can be cut and the stump painted with a glyphosate herbicide.

Elaeagnus umbellate (Autumn Olive) was introduced in the U.S. in 1917 and is native to Afghanistan, China, Korea, and Japan. It can dominate almost any landscape type growing rapidly into an impenetrable, thorny thicket crowding out more valuable native species. A single plant can produce 200,000 seeds each year that are widely spread by birds. Young seedlings can be hand pulled in the early spring and larger shrubs can be cut and the stump painter with a glyphosate herbicide. Periodic fires, cutting or native plant competition do not reliable control this shrub.

Euonymus alatus (Burning Bush) introduced in the 1860s is native of Asia. It grows well in sun or shade and dry or moist soils and has escaped cultivation in the eastern U.S. and Midwest where it replaces native shrubs. Control by cutting and painting the stumps with a glyphosate herbicide.

Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper) introduced into the U.S. as an evergreen groundcover and is native to Asia. Its seeds are dispersed over a several mile radius by birds. It has invaded forests in the eastern and midwestern states from Chicago, Il. southward where It can form dense mats that smother and kill wildflowers. Control by hand-pulling or cutting and applying a 20% solution of a glyphosate herbicide to the stems.

Ligustrum vulgar (Common or European Privet) L. sinense (Chinese Privet) L. japonicum (Japanese Privet) These three Privet have been widely used as hedges and all are prolific producers of seed relished by birds that spread them far from their original plantings. They are extremely aggressive and can form dense, impenetrable thickets crowding out more desirable native plants. Control by hand digging small plants or with a glyphosate herbicide. Use foliage treatment for actively growing plants or cut and treat the stumps.

Lonicera maackii, (Amur Honeysuckle) native to China, Korea, and Japan was introduced in 1896.Lonicera morrowii, (Morrow Honeysuckl) native to Japan was introduced in the late1800s.Lonicera tatarica, (Tatarian Honeysuckle) native to Turkey and southern Russia. Bush Honeysuckle has escaped over a large portion of the Eastern U.S. and Midwest. It grows in a wide range of conditions transforming prairies into scrub and invades forests crowding out the native flora. Control by hand pulling small plants and cutting large plants and painting the stumps with a 20% solution of glyphosate herbicide.

Rhamnus cathartica (Common or European Buckthorn) native to Eurasia was introduced in the 1800s and now grows in the wild throughout the northeastern and northcentral third of the U.S. It invades prairies, savannahs, and woodlands forming impenetrable thickets displacing native species. All parts of the tree contain anthraquinones, which cause vomiting and diarrhea if eaten. Control by pulling seedlings and girdling larger shrubs at the bass or cut and treat with a glyphosate herbicide in mid to late Autumn.

Rhamnus frangula (Smooth or Glossy Buckthorne) native to Eurasia introduced in the U.S. in the 1800s as an ornamental shrub. It has aggressively invaded bogs, marshes, riverbanks, fens, and dry sites such as prairies, sand forests, and roadsides. Due to its prolific seed production it rapidly invades wetlands, crowding out native species. Control with a foliar application of a 2% solution of glyphosate herbicide during spring growth or cut and treat stumps with a 50% solution.

Rosa multiflora (Multiflora Rose) introduced from Japan and Korea in the 1860s as an ornamental shrub it has spread rapidly over the eastern and midwestern U.S. and is classified as a noxious weed in several states. Control with continued mowing or by pulling or digging after the thorny tops have been removed or cut and treat with a glyphosate herbicide.
Spiraea japonica (Japanese Spiraea) introduced from Asia and commonly sold through mail-order catalogs and local nurseries. It has escaped cultivation and grows in cool but not dry habitats from New England to Indiana south to Tennessee and Georgia. It can spread rapidly forming dense colonies dominating streamsides and rich woodland understories displacing native plants. Control with a strong solution of glyposate herbicide to the leaves of growing plants prior to flowering.

ANNUALS and PERENNIALS '
Alliria petiolata (Garlic Mustard) native to Europe, North Africa, Sri Lanka, and India now can be found from Quebec and Ontario, south to North Carolina and Kentucky, and west to Kansas and North Dakota. This biennial herb invades forested natural areas dominating the ground layer and is a severe threat to native species. Control with early spring fire, hand pulling, or cutting at ground level when in full bloom and removing the cut stems. A 2% solution of Roundup can be applied in spring or fall when most native vegetation is dormant. Basagran (Bentazon) spray can also be used with less effect on evergreen shrubs.

Carduus nutans (Musk Thistle) native of Europe introduced in the 1850's and has now naturalized over a wide area of the U. S. and Canada. Listed as a noxious weed in Missouri, It grows in old fields, pastures, along roadsides, and is a major weed on range and pasture land. It invades native grass lands and glade communities. Both annual and biennial it can produce 11,000 thousand seeds per plant with the seeds beginning to disperse within 7 days of flowering and remaining viable for up to 10 years. The best control is by hand cutting at ground level with a sharpened shovel just before flowering to destroy the root crown buds. Chemical control is most effective when the plants are in rosette stage and least effective when it is in flower.

Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower or Bachelor’s button) originally from Europe and the Near East it is now found almost worldwide. It has escaped from cultivation throughout the U.S. and is particular invasive in native grasslands and prairies. It is a common addition to commercial wildflower mixes so carefully read your product labels. Once established, it is difficult to control. Glyphosate herbicide is effective but will also kill the surrounding native grasses and wildflowers.

Cirsium arvense (Canada Thistle), native to Europe, is listed as a noxious weed in Missouri. It has spread throughout the northern U. S. east of the Rocky Mountains. It is introduced by airborne seeds into disturbed areas where it spreads rapidly by rhizomes or root segments. This alien species can crowd out native forbs and grasses in prairies, glades, and savannas, especially in disturbed areas. Control with late spring prescribed fires, May and June. Early spring burns may increase sprouting and reproduction. Repeated pulling or cutting plants from June through August is also effective. A spring application of Roundup applied when the plants are 6 to 10 inches tall normally kills the entire plant, including the roots.

Coronilla varia (Crown Vetch) was introduced in the 1950s as erosion control and is native to southwest Asia and northern Africa. It invades sunny areas in the Northeast and Midwest shading out native plants and degrading wildlife habitat and is now being considered for control by federal, state, and local agencies. The best control is to not plant Crown Vetch. Control small areas by covering with a heavy mulch to deprive the plant of sunlight. Weed-b-Gon (2,4-d and dicamba) used with caution also provides effective control.

Dipsacus fullonum (Common Teasel) is a native of Europe. It invades natural habitats, fields, pastures, roadsides, railroads, and disturbed ground. It can form dense stands that are difficult to eradicate. Teasel seed heads are widely used in crafts and dried arrangements and It is commonly spread when these are discarded carelessly.

Euphorbia esula (Leafy Spurge) native to Europe and is a serious management problem in the north and central plains states in both moist and dry sites and is especially aggressive in dry situations. If left unchecked native forbs and grasses can be completely displaced by leafy spurge in a few years. It reproduces by both seeds and crown and root buds making it difficult to eradicate. Control with a combination of prescribed fire and herbicide spray. Spray in September, burn the following spring (April), spray a second time in June and follow with a burn in October.

Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed) a native of eastern Asia introduced as an ornamental in the late 19th century. It has spread over most of the eastern and northern U.S. and Lower Canada. It is a particular problem along riverbanks and wet areas where it forms dense stands that exclude native vegetation and reduce wildlife habitat. Once established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Control by digging out the entire plant, including tiny pieces of rhizome or with persistent cutting throughout the growing season and/or repeated use of a glyphosate herbicide.

Lespedeza cuneata (Sericea Lespedeza) a native of eastern Asia and has been used extensively for erosion control along highways in the eastern and Midwestern U. S. It invades open ground, meadows, fields, prairies, roadsides and woodlands crowding out native species. Birds spread the seed far from its original plantings. It is difficult to control once established.

Lotus corniculatus (Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Deer Vetch) introduced in the 1880s and now commercially available in 25 cultivars and planted throughout the U.S. and Canada for livestock forage and as erosion control. It thrives in the tallgrass prairies in the Midwest where it can form dense mats choking out most native vegetation. Herbicides containing MCPA and clopyralid provide effective control when applied as a foliar spray.

Lythrum salicaria (Purple Loosestrife) a native of Eurasia introduced in the northeastern U.S. in the early 1800s it has since spread through the temperate parts of North America and is expanding its range colonizing wetland habitats, including meadows, marshes, riverbanks, and lake shores. Extensive stands replace native vegetation reducing the food and shelter for wildlife. Loosestrife has been declared a noxious weed in several states however cultivars of L. salicaria and L. virgatum are widely available. Hand pull individual plants however large populations are extremely difficult to control. Soil disturbance through digging may enhance its spread. Frequent cutting at ground level is effective but must be continued for several years (burn the cut stems because the plants resprout from fragments). Spot treatments of a glyphosate herbicide are also effective.

INVASIVE GRASSES
Festuca arundinacea (Tall Fescue) a native of Europe used in the U.S. for erosion control, as a pasture grass, and a turfgrass. It is invasive throughout the warmer, drier areas from Texas and Florida to Canada where it has replaced diverse native herbaceous communities, especially in the remnant prairies of the Midwest. Control with prescribed fires when the fescue is flowering and its energy reserves are low. Repeat burning annually for several years. Light infestations can be controlled with spot applications of a glyphosate herbicide in the spring and fall when other more desirable species are dormant.

Phalaris Aquatica (also known as P. Tuberosa, Harding grass) introduced into the northern U.S. for forage from Europe and Asia and is found widely from coast to coast today. It occupies drainage ways and has invaded many wetland habitats, including wet prairies in the Midwest. In the wild it spreads vegetatively forming dense clumps that coalesce into single-species stands covering large acreages and crowding out native species. In the garden it can be hand-pulled. Control in the wild by mowing, prescribed burning and wick application of a glyphosate herbicide licensed for use over water.

Sorghum halepense (Johnson Grass) a native of southern Europe and Asia it has spread nearly world wide. This is a widespread noxious weed that invades prairies, stream banks and riverbank communities as well as pastures, crop fields, roadsides, and open, disturbed areas. It spreads easily both from seeds and pieces of the white, fleshy rhizomes.

INVASIVE VINES Celatrus orbiculatus (Oriental or Asiatic Bittersweet) introduced to the U.S. in the mid 1800s from Japan, Korea and China, and has escaped cultivation from Maine to Georgia and west to Minnesota. It is a menace to natural and landscaped areas throughout the East. Control with regular mowing or with triclopyr herbicide used as a foliar spray on applied to freshly cut stumps.

Hedera helix (English Ivy) native to Eurasia introduced in North America in colonial times. It has escaped cultivation in Middle Atlantic, Southeast and West Coast states and is considered a serious problem California, Oregon and Washington. The plant forms "ivy deserts" in forests, crowding out native trees and shrubs that are essential for wildlife. The best control is by hand removal. Herbicides are not effective on English Ivy.

Lonicera japonica (Japanese or Hall’s Honeysuckle) native to East Asia, introduced in New York in 1806 as a landscape plant and has spread over the eastern half of the U.S. from Massachusetts to Florida, Texas, Missouri and Illinois. Japanese Honeysuckle spreads rapidly overtopping and smothering small trees and shrubs. Control with a 1.5% glyphosate herbicide used as a foliar spray shortly after the first killing frost when native plants are dormant. Pulling, cutting, mowing or burning generally stimulates dense regrowth.

Pueraria lobata (Kudzu) native to Japan was introduced at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876 and now extends from Connecticut to Missouri and Oklahoma, south to Texas and Florida. It was used for livestock forage in the south and for erosion control on roadsides. Kudzu covers everything in its path growing up to 1 foot per day. Control with overgrazing, prescribed fires, digging, or repeated cutting followed with herbicide application in late summer continued over a 3 to 4 year period.

Protecting Alien Plant Invaders - Noxious Weeds

2008-07-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Protecting Alien Plant Invaders
By Yolanda Wilson

Each state releases a list of invasive weeds that they recommend you remove immediately from your property if you live near natural areas because they are a threat to our native species. Most are not originally from the United States. The red list for the Pacific Northwest includes known culprits such as scotch broom, blackberries, and English ivy. These plants may become problems all across the country in the future.

Native plants can also become invasive. On the Oregon list there are 258 plants listed of which 14 are native plants. Washington has 149 total plants with 19 native plants listed as invasive. Plant bullies come from all parts of the world including our own wilderness areas. Some otherwise nice native plants become invasive when they grow in certain conditions.

What may surprise you is that there are some flowers on the list that may live in your backyard. They shouldn’t become a problem if they are contained in the city but watch out for them if you live near a natural area. Plants become a problem in one area and have a tendency to spread. Watch out for all invasive plants on all lists because they have the potential to become a pest in any countryside in the future.

Oregon State Red List Noxious Flowers

Dwarf Snapdragon (Chaenorhinum minus)
Queen Anne’s Lace/Wild Carrot (Daucus carota)
Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila paniculata)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia azurea)
Cape Tulip (Homeria)
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Wetland Nightshade (Solanum tampicense)

Washington State Red List Noxious Flowers
Venice Mallow (Hibiscus trionum)
St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum)
Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus)
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Wild Four o’Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea)
Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata)
Yellow Floating Heart Lily (Nymphoides peltata)
Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeanifolium)

In South Africa the Cape fynbos a unique floral kingdom is threated by Australian acacias. The worst plant invaders to the area are lantana, chromolaena, seringa (lilac) and pereskia (Barbados gooseberry), black wattle, prickly pear, bugweed and bramble.

Many rivers and dams are clogged with water hyacinth, Kariba weed or Parrot’s feather. Mesquite is crowding out native plants. There are more than 700 alien plant species in southern Africa and 10% are invasive aliens.

None of these plants cause problems in their native lands. Their invasive qualities were unsuspected, which goes to show that no alien plant or animal should ever be released into the wild without screening for its invasive potential. Almost any alien could become an invader.
If you have any of these plants in your yard, please be careful to keep them contained and if you are near a natural area you are advised to eradicate it from your property. Yep 86 them out of your yard by removing them completely including all roots. Permanently. No parole. No moving back to its native area. The death penalty is the only answer if we are to save native plants from being pushed out by invasive plants. You can also relocate them to the inner city and hope they do not escape into the wild again.

Beautiful flowers can be killers
The butterfly bush (Buddleia or Buddleja) pronounced BUD-lee-ah is also called summer lilac because of it’s cone shaped flowers that look like Syringa blooms. They are a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds and great for wildlife. Yet they are invasive in Oregon meaning they are crowding out all the native and nonnative plants in their new areas.
There are over 100 Buddleia species and cultivars from North America, South America, Africa and Asia with new varieties recently discovered in the Himalayas. They grow well everywhere in the landscape. Butterflies, bees and birds are attracted to the blossoms that smell like honey. Some varieties stay small so are not as invasive as others.
The butterfly bush is not invasive in neighborhoods where they can be controlled by cutting the blooms off the plant before they go to seed and by pulling up the new starts when they start to overcrowd. They can be grown in a container next to the house for even more separation from others.

When they are grown in a backyard that is next to an undeveloped area the butterfly bush has a chance to be an obnoxious bully. The seeds jump the fence and they get loose in parks and other natural areas and crowd all the native plants out of the way. In these cases, we must step in and remove them from the area.

Explorers brought exotic plants back to England
The name Buddleia come from a seventeenth-century amateur botanist named Reverend Adam Buddle when the first butterfly bush reached England in 1774 from Chile. But it wasn’t until 1896 that they became popular when new varieties of Butterfly Bush came to England from China.
Buddleia davidii, the hardy species was introduced and is still the most familiar to gardeners today. Named after a French Jesuit missionary, Pere Armand David, B. davidii reached London's Kew Gardens in 1896. Since that time the English have brought their butterfly bushes with them to the States.

The problem is that butterfly plants multiply rapidly. They bear many children. The seedlings come up fast and strong. They usually succeed in killing all plants around them as they crowd them out. They have spread from gardens along the East Coast to the Southern States all the way to the West coast. They love to grow next to creeks and lakes and follow the waterways every direction overtaking all other plants in their path.

In urban neighborhoods, the Butterfly Bush is usually contained so it is not of huge concern that you get it out of your garden. No one will come to your house and ask you to remove your plants. However, please be responsible and do not grow it near a natural area or waterway. Get rid of the plant by removing all the roots (eradication) because they will grow easily from the smallest root.

Protecting an exotic invasive species
Having acquired a beautiful butterfly bush two summers ago I appreciate how beautiful it is in the yard. I am in Washington State so it is safe. It is on the red list for Oregon, not Washington. It is such a gorgeous pink color. I keep it contained to one area and cut the blooms off before it goes to seed and it can’t go very far. There is a road next to it. If I ever moved back to Oregon I couldn’t take it with me if I was moving near natural areas. It is on the most wanted list.
So I am harboring an alien plant invader in Washington who has been banned from the wild areas in Oregon and has been placed on the eradicate if found in nature list. Foreign plants are either beautiful exotic guests in your garden or are considered plant invaders because they wreck havoc with our natural environment. It is our responsibility to keep them under control whether they are on a list or not.

Butterfly bush threatens native wetlands
On the Salmon Creek Trail near Vancouver, Washington there is a home on top of the hill near the native wetland. There are some beautiful butterfly bushes in their backyard that overlooks the pristine natural Salmon Creek area.

You can see how the seeds have come down and multiplied so there are now many plants growing down the hill towards the wetlands area. The butterfly plant loves these conditions.
In this instance all the plants need to be removed from the trail since it is such a beautiful native area that is being taken over by the butterfly bush. Eradicate it.
According to the Pacific Northwest Exotic Pest Plant Council, more than 160 different nonnative plants are alien invaders in Oregon and Washington. When these plants become weedy, they contribute the decline of our quality of life through altering the ecological balance of our native and wetland habitats.

Consumers not told of plant’s invasive potential
We buy these plants without knowing their reputations. The red list isn’t something we pick up at a nursery or farmers market. Most people selling and purchasing plants don’t even know about it and it isn’t strictly enforced.

However, it is our responsibility as gardeners to tell everyone we know about invasive plants and stop the spread of invasive weeds. Like me, you may believe the plants on the list are gorgeous in the garden but butterfly plants are bullies. They push all the locals out of the way. They need to grow somewhere where they can be controlled and enjoyed for their beauty. Like your backyard or a botanical garden that is not near any natural areas.

Invasive exotic plants were introduced to your area for various reasons. Many were planted for their beauty in the garden and as water plants. Some invasive herbs were used medicinally while others began as agricultural crops. Some, like foxglove, arrived with the first European settlers, and are now so widespread some people consider them natives.

English ivy chokes out all plants in its path
Others like English ivy have beautiful foliage but are chocking out all the plants and buildings they grow across. They are like pythons twisting and wrapping around other plants suffocating them in a slow death. They cover the forest floor and the sunny fields so that no native plants can grow through it. English ivy can grow up a house or along the foundation and it will literally eat away the strongest cement or brick.

At Pioneer Hall at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon ivy used to grow up the side of the wall. It was beautiful. A girl in my radio class used to have parties in her room and we thought it was great how the ivy grew through the wall and covered the inside of her room.

Then one day the ivy was removed after growing there for over 50 years. A large hole remained where the ivy was clinging to the wall. It had eaten away the whole corner of the building. They patched it up with cement and brick but it was an amazing sight how the ivy had eaten away the brick wall up to five bricks deep.

Little Shop of Horrors
Most gardeners can relate to nerds like Seymour in the Little Shop of Horrors. We take plants home that are beautiful like Audrey II because they seem so harmless. But then all of a sudden our welcomed guest gets out of control. When I look at ivy taking over a garden or natural area I hear “Feed Me” racing through my head and I want to run.

Lettie my elderly neighbor downstairs in Portland also had a beautiful ivy growing in her living room. It had covered the outside wall to the duplex and eaten away the wall until it found the inside of the house. I guess it is quite common in the Northwest to see it as a house plant. It just grows through a wall and doesn’t stop. Ivy has always creeped me out a bit. Like Audrey II in the Little Shop of Horrors, it reaches out and grabs you.

When walking through crowded ivy I feel like it is going to wrap around and grab me and pull me down. When I see suffocating trees it makes me want to cry. English ivy forms “ivy deserts” in forests, crowding out native trees and shrubs that are essential to wildlife. The plants underneath the ivy do not receive light or water.

Conservation through eradication
What can I and others do to make a difference? The only answer is removing invasive plants from the area. The best control is by hand removal. Herbicides are not effective on English Ivy and are not good for the environment because they kill all plants in the area. Although they say they are safe it just doesn’t seem right exposing all the birds, insects and animals to something that can kills plants.

Pulling the ivy out of the ground and away from trees is the answer. Cutting the stems of the ivy at the bottom of trees helps but they will still survive, eating away at the trees so they must be pulled out of the trees.

Like many other plants Hedera helix (English ivy) is native to Eurasia and introduced in North America in colonial times. It has escaped cultivation on the East Coast, Southeast and the West Coast states where it is considered a serious problem in native areas.

Be obnoxious to stop the noxious
To be obnoxious is to be offensive not defensive about doing something to stop noxious weeds. It is our responsibility to tell everyone how they can help by making some informed gardening decisions. Here is what you can do-

Review your state’s invasive weed list by going online to plants.usda.gov and click on Invasive and Noxious weeds and find out what plants you should not plant near waterways or natural areas.
So which states do you think have the most invasive weeds listed? Check out some of the state results:

Oregon 258, California 243, Washington state 149, Florida 105, Connecticut 101, Hawaii 94,
Colorado 78, Nevada 52, Idaho 40, Nebraska 11, Wisconsin 5, Tennessee 3
The plants listed on each report have the potential to push out native plants in your area as well. Let’s just keep an eye on all of them if we see them in the natural areas around us. There are invasive plants in all areas, some are not reported because are not in populated areas or no one fills out the form and turns it in to the USDA. It only takes one person to tattle on invasive plants they see in natural areas pushing out native plants. This doen’t mean we must stop using them in our personal gardens. We just can’t let them get loose out of their neighborhood cages.
§ If you see any of these plants in a park or public area pushing out native plants , alert the USDA, state, and local agencies, groundskeepers and the city and arrange to have them eradicated. Put together a work party if you can. Remove all red listed plants from natural areas.
§ Avoid driving in noxious weed infested areas. Seeds can become stuck in tire treads or mud on the vehicle and be carried to unaffected areas.

§ Don't remove flowering plants from the wild that are noninvasive or endangered.

§ If you find a small number of isolated noxious weeds that have no flowers or seeds, pull the weeds and leave them where you found them to dry out.

§ If you find noxious weeds and they have flowers or seeds, pull them, place them in a plastic bag or container to avoid spreading seeds, and either burn them or dispose of them in a sanitary landfill.

§ Report newly-found noxious weeds that you see in natural areas. People will get involved if they see them first hand pushing other plants around.

§ Near wild ecosystems, replace your invasive plants with noninvasive native and exotic plants and keep an eye on them. Most plants make great guests and do not take over the neighborhood and natural areas.

Additional information about noxious plants in Washington (the information applies to everyone on the planet) can be found at:

WA-Department of Agriculture
WA-Department of Ecology
WA-Gardening in Western Washington (Weeds)
WA-Washington Invasive Species Coalition
WA-Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board
Washington Extension Service

Invasive Weeds More of an Economic Threat than Global Warming

2008-07-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

I just received my electronic newsletter from the Oregon Association of Nurserymen and read this article with astonishment-Help spread the word-pull ivy, cut your butterfly bush blooms so they don't go to seed and make a difference.-Yolanda

Report: Economic Impacts of Invasive Species May Rival that of Climate Change in Oregon

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new report prepared for the Oregon Invasive Species Council concludes that the state needs to more strongly consider the economic consequences of addressing invasive species and not just focus attention on the biology and ecology.
Written by Chris Cusack and Michael Harte of Oregon State University, the report says economics “provides us with many of the tools we need to understand and tackle the invasive species problem.”
“Invasive species already cost Oregon hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost agricultural production and control, yet we still tend to think of them as biological issues, not economic ones,” said Harte, who directs the Marine Resource Management Program at OSU. “Over the next 20 years, the economic impact of invasive species will be as big, if not bigger in Oregon than the impacts of global warming.
“Not until we make that shift in people’s minds will we get traction on the issue and begin more serious efforts at prevention,” Harte added.
The authors say the best general estimate for direct and indirect impacts of invasive species nationally is about $140 billion a year. Although no total figure is available for Oregon, estimates for some invasive species control projects include:
• $120 million a year for 21 species of noxious weeds, resulting in agricultural production losses, fire damage and control costs;
• $7 million a year to control the outbreak of Sudden Oak Death – a total which could jump to $79 million to $304 million annually through nursery production losses if the disease becomes established;
• $25 million a year maintain 13 hydropower facilities if zebra mussels gain a foothold in Oregon waterways;
• $10 million to $31 million a year to remove invasive plants from Portland and replace them with native species over a five-year period;
• $6 million in 2006-07 to eradicate an illegally introduced fish (Tui Chub) responsible for food chain impacts that led to dangerous levels of toxic cyanobacteria blooms in Diamond Lake;
• $22.7 million invested by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board on invasive species projects since 1999. A portion of this investment went to restoration projects after control of the invasive species.
These estimates don’t even begin to address less measurable economic costs related to invasive species, Harte pointed out. The Australasian burrowing isopod has been discovered in both Coos Bay and Newport’s Yaquina Bay – and billions of burrows created by this invader “made Swiss cheese of estuarine shorelines, leading to massive erosion and loss of pasture and wildlife habitat.”
“There also is a cost to human health associated with invasive species, such as the Asimminea parasitological snail, which is the primary intermediate host for human lung flukes discovered last year in Coos Bay,” said Sam Chan, an invasive species specialist and educator with the Oregon Sea Grant program at OSU.
Another example was the E-coli epidemic in 2006 associated with eating raw spinach that was linked to contamination by feral pigs roaming the fields.
“It can be very hard to put a dollar figure on things like that,” Harte pointed out.
Sudden Oak Death provides a good case study for the economic impacts of invasive species, the authors say. The disease was first reported in Oregon in 2001, and the state began an intensive program to eradicate it by cutting and burning host plants. This invasive pathogen kills not only oaks, but rhododendrons and horticultural plants and is a major threat to southwestern Oregon timber sales should it spread.
Despite the eradication efforts, Sudden Oak Death has continued to appear in new locations in Oregon and earlier this year, the quarantine area in Curry County was increased to 162 square miles, Harte said.
The early detection and eradication program has cost Oregon about $1.8 million a year and the complete cost of eradication is estimated at $7 million annually over the next five years. But Sudden Oak Death could devastate nurseries and timber harvests because of potential quarantine requirements costing Oregon hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues each year.
“You don’t need to be an economist to figure out that $7 million now is nothing compared to the potential costs of this invasive disease if we don’t spend money now on eradication,” Harte said.
Thinking about invasive species in economic terms leads to a different set of strategies and implications, Harte pointed out.
“For a start, we begin to realize locally and for the foreseeable future the impacts of invasive species are on par with those of global warming,” Harte said. “Oregon and Oregonians can’t necessarily stop global warming by ourselves, but we can stop invasive species.”
Prevention, education, vigilance and a common approach to understanding the economics of invasive species is necessary, the authors point out, yet success will depend on consistency. They write: “Three ports on the west coast may have best practice invasive species prevention measures in place, but a fourth port may only put in place the minimum prevention practices required by law. This ‘weakest link’ can result in (invasive species) introductions into the region despite the very best effort of the other three ports.”
Harte says that compared with many countries, the United States has been slow to address the invasive species problem. His native New Zealand, in contrast, allots about 1 percent of all government spending to tackle invasive species issues.
“I’ve had people ask me why Oregon needs to spend so much on invasive species when they’re not even here yet,” Harte said with a laugh. “My grandmother was always quick with the cod liver oil, saying an ounce of prevention was better than a pound of cure. The same goes for invasive species – the ounce of prevention pales in comparison to their potential economic impact if they become established.”
Chan says Oregonians aren’t clear about which species are problems – and what to do about it. A recent focus group study by one of Chan’s graduate students, Gwenn Kubeck, found that Oregonians participating in the study felt a lack of institutional support to prevent invasive species, and without support from institutions, personal behavior changes have no real efficacy.
“Increasing this institutional support will likely require a reallocation or increase in resources,” Chan said.
Chan, along with Oregon Sea Grant colleagues Lynn Dierking, a professor of free choice learning, and Joseph Cone, assistant director of Oregon Sea Grant, reported early findings from a 2008 survey that 79 percent of Oregonians had heard of invasive species in a general sense and expressed concern. But few could describe the threat of invasive species such as quagga mussels, feral pigs or yellow-flag iris.
The survey also showed that 65 percent thought the most serious outcome associated with non-native plants and animals in Oregon was harm to native plants and wildlife.
“That underscores the need to look at invasive species through an economic lens as well as a biological one,” Chan said.
Harte said the goal of the report to the Oregon Invasive Species Council was not to provide a comprehensive outline of Oregon’s invasive species problem, nor to provide a precise dollar figure for addressing each issue. But looking at invasive species through an economic perspective, he added, is long overdue.
“The figures are dramatic,” Harte said, “but even these are only a partial estimate. They don’t account for the potential loss of tourism, lost fishing opportunities, the degradation of habitat or the myriad offshoots that invasive species may engender.”
The report is available from Michael Harte by e-mailing him at mharte@coas.oregonstate.edu About Oregon State University: OSU is one of only two U.S. universities designated a land-, sea-, space- and sun-grant institution. OSU is also Oregon’s only university designated in the Carnegie Foundation’s top tier for research institutions, garnering more than 60 percent of the total federal and private research funding in the Oregon University System.
Media Contact
Mark Floyd,541-737-0788

Come on down eucomis aka Pineapple Lily....You have been selected plant of the week by Garden Time

2008-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone at Gardentime.tv for airing the segment two weeks ago on colored calla lilies, cannas and the Conca D'OR lily and for airing the segment last Saturday on eucomis or pineapple lily as the plant of the week. I have been bombarded with phone calls, e-mails and customers at the farmers markets who would like to purchase them. They are a fabulous plant-thanks for noticing.

From gardentime.tv:

PINEAPPLE LILY July 26, 2008
Our plant pick has a memorable name and bloom, even if you can’t eat it. Yolanda from VanVeen Bulbs (888-289-2852) showed us her favorite plant in the whole world, the Pineapple Lily (Eucomis). This plant has a flower stalk that looks like a pineapple, but the tiny flowers open into a wand of soft texture and color. Though they are known as a sun plant, Yolanda has had success with them in the shade as well; they will just bloom later in the shade. They are very hardy and will bloom in the mid-summer when other plants are getting a little tired. You can find Yolanda and her bulbs at the Beaverton Farmers Market, The Hillsdale Farmers Market and the Portland Farmers Market at PSU twice a week in the summer. You can also order them through her website.

Gardening Video Maven

2008-07-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

So I was excited to find out that GardenTime.tv, the local Portland, Oregon gardening show aired our segment on colored calla liles and cannas. Customers came to the Beaverton market on Saturday and the Portland Market last Wednesday to tell me they had watched it. Very exciting-I have been making How to garden videos on expertvillage.com as well. Check them out on our media page on vanveenbulbs.com or go to gardentime.tv:
http://www.vanveenbulbs.com/media.shtml
Color Calla Lilies
Smart Gardening
Garden Time TV
or go to expertvillage.com and go to experts then y for Yolanda-See you in cyberspace!
How to Understand & Appreciate Bamboo
How to Grow Your Perfect Garden
How to Grow Healthy & Beautiful Tulips
How to Pick the Right Summer Flower Bulb for You
How to Pick the Right Spring Flower Bulb for You
How to Keep House Plants Healthy & Alive
Compost
How to Create a Moon Garden
How to Plant Square Foot Gardens
Planting Fall-Blooming Bulbs
How to Pick Flower Bulbs
How to Pick Garden Decorations
Extreme Makeover for Houseplants
How to Identify Spring Flowers in Bloom
Planting Flower Bulbs in Containers
South African Flower Bulbs
Flowers for Shade Gardens

Oh dear, stop crying-it is called natural selection

2008-06-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

When you live in the country or travel to the country, wildlife are constantly around us. It is such a treat to live in harmony with them or is it really harmony? Sometimes it is at a price.

I was so excited this morning to wake up to see a one day old baby deer in our backyard. The mom and three other deer hang out on our property quite often. There were no babies yesterday. But today a deer with a newborn were here. The baby could hardly walk. So cute with little white spots on his back. He was drinking milk from his mama. I watched them for an hour and didn't do anything when the baby walked through the middle of my garden and ate all the strawberries that were just about to turn red. The larger deer don't go that far into the beds but the baby went right for them.
My husband didn't even flip. He said, "Oh well, the baby needed them more than us. We will but wire around them and they will grow again."

My mom called today to tell me they went to the beach for a few days and when driving from Florence, Oregon at the beach they hit a deer and it did some damage to their Honda. The deer flipped over the front of the car and over the edge of the road. Thank God my parents didn't get hurt-I almost lost both of them two years ago when my mom had a stroke and my dad had a clogged artery cleared out in his leg. We are planning a cruise to Mexico in January with the whole family to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday and my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We almost lost them again. We have had some family friends killed when a deer went through the front window. They say there are more deer now than in the pioneer days because there are no predators. They aren't afraid of humans and even the hunters aren't hunting because of the cost of gas.

About an hour ago, my husband came in the house and yelled, "The baby deer is back, come see Dexter and the deer." Dexter our cat was in the calla bed and the baby deer was curious and was two feet away from Dexter not afraid at all. The deer is only a little bigger than Dexter.
They were looking eye to eye curious of each other.

Then the baby turned and saw us walking closer and then started walking. We immediately noticed it had a broken back leg. I started crying when the reality of the situation hit me. This means the baby will die. Where was it's mom? We looked all over the property. No mama.
My husband mentioned, she must have abandoned him or something must have happened to her. The baby ate my strawberries this morning. He will be dead soon. I came into the house and have been crying. The baby is now in neighbor Lester's yard.

So my husband just came in the house and told me, Stop crying, it is called natural selection. Survival of the fittest. If it bothers you that much go over and get the deer and take it to the emergency vet on a Sunday and pay $150 or more to have it euthanized because that is what they will do. We can not put a splint on it's leg and save it. You can not get involved because his mom has already abandoned him and she still lives here. It is the way of nature.

I suppose he is right but it still tears me apart. I have had such an emotional day. I was a guest on Gardening with Mallory this morning on KPAM so I was on such an adrenaline rush this morning and now I am crying about Bambi.

I will get over it and Peter is mowing so it is my job to make dinner tonight so I have got to go.
I always tell people not to take it personally when their plants die. It is survival of the fittest, natural selection and there are always more plants in the world.
But when the natural world slaps you in the face......you accept the situation and move on to the next episode. Thanks for listening. I feel better. I will wipe the tears away and make dinner.

The Children's Garden at the Oregon Garden continues to grow

2008-06-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hello, we thought that your audience might be interested in the new attractions at The Oregon Garden's Children's Garden, as well as the adjacent Oregon Garden Resort, a new hotel opening on September 1, 2008. Please let me know if you would like more information or photos. Your consideration is appreciated. Regards, Malei Weir (805) 239-0020.

THE FUN CONTINUES TO GROW AT NORTHWEST CHILDREN’S GARDEN

Imaginative Ideas Take Root at The Oregon Garden’s Whimsical Attraction for Kids

Silverton, OR— From the new Hobbit House to the “furniture” garden, the monkey puzzle tree to the upcoming miniature train garden, the Children’s Garden at The Oregon Garden continues to plant an imaginative array of fun for the gardeners of tomorrow.

“Gardens aren’t just to look at,” said Jeff Pera, staff horticulturist at The Oregon Garden, an 80-acre botanical attraction 45 miles south of Portland. “These days when I hear laughter and screaming coming from the Children’s Garden, I am assured the kids are playing on the new Hobbit House.”

Indeed, with the addition of the Hobbit House and other whimsical elements to the Children’s Garden, much more joyful noise seems to be emanating across The Oregon Garden.

Buried smack in the center of the Children’s Garden, the Hobbit House consists of a submerged tunnel with both ends exposed at ground level. Here, kids pull open the round door coverings and peek inside before they choose to scuttle through the run.

“We are also adorning the tunnel area with plants that are a bit odd in order to enhance the magic of the Hobbit theme,” Pera said.

The Children’s Garden’s central plaza is also sporting a more imaginative profile these days with the addition of six topiary plants shaped as stars, fish, a flower, kangaroo, bear and a butterfly.

“Adults are also fascinated to learn about the process of maintaining these sculptures,” Pera said.

One of the garden’s newest attractions is a tree house built around the trunk of a large curly willow tree. Only 15 inches off the ground, the tree house is accessible to most kids, yet still offers the excitement of a retreat via its thick green canopy. The trunk also sports decorative fencing adorned with jungle animal cutouts.

The garden’s “weird plants” display also continues to evolve. Even adults can appreciate the unicorn grass, windmill palm, monkey puzzle tree and other peculiar varieties.

And these days, with the outdoor “living room” all the rage on home patios and decks, so too the Oregon Garden’s Children’s Garden is following suit with a collection of its own pieces for a “furniture garden.”

“It all began when someone last fall wanted to donate a piano,” Pera said. “This spurred the idea of creating a furniture garden where we transform pieces into planters and arrange them to look like a room.”

Since the piano donation, the garden has collected and planted a pedestal sink, toilet, a pot belly stove and a bicycle with handlebar basket. As more items are gathered, the furniture will be planted and put into place.

Another coming attraction is a miniature train garden. “This will be a fun way to exhibit a large variety of miniature plants in order to create a scale-size landscape,” Pera said. “Plus the working train will be an exciting and active addition to the garden.”

Thanks to the help of the Pacific Crossing Model Railroad Club out of Salem, Oregon, The Oregon Garden now has a preliminary sketch for the track layout. The railroad club will also supervise track installation using the labor of local high school students who will use the job as credit for their senior project school requirement.

Yet another planned part of the scene at the Children’s Garden is something called a “vertical garden picture.” This living wall will be planted in the garden on September 20, 2008 by a workshop offered through Chemeketa Community College. Using the same concept as a green roof, this wall will have the added artistic value of a large animal image via different plant colors and textures.

“These new additions are really enhancing the enjoyment for children and parents alike when they visit The Oregon Garden,” Pera said. “Interactive educational components are also in our future plans, but for now, we are pleased to offer a family friendly attraction that inspires the gardeners of tomorrow.”

On Saturdays throughout the summer, children are invited to The Oregon Garden’s “Saturday 4 Kids,” in which they can participate in themed activities pertaining to the natural world, including bugs, flowers, birds and trees. And, beginning September 1, 2008, families interested in making the garden a true getaway, may book a room at the new Oregon Garden Resort, a 103-room hotel featuring a restaurant, lounge, day spa, meeting rooms and cozy guest rooms each with their own fireplace, landscaped patio or private deck. For more information, please contact 800-966-8490 or visit www.oregongarden.org.

GENERAL INFORMATION
May through September, The Oregon Garden is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission is $10 for adults; $9 for seniors; and $8 for students. Entry is free for Oregon Garden members and for children ages seven and younger. Entry fees are reduced for the months October through April. For more information, or, to become a member, please call (503) 874-8100 or visit www.oregongarden.org.

# # #

The Oregon Garden is an 80-acre botanical sanctuary that showcases the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest with more than 20 individual themed gardens and related attractions. The mission of The Oregon Garden is to welcome and inspire all visitors with an appreciation for the extraordinary ecology of the Pacific Northwest, and to provide a meaningful educational experience for gardeners of all skill levels and ages. Visit www.OregonGarden.org or call (503) 874-8100 for more information.

2008-06-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

........running very late

2008-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Vanveenbulbs.com-
It is June and I have tulip, daffodil and hyacinth bulbs bought in the fall but never planted. What is the best thing to do with them now. Is there any hope they will survive?
Thanks,
Lani

Dear Lani-
Any bulb that can survive being outside in the winter can be planted anytime of the year. Plant them as soon as you can about 3 inches deep in sun or part shade in triangles six inches apart and not in rows. They may survive, they may not. They may bloom this summer, they may not.

The point is that we can move year round and so can your plants. It may take them a year to adjust or they may bloom at the wrong time of year but it is better than throwing them away and I love planting bulbs at the wrong time.

I am still selling lily bulbs to plant in June for blooms this Fall. They are dug up in the fall and kept in freezers and we take some out every few weeks for blooms in 60-90 days. Customers love being the only ones with lilies blooming in October. Next year they will bloom at the right time in summer.

If I had a choice to wait for fall or plant in the summer, I would plant in the summer. Even my tulips and daffodils as long as they are watered (Put them in raised beds with lilies and callas that you water in the summer) should be planted always and never wait to plant. Why stay in an apartment if the house is ready? It only takes one cell to multiply so even if the bulbs look bad but part of it is solid, plant them. I have been surprised what has survived.

I don't believe anything I read in a book. Wait for the soil to be cool,,,,Throw away if they are moldy.... I plant them all anytime of year and have a beautiful yard filled with bulbs that were not nice enough to sell to customers to prove it!

Thanks!
Yolanda Wilson
vanveenbulbs.com

Yolanda,
Thank you, thank you, so much for your informational and encouraging response. I had been trying unsuccessfully to find something online. I still fairly new to Portland and learning about this growing climate (which I love). I bought some of your lilies at one of the garden shows here (that's how I had your contact information) and planted them late too, so I'll probably have some of those autumn lilies. By the way the man who sold me the lilies was very nice and helpful. I don't remember his name, (Peter) but he was certainly an asset at your booth with all the customers. I will get my bulbs in the ground probably today and tomorrow and I'll think of you every time I see them bloom. I look forward to more bulbs from you in the months and years ahead.
Gratefully,Lani

Hardy Plant Society Bulletin to Publish Oregon Garden Article

2008-06-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Dorothy and she is delighted with the Oregon Garden Article and Pictures so it looks like it will make it in the Fall Bulletin. Good news!
Yolanda

The Oregon Garden-A Lesson in Sustainability

2008-06-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of the article I submitted to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Bulletin for this fall-I hope they select it...They published my article on Leach Botanical Garden last fall.. I will cross my fingers. The great thing about the blog is that I can print my own articles-Thanks for reading it! I am honored to be able to share this wonderful information on sustainability-
Way to go Oregon!

The Oregon Garden-A Lesson in Sustainability
By Yolanda Wilson

Many plant lovers are cancelling their garden tours to Europe, Africa and even Canada because of the increase in fuel, exchange and travel prices. We are looking for destinations that can be visited in a day that become memorable vacation experiences. At the same time we care about the environment and want to support sustainability and learn something along the way. There is an answer.
There are many public gardens to visit that are located in your own state. You don’t have to travel overseas or to another state to visit a beautiful garden- you can travel an hour south of Portland to the Oregon Garden.
Where else can you go to see blues genius Jonny Lang or classic rocker George Thorogood in a gorgeous garden on a nice summer day? The only poison you will find at the Oregon Garden is the 80s hair band, Poison. The best part is you can be home the same evening on a half a tank of gas.
The Oregon Garden near Silverton, Oregon is a secret to many Oregonians. It is a beautiful oasis in the country with year-round activities to enjoy including concerts in the park, holiday festivals, roadster shows and plant sales. There is a tram, gift shop and café as well.
The directions to the Oregon Garden can make you feel like you belong to a secret club because it is easy to get lost. Once you are off of I-5 there are few signs so you must pay attention to the road signs. To go to the Oregon Garden is to go on a treasure hunt, you must have a map. Once you arrive you realize you are in for a treat. The garden is beautiful any time of the year and like everything else in Oregon, it is an example in sustainability that we can be proud to share with the world.
________________________________________________________
The Oregon Garden, 879 Main Street, Silverton, Oregon 97381 Toll Free-1-877-674-2733
From I-5 As you are traveling, look for the brown and white Oregon Garden signs as well as signs leading you to Silverton.
When driving down I-5 south:
Take the Brooks Exit, exit 263. Turn left off the ramp to head east towards Silverton.
At intersection with blinking red light turn right onto Hwy 99E.
Left onto Hazelgreen Road. .
When driving up I-5 north:
Take the Keizer/Chemawa Exit, exit 260.
Turn right off the ramp onto Chemawa Rd. to head east towards Silverton.
Stay straight at the intersection where Chemawa becomes Hazelgreen road
4. Now both travelers who have originated from the North and South will be following the same directions. You will arrive at a four-way stop, stay straight to remain on Hazelgreen Road.
5. At the next four-way stop, turn right onto Howell Prairie Road.
6. At the following four-way stop, turn left onto Silverton Road.
7. Turn right at the light onto Westfield St. You will pass a Dairy Queen, Safeway and Robert Frost Middle School. You’ll soon reach a stop sign where a large church stands in front of you.
8. Turn right onto Main Street/Cascade Highway. The Garden is just a short sprint down the road on the left.
_______________________________________________________

Jill Martini, Horticultural Manager for the Oregon Garden explains how the Oregon Garden uses very little chemicals in their garden-

Compost Tea - Compost tea applications on the roses and vineyard.

Organic Fertilizers- The kitchen garden is organic using bone meal, fish meal and blood meal for fertilizer.

Organic Deer Deterrants-Blood meal is used to keep the deer away.

Organic Insect Control-Neem oil and other horticultural oil for aphid control and other insects.

Worm Bins- Marion County has a home demonstration site at the garden with different composting techniques including an active worm bin which we use the end product and put all of our kitchen scraps from the cafe in the worm bin or in our compost piles.

Compost Piles-The Horticulture department composts all of the kitchen scraps. All debris from the garden is composted unless it is diseased or infested with insects then the material is burned. Noxious weeds such as horsetail and nut sedge are also burned.

Manure- Local dairy and horse manure is used in our annual display beds.

Recycling-All offices at the garden recycle paper.

Chemical alternatives in water features-The Oregon Garden use beneficial bacteria in some of the water features.

Organic Weed Control- Corn Gluten is used as an organic approach to pre-emergent weed control in beds, as well as numerous approaches to organic deer repellents. We also use hot water weed control on broadleaved weeds. We are in the process of converting our rose garden over to an organic approach.

Beneficial insects-Beneficial nematodes are used on plants with severe weevil damage and we have introduced lady beetles for aphid control in our roses.

Invasive Plant Control using Seed Beetles-The Oregon Garden is working with the Oregon Department of Agriculture on scotch broom control using an insect called the seed beetle that attack the seedpods of scotch broom plants. The Bruchidius villosus or seed beetle larvae fee on the seeds in the seedpods of scotch broom and the adults feed on the pollen. It has been used successfully in New Zealand. For more information go to the ODA website: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/WEEDS/bio_profile_brvi.shtml

There are times, however, when there are no alternatives to chemicals because the insects can not be controlled with any other method yet.

Insect Problems –The Oregon Garden uses pheromone traps to find out what kind of insect problems we may need to act upon. Some chemicals are used but no restricted chemicals have been used to date. Glyphosate has been used for weed control if it can not be controlled mechanically. The Garden has had crane fly issues in the past and have used pesticides on them. Hanging baskets have used Bt for control of budworm.

Renee Stoops is the Oregon Gardens Wetlands Coordinator and works with the Sustainable Plant Research and Outreach Center Center (SPROUT). She is an expert in sustainable wetlands. The Oregon Garden water features are an example of how the Oregon Garden has created a sustainable garden using waste water.

Recycling City Waste Water-The water in the wetlands and irrigation system is treated waste water from City of Silverton- secondarily treated (which means solids separation and stabilization of organic load) and also disinfected by ultraviolet light (more environmentally friendly than chlorine). The nutrient load in our water is high enough to yield unexpected growth rates in many of our trees and aquatic species but low enough that by the time our water returns to the local watershed (Brush Creek), the nutrient load has almost all been used or converted by the plants and beneficial bacteria in the wetlands.

Organic Algae Control-In many of the interactive water features here, we use potable water, but in the A-Mazing Water Garden, we started using the wetlands/treated wastewater about 5 or 6 years ago. To keep up with the extra algae pressure this caused, we used regular additions of commercially-produced beneficial bacteria in addition to adding fish/koi, which eat lots of algae. About 3 years ago, we started working with Oregon State University on research using barley straw to control algae. We no longer add bacteria as the barley produces or hosts enough on its own; we add new barley straw about twice per year. We have never added any copper treatments or similarly detrimental chemical treatments to our ponds.

Using Plants as Filters-A floating wetland has been added to The A-Mazing Water Garden to enhance the role that plant roots play in filtering the water. Plant roots suspended in the water perform a different filtering role than species planted in the soil around the pond edges. We are hoping to soon completely eliminate the mechanical filtration we do in this feature (which is high energy use and high maintenance) and use only the floating wetland filtration

Recycling Rain Water-Storm-water management is also important to the Oregon Garden and they have begun to incorporate features such as a Sustainable Parking Lot and the NREC Building Rain Garden. There is a green-roof on one of the smaller buildings and another green-roof to a larger shed was added in the spring. The Oregon Garden hopes to raise the money one day to put a large-scale green-roof on thel argest building, with a 20,000 sq ft roof.

A new resort at the Oregon Garden is scheduled to open in Fall 2008. It will be surrounded by even more luxurious gardens, a restaurant, lounge, spa and meeting spaces. It is a great location for conventions and weddings in a garden that is an Oregon treasure and an example in sustainability. Oregon Garden Resort Reservations can be made at 1-800-966-6490.

The entrance fee for the Oregon garden is $10 or less depending on the season and children under 7 are free. For more information about the Oregon Garden, go online at www.oregongarden.org or phone them at 1-877-674-8733.

Thanks to Dave's Garden!

2008-06-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

On June 8, 2008, lakesidecallas Dandridge, TN(Zone 6a) wrote:
I order a few bulbs once a year from VanVeen, but this winter I placed a larger order. Unfortunately I typed in my credit card number wrong, and Yolanda Wilson (owner) called me and corrected the mistake- then we chatted about bulbs for a half an hour! She really impressed me with her knowledge and passion, what a nice lady. I was so happy when I received my bulbs- they were huge, and Yolanda threw in a few extras- which gave me new plants to try.I'll use her more often in the future- their prices are really good, almost cheap! And bulbs are really nice.It's also nice to have the personal touch of a small business, you know you're more than just a number to them! Big businesses may be able to give you fancy websites and discounts, but a small business owner that actually grows the bulbs she sells is a treasure! A DG type of business.

Tell me more, tell me more about Scilla Peruviana

2008-04-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

We just received the Scilla Peruviana Bulbs, Just wondering when I plant these do we constantly water or weekly water. Any help would be great-Don D., San Francisco

Thanks Don for the purchase and e-mail. Plant them 3 inches above the top of the bulb in sun or part shade. Water them once a week unless it is really hot (more) or wet (less) Place your finger in the ground once a week, If the ground feels moist don't water, if dry or the leaves are wilting a bit, water. Here is some more info on scilla Peruviana-Thanks! Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

NAME:Scilla peruviana L.
FAMILY: Liliaceæ
NICKNAMES (Corymbose Squill), Caribbean Lily, Cuban Lily, Giant Squill, Hyacinth of Peru, Peruvian Lily, Star of Peru Español - Flor de la corona, Flor de la piña, Jacinto del Perú, Jacinto estrellado Western Mediterranean (Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia)

An interesting and beautiful bulb, whose history and origin have long been clouded by the happenstance of its introduction in the England. The story goes that it arrived in that country via a ship named The Peru. This freighter had picked up the bulbs in Spain, where it occurs naturally, but somehow this fact was lost. The rumor is that Linnaeus found it on a Spanish ship called The Peru and assumed it was Peruvian but it was actually Spanish.

Think about it, we take our favorite plants with us everywhere we move-so did the Spanish when they sailed to Peru. We forget in history that the Spanish took the Incas gold but they also found wonderful plants like the Ismene and Alstroemeria that the Incans had hybridized long before other people on the plant had advanced civilizations. The Spanish brought plants with them to Peru and planted them.

Since that time, even in its homeland, it has come to be confused as a species thought to be native to South America but apparently no one really knows. The favorite common name of Cuban Lily seems to come from the fact that it is naturalized there, as it is in many countries, though it is generally not considered invasive. Of the easiest culture, this bulb only asks for good drainage and preferable a not-too-rich soil.

It is perfectly attuned to a mediterranean climate like the Northwerst, resprouting from a dry bulb with the fall rains and producing its handsome flowers in spring (March-May). The densely packed, corymbose head last for a considerable time, often with hundreds of flowers opening over time. Usually a deep blue color, there is know to be some variation in its intensity. In the wild, there is apparently considerable variation as well. Often found grown as a florist pot plant, the long-lasting flowers and easy culture making it a good choice for this use. Grown as an indoor plant in colder climates, or with year round rains, it is often virtually evergreen. It has clearly adapted to its native mediterranean climate and grows best under those conditions. Plant anytime of the year to bloom this April/May. It is found in the Mountains of Spain at over 1000 ft elevation so they are very hardy to -10 degrees or colder. My friends in the Trinity Mountains of California lose their crocosmias in the winter but have never lost a scilla peruviana.
-Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

Vanveenbulbs.com Wild West Tour Completed

2008-04-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

By Yolanda Wilson

It has been a month since I returned from San Francisco and this time last year we were flying off to Cincinnati to the garden show. We decided not to do it this year so that I could concentrate on the Vancouver Clark County Public Utilities Home and Idea Fair at the Fairgrounds in Ridgefield next weekend. I love the west coast shows the best anyway -this is the ultimate place to live.

Here is a run down of the shows this year-

Eugene Good Earth January-Saturday morning Steve interviewed me on the Gardening Show Ask an Expert on KUGN in Eugene. Sales on Saturday were great and I love people in Eugene.
Many people had heard me on the radio and came in to the show. We woke up Sunday morning to six inches of snow (the most they have had in eight years) and got stuck in the parking lot of the hotel. After sliding through an intersection driving a van and trailor we made it to the show. We packed out early so that we would miss the next snow storm.

Tacoma Home and Garden Show-There was wet snow falling as we unloaded but still had a good show. I visited with Ed Hume for a bit which always delights me. As a child I watched his gardening show in Portland every week and dreamed of having my own show. Now that I am making videos for expertvillage.com I admire him even more. He started the dream for me.
Thanks Ed!

Portland Yard, Garden and Patio Show-Rocking show as always. My hometown. This is your life at the booth running in to friends from high school, college, the farmers markets, the wholesale flower market where I grew up..........Visited with Mary Gutierrez from NW Garden News for a while. We went to South Africa together in 2006 and lives in Seattle so we don't get to visit too often.

Seattle NW Flower and Garden Show-Our most fast paced show. We stay very busy and move a lot of bulbs. I saw Mary again and had a chance to visit with Ciscoe Morris-He had a great time in South Africa last year on his tour and is going to Australia this year. He usually gets mobbed by people but he came to the plant section early and we talked for at least a half an hour. He mentions our bulbs on his radio show and talks not to mention his newspaper articles quite often
Thanks Ciscoe!
Saturday morning I was a guest on Scott Conner's radio show which is always a treat. I sure love him and Donna. They have been so supportive.

Eugene Home and Garden Show March-Back to Eugene, one of my favorite places. Friday night when I got to the booth I was immediately interviewed by John Fischer KEZI weatherman and I was on the five o'clock news for two segments. I talked about the flame calla and lucifer crocosmia. At the January Good Earth Show he came by the booth and made faces at me and I thought he was just some weirdo but when I saw him on TV I realized he was the weatherman in Eugene and everyone knew him. So many people came up to me at the show that had watched the news. Thanks KEZI! We had a great show, the weather wasn't too bad. We discovered the VET Club-a great local institution.

San Francisco Garden Show, California, Cow Palace-We did well as usual with so many happy customers. The weather was cold-in the 30s at night and high of 46. Two years ago it was 80 during the show. I always enjoy San Francisco-everyone lives together in perfect harmony. At least at the show. We visited the Starlight room in the historic Francis Drake Hotel. What a beautiful view!!!

Portland Better Living Show, Expo March-Our last big indoor show. Our booth was under the "Gardens Gone Wild" sign-How appropriate. It was a huge success!!! We did well and loved the show. I watched Ed Begley, Jr speak to a crowd that seemed so Portland and felt very lucky.
I went to his book signing and brought some bulbs to him to bring back to his garden and he said he would buy his book for me and took twenty dollars out of his pocket and purchased his "Living Like Ed" book for me, signed it and then gave it to me and said thank you and gave me a hug. How exciting!!!! Thanks Ed!!!!

So now I am back home looking at the pile of laundry, paperwork, dishes that need to be done.
Time to settle down for the next ten months and go back to my normal life. There is always next year......

Vanveen Bulbs on Haight Street in San Francisco

2008-03-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

I periodically google vanveenbulbs.com and sometimes I am greeted with a pleasant surprise. I remember speaking with Jennifer at the show. I didn't realize they had a blog and our bulbs were the center of their bulb watch 08. How exciting. Thanks for buying bulbs from us at the San Francisco Flower Show-I will be watching your blog to see how our bulbs fare in your yard-Thanks! Yolanda, Vanveenbulbs.com

Saturday, March 22, 2008
fillmorestreetgardeners.blogspot.com
BulbWatch 2008 Starts Today!
Welcome to BulbWatch 08! (que the music and cable news style graphic.) This is where we start tracking the bulbs we got at the home and garden show.Last Sunday we planted most everything we got at the show.Today I noticed the first of the bulbs is sprouting already! I thought it would be fun to think of it as competition - a competition to determine which bulbs we buy again next year.What we have in the the picture is the Fangio Red Lilly.(see pix on web page fillmorestreetgardeners.blogspot.com and keep up with the progress) It is clearly the early front runner. It gets big points for coming out in front. Fast results we like that, however it is a long road until the end of the growing season. Can it maintain the early lead? Or will it bloom and fade away before summer is over? Stay Tuned for more after the break!**********************************************Let us continue our BulbWatch 08 coverage by looking at the field of candidates.As you can see the ballot is pretty full. $22 worth of full. (As you can see there is a lot riding on this)Fangio Red Lilly - Location: Mixed Pot, Back YardOriental Lilly (Aubade) - Location: Mixed Pot, Back YardOriental Lilly (Casa Blanca) - Location: Single Pot, Back YardAcidanthera X2 (Peacock Lilly) - Location: Single Pot Back Yard, Around Tree Fillmore Street.Red "Flame" Cala Lilly - Location: Single Pot, Back YardCrocosmia X2 (Geroge Davidson Yellow) - Location: Single Pot Back Yard, Around Tree Fillmore Street.AMARYLLIS BELLADONNA (Naked Ladies Surprise)- Location: Single Pot, Back YardBegonia (Apricot) X2 - Location: Single Pot, Back Yard, Stone Container, Back YardDahlia (Marlene Joy) - Location: Single Pot, Back Yard, One To Be PlantedOver the next 6 months we will be closely following the growth of these bulbs as well the ones from last years show that have sprouted again. Which will succeed? Which will perish? Which will I buy again? Which will I dismiss as folly? So much is on the line. So many questions.... So few answers. Join us on this amazing journey as we start with the the Fangio Red Lily. Keep tuning in for updates!

Posted by Matt and Jennifer (The Sparkles) at 6:26 PM 0 comments
Sunday, March 16, 2008

Deja Vu
Seems like there is some sort of Deja Vu going on here in our corner of the world...This weekend was the Home and Garden show at the Cow Palace.It was this time last year when we rediscovered the joy of planting bulbs. Readers of this blog will remember my tales of growing the lilies we purchased last year at this show. Despite all of that I knew I wanted to try again.This year I knew I wanted to to try out some new bulbs. I think I contained myself. I only spent $22. We picked up some begonia tubers and several lilies and even a Acidanthera. This year we decided that growing lilies behind our apartment building is the way to go. (Not so many grumples back there.)I talked to the people at vanveenbulbs.com and told them how much I enjoyed the Asiatic Lily last year and they pointed me to the CasaBlanca.They told me that this was the "mother of all lilies!" Well how am I going to say no to that. It turns out this bulb could grow five feet! The blooms could be 10" That is insane! I have to try this. I planted it in a very deep pot out back and I am sure if it works out you will be hearing about it. What I love a bout bulbs is that you really get a big pay off for doing a little bit of work.Well if standing at the same bulb counter at the same garden show was not enough I came home and saw thisLast year I knew planting these lilies around the trees was probably not a wise move if I wanted them to last so I dug up the bulbs and planted them somewhere else. I had pretty much for gotten about them as they did not look to healthy when I planted them. But it seems mother nature has worked her magic and they are back for another season. It seems there are now 5! One more than last year. Here we go again! The year seems to be repeating itself.

I love Yolanda on expertvillage.com

2008-03-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Vanveen Bulbs:
I had the pleasure of coming across some of your products at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show this March 2008. The staff were incredibly nice and shared many tips, this, in spite of very heavy foottraffic and many customers at the booth.
I also stumbled across Yolanda's videos on the expertvillage site when I was trying to figure out howto plant crocosmias. I truly enjoy those videos, inpart because they are so practical, and in part because I enjoy Yolanda's analogies of gardening and party-throwing. I hope you will continue to make those videos.
Best regards,
Sharon
Novice Gardener

Thanks Sharon for stopping by our booth at the San Fran Garden Show. You can see all of my how to garden videos on expertvillage.com. Go to our experts and to Y for Yolanda -
I didn't realize anyone actually watched the videos-thanks for the encouragement -I plan to make more as flowers start to bloom in my garden and I catch up from the garden shows-Thanks again! Yolanda, vanveenbulbs.com

Another reason to buy flowers and plants domestically........

2008-03-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Roses Are Green: Fair-Trade Flower Market Grows
Most Flowers Sold In U.S. Have Shady Past
Mary Losure, Round Earth Productions
POSTED: 10:55 am PST November 26, 2007
UPDATED: 12:09 pm PST November 26, 2007

Planning to buy a bouquet of roses for someone you love?
If, like 90 percent of the roses sold in the U.S. today, they’re imported, they may have a dark history. The workers who grew them might have been child laborers. The blooms might have been exposed to deadly, environment-polluting pesticides.
But those scenarios are beginning to change. Move over, fair-trade coffee. Now, there are fair-trade flowers.
Flowers produced under certified eco-friendly, fair-trade conditions are in high demand in Europe, but until recently, American sales have been on a much smaller scale, mostly confined to California.
But this fall, two East Coast supermarket chains, Giant Food Stores and Ukrop’s, began carrying fair-trade flowers. Giant Food Stores spokeswoman Tracy Pawelski said sales so far have exceeded expectations.
"It’s growing, just like 'natural' and 'organic' 10 years ago,” she said.
Increasing demand for environmentally responsible, socially conscious products is pressuring flower farms worldwide. The Ecuadorian flower industry, for example, is struggling to clean up its act after years of harsh criticism.
The fair-trade-certified Malima flower farm outside of Cuenca, Ecuador, looks like a college campus. It includes a day-care center, a medical center and a gleaming cafeteria. Under its certification, by the German-based Flower Label Program, workers must wear protective gear. Chemical use has been cut back and the most toxic chemicals are banned.
Malima’s glassy new corporate offices are set in among the flower fields, instead of back in the city as the old ones were.
"I open the window, and the field is right there," said company Vice President Marcelo Crespo. "So, if the chemicals are killing people, I will be perhaps the first," he said with a trace of sarcasm.
Malima sells most of its flowers to Europe.
So far, Ecuadorian growers who want to sell to the United States haven’t felt as much market pressure to change their practices, but that could change if fair-trade flowers catch on in the U.S. the way fair-trade products such as coffee have.
Crespo said he sees certified flowers as the future of the Ecuadorian industry, which exports nearly two-thirds of its flowers to the U.S.
“It's not only a situation where you believe you should do this, it’s a must,” he said.

Gardening with Deer

2008-03-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Gardening with Deer
Avoid Plants that Attract Deer
*Trees-Fruit Trees- Apple trees on the border of the property stop the deer from getting closer to the flower beds by the house, They also love cherries, pear, peach, nuts

Azaleas, Rhododendrons-,young Cedar or Fir Trees-Deer love the new growth- Protect new growth from deer with cages or netting, Camellias

*Bulbs-Lilies, Tulips, Allium, Colocasia-Taro, Daylilies, Hostas, Crocus, Grape Hyacinth, Gladiolus

*Flowers-Roses, Impatiens, Pansies, Asters, Cosmos, Geraniums, Clematis, Hostas, Petunias, Sunflowers, Gerbera, Sedum, Hydrangea

*Fruits and Vegetables-Deer love them all and certain herbs

Purchase Plants that Deer do not Devour
*Trees-Eucalyptus, Monkey Puzzle Tree, Maples, Oak, Spruce, Bird's nest spruce, Boxwood, Dwarf Alberta spruce, Dwarf blue spruce, Juniper, Mugo pine

*Bulbs-Allium, Daffodils, Hyacinth, Muscari, Scilla Peruviana, Chionodoxa,Crocus, Lily of the Valley, Aconitum, Crocosmia, Eucomis, Amaryllis Belladonna, Kniphofia, Nerine, Calla Lilies, Arum Italicum, Ismene, Agapanthus, Iris, Tritonia, Galtonia, Canna Lilies, Tigridia, Lycoris, Hardy Cyclamen, Astilbe, Cimicifuga, Filipendula

*Flowers-Ageratum, Brown-eyed Susan, Coral bells, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Cornflower, Dusty Miller, Evening primrose, Heuchera, Lavender, Sage, Purple coneflower, Russian sage, Salvia (annual and perennial), Shasta daisy, Speedwell, Verbena, Wood Fern, Yarrow, Zinnia

*Ground Covers- Carpet Bugle (Ajuga), Moss,Periwinkle, Santolina, Thyme

How to keep deer off of your property-Deer Fencing-Must be 6 to 8 feet tall
Cover your plants with netting-Cover the beds with a thin netting. As the plants grow the netting rises. It is barely visible. If you have just a few plants to protect, you can wrap plastic netting around them or put it on the ground around the plant — deer hate stepping on netting.

Deer Repellants-Sprays, Eggs, Tobasco, Cayenne, Irish Spring Soap-These wash off easily and deer are smart-they will keep checking until it is washed off
*Automatic Sprinklers-Electric eye senses and sprays
*Ultrasonic devices: These repellent devices are expensive, and deer can become accustomed to familiar sounds and objects, which means that this most successful if you move the ultrasonic transmitter frequently

Learn to live with Deer
You can garden with deer in your area, Select plants that deer don’t like,
Protect plants that deer do like
Please phone (1-888-289-2852) or e-mail (info@vanveenbulbs.com), if you have any suggestions or questions.-Thanks! Yolanda, vanveenbulbs.com

Gladiolus are really deer food

2008-03-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Just a note: I was on your web site today looking up information about some of the bulbs I bought at the SF Garden Show and noted that your site lists gladiolas as deer resistant. I live with deer and also have gladiolas and can assure you that they LOVE glad blossoms. They don't eat the plant, but they start eating the flowers as soon as the buds start to open, and sometimes part of the flower stem as well. I also have tried another company's new type of glad which deer aren't supposed to like, but with very poor results as well. Since I love glads, I have tried lots of strategies, but the best is hoping I can cut the flower stem just as it starts to open and bring it inside. The only thing the deer seem to like as well is roses, which I had to give up when I moved up the hill to a house with a large lot next to open space and without an effective fence. I would strongly suggest that you remove glad bulbs from the deer resistant list. - Lee
___________________________________________________________________
Thanks Lee for the e-mail and I will take it off of the deer resistant list. The deer did not eat my glads last summer in Washington State-they were in the center of the flower beds so maybe they didn't look that far but they loved the lilies-Yolanda

10 New Year's Resolutions for a Successful Sustainable Garden in 2008

2007-12-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

The Sustainable Gardener
Yolanda Vanveen

Ten New Year's Resolutions for a Successful Sustainable Garden in 2008

1. I will not take it personally if some of my tender and hardy plants did not make it over the winter.
Floods, snow, and ice can damage even strong plants. Buy some of the same and call them an annual or bring them in next winter. There are so many plants to meet out there. Besides that, how much do you spend on coffee or cut flowers and how long do they last? You enjoyed those begonias for six months. So what if you have to replace them. Even if only five of your ten tulips comes back this year, be glad not sad. They aren’t that expensive and come in so many great colors and shapes. You can always buy more.

2. I will plant all the plants that I have purchased this year and not abandon them in the garage.
You can still plant the hardy tubers, roots and bulbs that you purchased last fall but never planted now. Don’t feel bad, it is said nearly one fourth of all plants purchased are never planted. You are not alone. It is not too late though. You can plant most plants year round outside that can survive the winter if you live where the soil does not freeze solid in the winter. They may bloom later and not grow as tall but it is better than not planting them at all.
If the ground is as hard as a brick, place your bulbs in containers. So just do it – get your warmest clothes out of the closet, search the garage and any other place they may be hiding and go outside for a little bit. It will make you feel better especially if it is a sunny day. This time of year is a great time to find plant deals at garden centers and on the internet. Take advantage of it. Winter time is a great time to divide, plant, and create new flower beds.

3. I have high speed internet so I will order plants by phone or on-line and not by catalog.
In fact, I will cancel all the catalogs I receive for plants, office supplies, clothes, cards, and gifts if the company has a website. If I don’t want the product, I will call them up or e-mail them to be taken off of their mailing list. If I like the product, I will sign up for their internet newsletter instead and place their web page under favorites and refer to it often. Many local garden centers have web pages as well. That way I can save a tremendous amount of environmental waste and pollution-from the paper, bleach, plastic, ink to the gas to deliver the catalog. Make sure to recycle catalogs once you are finished with them-You can always pass them along to a friend!
If you live in an area where you don’t have high speed internet, do not feel guilty
about ordering from a catalog. They are produced for people like you who live in areas where you don’t have any other choice. New Years is a great time to order
on-line or by catalog. It is fun to dream about how beautiful your garden will look on a hot summer’s day.

4. I will not use fertilizer or broadleaf weed killer on my lawn. This spring and fall I will spread compost over any areas that are bare or have weeds in them and sprinkle perennial grass seed heavily over it. This summer when it is warm outside I will lay in the sun and remove any weeds with a screw driver one by one.
If it is too shady for grass either cut off a few layers of the tree’s bottom branches to add sun or make a nice pathway through the forest. If there is more than fifty percent moss, dig out the grass and make a moss garden with a pagoda and bridges.
If your entire lawn is in a boggy area that never dries out plant a willow, camassia, monkshood and other bog plants instead. We tried to grow grass in a boggy area and ended up with crane fly that killed our entire lawn. We used an insecticide to get rid of them which was not ideal but we could find no other choice. Even a sustainable gardener, unfortunately must use chemicals from time to time.

5. I will purchase plants, flowers and vegetables from local growers whenever possible.
Many imported produce and nursery stock have been sprayed with chemicals that are illegal to use in this country. Many large and small retailers and garden centers support local growers and will have choices so go for the tomato that was grown closest to you. You can purchase directly from your local growers at farmers markets and by stopping at local farm stores as well. Many markets are open all through the year.
By purchasing local goods from large chains or small stores you are not only supporting your community but you are saving so much in natural resources. Many cut flowers are shipped from South America to Europe then back to the West Coast. Even with the price of fuel increasing is still profitable because many of the people working on the farms in Columbia are making less than five dollars a day. Local produce and flowers may be more expensive but it is worth the extra money.

6. Whenever I get stressed and feel like I am losing it, I will go out to the garden and pull weeds, rake, divide, dig, water or hack at ivy or blackberries for a while .
Gardening is therapeutic. It is also great exercise and gives you lots of joy. Especially when you have had it with humanity. Your plants need you too. Be kind to your family by getting in touch with nature. Take everyone out for a walk in the park. The fresh air will do you good.

7. I will join a gardening group to learn more and spread the word about sustainable gardening. Garden Clubs, Hardy Plant Societies, Master Gardeners, College Lectures, Workshops and the National Gardening Association are just a few of the groups you can join to hang out with others that share your passion for plants. Social contact is healthy and you may make a few great friends along the way. You can always start your own neighborhood club as well.

8. I will visit, volunteer and donate to public gardens and parks to support them. There are so many beautiful gardens that are a short drive away that we don’t even know about. Take the time to take a look. If you live near or plan to visit Portland, Oregon take the time to visit the Oregon Garden or Leach Botanical Garden. They are two of the most beautiful gardens in the world. When I tell people about these two gorgeous places I am surprised to find out that many native Oregonians have never even heard of them. Spread the word.

9 I will volunteer in the neighborhood, schools, parks and gardens to create sustainable gardens and educate others. Instead of throwing out the iris, daylilies or crocosmia that have taken over my yard, I will plant them in front of the City Hall, the High School or give them to a friend or vendor at the farmers market. I will help remove invasive weeds and pick up litter the next time I go to the park. Instead of complaining about the problem, I will be part of the solution.

10. I will practice sustainable gardening and living and set a good example. The first time I showed up with trash bags and picked up garbage at the river, the polluters who didn’t give a hoot looked at me like I had stepped off of a spaceship. I didn’t say a thing I just smiled while my kids played with their kids in the water. The next time we visited the river, they smiled back and guess what, there was no garbage around them. Sustainable gardening involves taking care of the native forests, rivers and meadows that we take for granted as well. These are our personal ultimate water features that we should save for the future. Now that is making a difference! Have a wonderful sustainable year!

10 Garden Party Rules

2007-12-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

How to Get Your Garden Party Started-10 Garden Party Rules
Yolanda Vanveen
The Sustainable Gardener

When our tulips, lilacs, roses and lilies come in to bloom it is like an old friend coming for a visit. We look forward to it each year. Summer potlucks and Christmas parties are the same way. We look forward to seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while.

We take our gardens very personally. We take the time to select our plants and then bring them home to introduce them to everyone else in their new gardenhood. Sometimes your new plant guests thrive, other times they have a terrible time. Just like the antics of your coworkers at the annual Christmas dinner, you can’t take their behavior personally. They act differently in different locations and from year to year. One year they shine because they are in love, the next year they whine because they are going through a divorce.

Gardening is very much like throwing a party. You can never predict how everyone will act until you are in the middle of it. Here are ten garden party rules:

1. Plant in groups of three or more. You never want to “time out” your guests in a corner by all by themselves. They haven’t done anything wrong. You will be amazed how different types of plants as well as people will enjoy each other’s company so mix them up. We are all social and need each other to have a good time.

2. Place plants that love the sun in the hottest spot in the garden. Place shade plants in the shade. At summer parties, the teenagers usually like to sit out in the sun while the babies and older folks prefer the shade. Plants and people can move around the garden until they find a comfortable spot.

3. Start with a triangle as your base and place people and plants in rounds or a star as opposed to lines. Zigzag them so they have more room and don’t look so stiff. Plants love to be planted next to potential friends. Gardening is like a box of chocolates. No one will take the last piece and it will sit there for a long time not doing anything. When there are three or more in a group, everyone is happy and will indulge.

4. When the party is so crowded that it becomes a mosh pit, step in and separate everyone.
Bring the bullies to a different part of the garden. Introduce them to your neighbors, relatives and friends so they can take them home with them. Don’t feel bad if you need to 86 a plant or guest from your garden. Some plants and people just don’t do well with others. English Ivy is an invasive bully that will take over the world if we let it. Eradicate it by pulling it out at any opportunity. Other plants just don’t look good to you. That is okay. There is always a friend or neighbor who may enjoy it.

5. Separate the children from the parents when they are old enough to take care of themselves. Plants multiply and get crowded over the years so when dividing flower bulbs especially, I don’t pull the babies away from the mamas until they are a large size. At parties and in the garden, keep the children in groups together with adults. They do better and are easier to manage. The teenagers on the other hand, do better away from everyone else in a clique by the hot tub.

6. Provide beverages. You can give your guests fancy drinks with minerals, alcohol, and sugar but in the end, good old fashioned water is the healthiest choice for everyone. Plants and people don’t like too much chlorine in their water either so if it is a problem, use a filter not bottled water if possible.

7. Provide food. You can give your houseguests caviar and your botanic guests fish fertilizer but in the end a good barbecued steak or a veggie burger and salad is what everyone wants at your summer barbecue and compost is the best choice in your garden. You don’t give your guests powdered protein and vitamins for dinner. Don’t do the same to your plants when they need food. Bone meal, growth enhancers or nitrogen won’t make them healthy. Basic compost is what will make them thrive.

8. Never compare your parties or garden to the neighbors. Plants and people act differently depending on their location. They are social so bond differently with plants and people.
How many times have you made new friends at a neighbors barbecue and then invited them to your Christmas party and found they were not the same couple you met last summer. They show up drunk and start pushing everyone out of their way. Plants do the same thing. They may be a great plant in the yard down the street but as soon as you place it in your garden it doesn’t grow at all or worse, becomes invasive, killing all plants in its path.

9. On the other hand, don’t take it personally if a plant doesn’t thrive in your garden right away. Sometimes it takes a couple of years for them to feel comfortable and blossom. They need to get to know everyone and get their roots established before they shine. Remember that plants thrive in conditions closest to the natural homes. Willows like wet boggy areas near lakes while fir trees prefer good drainage and elevation. Fertilizers are not going to make them healthy.

10. When plants and people are not doing what they are supposed to do, don’t nag them but ignore them. We immediately want to give our plants chemicals and lots of water. What they need is time and some compost. We want to move them to a different spot but then we have to wait for the roots to grow all over again. Many plants including roses, colored calla lilies, and hanging baskets bloom better when they dry out just a bit in between watering. As a host or hostess you don’t want to overwhelm your guests by forcing them to drink too much. You don’t want to babysit a bunch of lushes so don’t dote on them. Let them have a good time on their own.

By following these ten rules you can have a successful garden party. Don’t forget, it is your party so it is all about you. You can invite any plants that you want to invite. You can ask inconsiderate guests to leave. If others tell you they love a plant in their garden but you hate it, dare to disagree. If everyone loved the same plants, our gardens would be pretty boring. Just enjoy everyone’s company even if it is only once and year and don’t forget to bloom where you are planted!

Yolanda Vanveen is a WSU Master Gardener graduate and has a BA in Communications from Linfield College. She is the proprietor of Vanveenbulbs.com, a flower bulb company selling on the internet and at garden shows and farmers markets for eighteen years. She has been featured on the PBS show, Smart Gardening demonstrating which way is up with flower bulbs. You can contact her with questions, comments or story ideas at info@vanveenbulbs.com.

Thoughts on the Dutch, American and Canadian Bulb Market

2007-11-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Thank you Guus Wijchman for the opportunity to voice my opinion and for adding another publication to my resume-Yolanda

Dear Vanveenbulbs.com-For the Dutch trade magazine Vakwerk I write an article about the Canadian market for flower bulbs (both the retail and garden centre market as well as the professional bulb flower growers). For this article I interviewed several Dutch exporters. I also would like to have some comments directly from Canadian sources. Thanks,Guus Wijchman

Dear Guus-
Thank you for the e-mail. We are located in Vancouver, Washington in the United States across from Portland, Oregon on the West Coast. We import bulbs from Holland, South Africa and purchase from domestic US growers.

We sell bulbs on the internet, through garden shows along the west coast and Cincinnati and through Farmers Markets in the Northwest United States.I have customers from Canada wanting to buy our products but it is very difficult for me to sell to Canadian customers.At the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle about 20% of our customers are Canadian. They can bring domestic bulbs back to Canada because the Washington Department of Agriculture gives phytosanitary certificates out at the show.

The bulbs that I import from Holland to the United States can not be re-exported to Canada because there is a double export rule that prohibits Dutch bulbs that have come to the US to then be shipped to Canada .I would love to do Canadian Garden Shows such as the VanDuzen Flower Show but taking them across the border would be very difficult. I would have to pay customs, a tariff on my estimated sales and shipping. That is not the difficult part. If I have any bulbs remaining after the show it is difficult to get them back in to the United States. I would have to have a Canadian Ag inspector come to the show on Sunday for a large fee and inspect the bulbs for export back to the United States. I would then have to pay customs and shipping again.

My parents came from Holland to the United States in 1959-my mom from Maasluis and my dad from Aaslmeer. My Opa Johannes Vanveen was a Cyclamen hybridizer and my Opa Paul Stigter was a chrysantemum grower. Most of my relatives are still in the flower business in Holland. My family (Bart Vanveen Greenhouses) was one of the larger lily, freesia, alstroemeria growers Estacada, Oregon in the United States twenty years ago. Since NAFTA, the price of stargazer lilies has gone from $3 stem to .50 wholesale USD.

The South American imports have brought the price down to the point that the majority of American flower growers have gone out of business. Luckily, I started selling bulbs 17 years ago separate from my family at vanveenbulbs.com and it is still a good business for now. Dutch bulbs are becoming more expensive for me because of the exchange rate and shipping costs but there is still a large demand in the United States for them.

So that is the problem-NAFTA has finished the domestic cut flower business because they can be imported for pennies-Mexicans and South Americans make less than $5 US dollars a day but I can not export bulbs to Canada without paying large fees. The exchange rate for the USD doesn't help either. If I could sell at a Canadian show and bring the money back, it would be great but there are so many fees that I don't think I could sell enough to make it worthwhile.

I have Canadian customers call and e-mail me frequently asking me to export to them but they do not want a large amount so do not want to pay for a phytosanitary certificate, export certificate, import certificate, shipping and customs. They tell me they can not purchase many Dutch bulbs in Canada and are frustrated. I would love to sell to them but if I send them bulbs without the proper paperwork I would risk losing my business. If bulbs are confiscated you can be fined.

The Northwestern part of the United States is experiencing a population explosion -Vancouver, Washington had 20,000 people in 1970 and now the area has grown to 500,000 people. The Portland, Oregon area is nearing 1 million people. This is great for my business and our climate is mild and perfect for gardening.

Global warming will mean more rainfall in our area, warmer temperatures and milder winters. We can grow many exotic plants that we could not grow twenty years ago-I am very excited that I will continue to bring bulbs in from Holland and other parts of the world for my customers. Gardening in our area is a growing hobby and a status symbol. Everyone wants the most unusual, expensive plant in their garden and many of us have large properties that will continue to value up to 20% per year and our gardens are our selling point. Our population will double in thirty years which will be great for business!
Thanks! Jolanda Vanveen (Married name Yolanda Wilson)

Dear Yolanda,
Thank you very much for your long and interesting email. I certainly can use a lot of the information you provided. I shall aks the publisher to send you a copy of the magazine!
Best regards,
Guus

Aggie's Panties in Cincinnati?

2007-10-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Vanveen Bulbs-
I purchased some of your "Pinnochio" Agapanthus bulbs this spring at the flower show in Cincinnati. The sales person told me, and I have read that these can be grown in southern Ohio, but need to be taken in in the winter.

I potted them up, and got a fair amount of foliage and now need to bring them in as it is getting colder. What do I do? Do I put them in an unheated space and let them go dormant? Do I put them in a sunny window and continue to water. Do I cut back the foliage?

Help - I don't know how to properly care for these. I can't wait for them to bloom. I travel often to southern California and see these everywhere, so I am anxious to grow my own. Any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated. I actually live in an apartment so I do not have an unheated space such as an unheated basement or garage, but if that is what works best back here in the midwest, let me know and I'll find a friend with one.-Judy

Judy-Thanks for the e-mail. I love growing warm climate exotic plants like agapanthus in colder climates as well. It really isn't that difficult. They are native to South Africa where they actually have frost in winter so they adjust to many colder climates well.

*In Cincinnati, I would treat your agapanthus (Lily of the Nile) like a houseplant and place them in a window or under a bright light in the house for the winter .
*They need to have crowded roots to bloom well so start with a few roots and bunch them together-do not spread the roots out, clump them for quicker blooms.
*If the greenery looks good, let them grow inside.
*Water it but let it dry out in between waterings to the point of almost wilting and then water again.
*Cut the bad looking greenery out as needed.
* If the greens die back, don't worry. Let it dry out and place somewhere out of the way but add a little water periodically so it doesn't get too dry.
*Place outside again next May in the hottest sunniest spot you can find.
*Agapanthus are fine in a container as long as they don't get too wet and then freeze solid. Keep containers dry in the winter.
*They are considered a bulb in colder climates because they go dormant in the winter.
*In Oregon and Washington State west of the Cascades we can leave them outside in the ground and they die back in the winter and then grow back in the Spring. We still need to keep the containers dry in the winter because if they freeze too hard or get too wet we will lose them.
*In California they are not a bulb because they are green year round.
* In the Midwest, you would need to bring them inside each year and treat like a houseplant or let them go dormant and grow again next Spring, your choice.

We will be back in Cincinnati this April-see you there! Let me know if you have any other questions.For more show info go to cincyflowershow.com.
Thanks!
Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

PS. We have nicknames for many of our plants......Here are just a few:
Aggie's panties Agapanthus-Lily of the Nile
Lily of Denial Agapanthus-Lily of the Nile
dead mice Monkshood because a customer once saw a monkshood bulb on the floor and jumped up and down yelling dead mouse!
crocks Crocosmias
flamers red flame calla
silly peruvians Scilla peruviana
silly siberians Scilla siberica
iris rediculous' Iris reticulata

Plants Communicate to Warn Against Danger

2007-10-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

According to LiveScience.com, plants communicate with each other-Believe it or not....

Plants Communicate to Warn Against Danger
By Sara Goudarzi, Special to LiveScience
posted: 08 October 2007 08:07 am ET

Plants chatter amongst themselves to spread information, a lot like humans and other animals, new research suggests.
A unique internal network apparently allows greens to warn each other against predators and potential enemies.
Many herbal plants such as strawberry, clover, reed and ground elder naturally form a set of connections to share information with each other through channels known as runners—horizontal stems that physically bond the plants like tubes or cables along the soil surface and underground. Though connected to vertical stems, runners eventually form new buds at the tips and ultimately form a network of plants.
“Network-like plants do not usually produce vertical stems but their stems lie flat on the ground and can hence be used as network infrastructure,” said researcher Josef Stuefer from the Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Stuefer and his team let loose caterpillars on white clover plants and watched them eat a single leaf on the network. Then a second set of caterpillars was allowed to choose between the damaged leaf—one that has been alerted to up its defense status—and leaves from an undamaged network.
Over the course of 20 trials, most or all of the approximately 15 caterpillars in each trial preferred the undamaged leaf to the leaf from a damaged network.
“The feeding caterpillars will be deterred and walk off to feed on other non-induced plants,” Stuefer told LiveScience. “[They] understand plant defense language very well as it is directed exactly to them.”
Here is how it works: If one of the network plants is attacked by caterpillars, the other members of the network are warned via an internal signal to upgrade their chemical and mechanical resistance—making their leaves hard to chew on and less desirable. This system works to spread the information amongst the plants and to ward off caterpillars.
“This is an early warning system, very much like in military defense, but then more effective: each member of the network can receive the external signal of impending herbivore danger and transmit it to the other members of the network,” Stuefer said. The attacked leaf is lost. However, the remaining leaves are protected against predators.
The study is detailed in this month’s issue of the journal Oecologia.
According to the researchers, the principle of network transfer of substances is known for very many species, including numerous invasive plants such as bracken and reed and commercial crop species such as bamboo.
The downside to these connections is that viruses often use the runner infrastructure to quickly spread. They enter the plant via the leaves, find their way into the stems and are then passively transported to all the network members where they cause new infections.
“Many pathogens are host specific, meaning that they can infect only very specific plant species,” Stuefer said. “Their main challenge for survival is to find a new host after one has been infected. Such specialists have an especially big advantage from network infections as the physical connection between plants enables them to find genetically identical copies of the original host.”
This, Stuefer explains, is comparable to a computer virus specialized to infect computers with a certain version of the Windows operating system. “Such a virus spreads very fast if all terminals on a network have the correct Windows version while its spread is slowed down if there is variability in the systems,” he said.

Give a Hoot-Order on the Net and not by Catalog

2007-10-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Environmental organizations have developed an online service called Catalog Choice, which allows users to opt out of receiving catalogs they don't want, developers said. Organizers said the goal is to help people—and companies—reduce their environmental footprints.
"Every day, millions of unwanted catalogs clog consumers’ mailboxes and are immediately tossed in the trash," said Laura Hickey, senior director for Global Warming Education at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), which helped organize the service. "They are overflowing municipal waste systems, devouring precious natural resources and contributing to pollution and global warming."
The service is free, unlike some other "do not mail" lists, Hickey said, and users can submit new catalog titles to a database already containing 11,000 of them.
Tree-munching mail
About 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers each year, according to a Catalog Choice statement. The service used Environmental Defense's paper waste calculator to measure that annual impact:
53 million trees, or about 3.6 million tons (3.3 billion kilograms) of paper
enough power to supply 1.2 million homes (38 trillion BTUs) for one year
5.2 million tons (4.7 billion kilograms) of carbon dioxide emissions—the annual emissions of two million cars
53 billion gallons (200 billion liters) of waste water, enough to fill 81,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
"Anyone who has tried to get their name removed from a mailing list knows the process can fuel frustration," says Martin Bourque, executive director of the Ecology Center. "We believe that opting out of a mail-order catalog should be as easy as it is to make the purchase."
'Good for business'
Industry experts think the service will be good for catalog-mailing businesses, as well as consumers and the environment.
"This free service will help catalogers … remove non-responsive consumers from their lists and reduce expenses associated with paper, printing and postage," said Al Bessin, a consulting partner with Lenser, a direct mail and marketing firm based in San Rafael, Calif.
To design, produce and send out the billions of catalags, said Catalog Choice spokesperson April Smith, it costs merchants about $13.3 billion annually.
To stop receiving specific catalogs, Smith noted that users need a customer number found on each catalog they receive to make the process work. Merchants can also sign up for an account—once their identities are strictly verified—to make the entire process less tedious, Smith said.
"We've tried to make it as easy as possible for catalogers to work with us," Smith told LiveScience.com, noting that merchants only have access to user information submitted to them for removal. "Our team is confident that all security precautions have been taken to ensure the privacy of our users as well as the safety of the data they have provided Catalog Choice."
The NWF joined up with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City and the Ecology Center in Berkeley, Calif., to launch CatalogChoice.org. The service is funded by the Overbrook Foundation in New York City, an anonymous donor known as the Kendeda Fund and the Merck Family Fund in Milton, Mass.

Responsible Gardeners Say No to Catalogs and Go Online Instead!

2007-10-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

Catalogs are a thing of the past. Why would you want to kill a tree to look at a flower picture when you could go online and see it and save a forest, not alone save the earth from all the pollution that ink creates!
I even have the newspaper (The Columbian) e-mailed to me each day and I check CNN.com regularly and don't have a paper copy delivered. Anything that is on paper can be e-mailed or paid by direct deposit. The goal is to eliminate this stupid paperwork that we spend our life organizing.

To be a responsible gardener we must change the way we think-Purchase from farmers markets or online from growers-No paperwork and no middlemen-all online or person to person. Cancel all of your catalog subscriptions because you can find the pictures and info online.
Ask for e-mailings not mailings from each company that sends you a catalog. Give a hoot!

This is why, my friend we do not produce a catalog at vanveenbulbs.com and you should go online and purchase plants, not with a catalog. Ask to be taken off of the list. -

Thank you Anderson Cooper and CNN for bringing this issue to the public in your series, Planet in Peril and for easing my mind on the fact it is okay, even great, not to produce a catalog.

From the Catalog Choice website:
Each year, 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers. That is 63 catalogs for every man, woman and child in the United States.
Sadly, most of these catalogs are unsolicited. Plus, all this mailbox clutter takes its toll on the environment. Catalog paper (3.6 million tons) adds up to 38 trillion BTUs, enough energy to power 1.2 million homes each year. It also produces 5.2 million tons of carbon dioxide, equal to the annual emissions of two million cars.
Today, we’re pleased to launch the first free service that consumers can use to opt-out of catalogs. Now it is as easy to opt-out of a mail order catalog as it is to make a purchase.
It’s a great idea. If you are tired of receiving those Crate & Barrel, International Male or TLA Video catalogs, this is a great way to opt out of receiving them
Catalog Choice: Catalogchoice.org
Stop Other Junk Mail: Direct Marketing Association Homepage

Purchase from farmers markets and growers:
Eating locally grown produce and purchasing plants from them is good for local small farmers, your health and the environment for the following reasons.
The cost of fuel to transport produce from thousands of miles away adds up and is added to the cost of the product. Plus the amount of pollution released is higher when trucks travel the interstates to deliver that ear of corn or that head of lettuce from the West Coast.
Most of the time, produce found in your local farmers market was pulled from the ground in the past 24-48 hours. This means more nutritional value is left in that ear of corn or bunch of scallions because it hasn’t has as much time to sit around in warehouses on the way to the mega-mart.
When you eat local, you tend to eat what is in season, which means fresher, tastier foods. Autumn is a good time for root vegetables. If you go to a big supermarket this time of year, you might find things like grapes, oranges and other produce which has been stored for months at a time rather than being picked fresh.
A British study tracked how much of the money spent at a local food business stayed in the local economy, and how many times it was reinvested. When you buy direct from local farmers, your dollars stay within your community, and strengthen the local economy. More than 90¢ of every dollar you spend goes to the farmer, thus preserving farming as a livelihood and farmland. Buy local and support the local economy.
Studies show that people shopping at farmers’ markets have 10 times more conversations than their counterparts at the supermarket. So it’s also a social thing. You can also build a relationship with the farmers and actually know where the apples are grown and whether they use pesticides or not. -From greenfellow.com

I love that so many people are coming around to my way of thinking-Thanks for speaking out against excessive pollution and making the world a better place.
Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

Proof that Plants are Social from the NWF

2007-10-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone that has visited the vanveenbulbs.com booth at a garden show or farmers market knows how we love our bulbs. We treat them like family and have always recommended planting them in groups of three or more and when dividing them.

"Never place a plant all alone in time out, they have not done anything wrong."

"Don't separate the babies from the mamas until they are as big as the mamas...."

So, it was nice to read that there is actually someone else that has done research in this area and found that plants not only like to live in groups but in family groups.
-Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

Plant Siblings Not Rivals
A NEW STUDY finds that certain plants can recognize their siblings—that is, offspring of the same mother plant—and opt to grow together without competing. Evolutionary plant ecologist Susan Dudley of Canada’s McMaster University grew both related and unrelated sea rocket plants, which are native to beaches throughout North America, together in pots.

While the unrelated plants did their best to make more roots in order to outcompete their pot-mates, sibling plants allowed their relatives enough space to grow. Noncompetitive siblings are able to put less of their energy into root production and more into growth and reproduction.

“People think of plants as passive—that they just grow in response to resources,” says Dudley. “But here we can see some of the same complex behavior in plants that we see in animals.”—Hannah Schardt
-Taken from the National Wildlife Federation Magazine

To someone who loves flowers

2007-09-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

Gardening and flowers are loved all over the world but there are those who don't like gardening and that is their prerogative which we pronouce and generally misspell perogative.

This hit home when attending the mail-ordering gardening convention in Burlington, Vermont 15 years ago. There she was Julia Child at the pay phone. How exciting! After introducing ourselves and explaining we sell flower bulbs it was our surprise to hear her say,
" Darlings, I love cooking but I loathe gardening," and she handed back the card. Oh well.
I know a lot of gardeners who are not very good cooks.

We are all addicts in some way or another. Some of us are lucky to be addicted to gardening while others are into cooking-they are both better for you than many other addictions. I love to be a gardening addiction enabler-I start customers off with lilies and daffodils and move on to the harder stuff like gloriosa lilies and eremurus. What other addiction is healthy because you exercise and raises your property value?

Fast forward 13 years to the Point Defiance Garden Show. The vendor next to me had beautiful roses of all colors. He was most proud of his Princess Diana and Julia Child roses. I giggled. How can someone who loathes gardening have a flower named after her?

Prince Charles said in an interview that he loved to go up to his castle in Balmoral, Scotland to garden but Diana didn't share his passion for gardening. She had other passions. In the end it doesn't matter because she should have flowers named after her based on her beauty alone and the wonderful things she did to help others in the world.

So this week I received a request to send some bulbs anonymously. This happens on occassion and luckily I have never had anyone call me up to find out who sent them.
I always hope the recepient likes flowers and doesn't mind. Here is the e-mail:

Thank You for the notification of soon to be shipped paperwhites. The other bulbs I ordered (Casa Blancas, White Asiatic lilies, Calla Lilies) and gave as a gift produced some of the MOST OUTSTANDING blooms and fragrance. The recipient enjoyed them so much. You do great work.

I know you are very busy this time of year. Would it be at all possible to ship the bulbs anonymously? I would appreciate that no billing information or sender information be enclosed in the shipment. Please, It must be a surprise anonymous gift--I learned that this person loves flowers and is a very solitary, private, & reclusive individual. I know he would not accept a gift if given in person.

He paused one day to admire the blooms from the other bulbs from Vanveen bulbs that his neighbor had received. I have no idea which ones they were. Either asiatic lilies or the callas. He said "lovely....I love flowers" He then went back inside. Those were the first words my friend had heard from his lips in over 4 years of living right next door. Our next task is to see if we can somehow slip information to him about forcing the paperwhites, lol. We dont know if he knows how to do it or not.

I replied- I am pulling the order today and will ship anonymously as requested with no paperwork and heard back-

Thank You Ms. Wilson! Your work spreads beauty, joy, and allows people to connect with one another in many ways.

It was so nice to hear those words. They really touched me and made all my hard work worth while so I sent him an e-mail back-

Just wanted to confirm I shipped out the bulbs so they should be received today and I mailed a tag with planting directions but no paperwork and wrote on the box from someone who knows you love flowers c/o vanveenbulbs.com. Thanks for the order!

Thank you for the encouragement as well. I worked for a Japanese company exporting raw timber to Japan before I started my company 17 years ago and did not feel good about it but sometimes wonder if I should have stayed-health benefits, retirement, a huge salary by now. So you reconfirmed that I made the right choice-I love my business and truely believe it is better to give plants to the earth than take them.
Thanks! And thanks for reading my story.
From someone who loves gardening and loathes cooking. And you know, that is my prerogative.

Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

----- Original Message -----

Canna Conundrum

2007-09-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

This time of year, we receive a few e-mails and phone calls from people who are not always happy with their plants the first year that they have them. The plants are usually cannas, amaryllis belladonnas or agapanthus because they need a year or two to set roots and multiply before blooming well.

My goal is to take an unhappy customer and make them happy because the customer is always right-I shipped five Robert Kemp Cannas to Michael today and he
is so thrilled that he wants business cards so that he can recommend us to his friends.

The e-mails are in order from most recent to first-
E-Mail #3
I have planted my canna on the south side where they get sun for ¾ of the day and have made sure they are watered regularly. The ones that have sprouted have done a relatively good job; 3 of them have even bloomed! The other canna that have not sprouted anything above ground don’t have any roots below either. I’m not entirely sure what happened.
If you would be willing to replace the 5 that haven’t grown, I would be ecstatic. I don’t know if you would need to know which varieties I have or whether you would just make your own selection regarding that. Either way, I don’t mind. Like I said before, I bought the 10 dividing it between 3 different varieties and mixed them all together, so I’m not picky about them all matching. Although, I have to say that I am pleased with the way the red ones with the blackish-green leaves have turned out. (I don’t remember their name.)

Sorry again for not getting back to you very quickly. I appreciate your prompt response and your time.
Thanks,
Michael

E-mail #2 Michael-Thanks for the e-mail.
Cannas do much better the second year. They need full sun and lots of water to grow well and take a long time to set roots before they begin to grow. The first year they mostly set roots and do not grow quickly until the second year. They are a plant that are hard to start but once you have made it through the first year, you can't get rid of them. Not all of mine grow either the first year but from the plants that grown they multiply so quickly that by the second year I have enough to plant all over the yard and within 5 years I have enough for the whole neighborhood.

They need to be placed in full sun in a hot location with lots of water to get growing. This summer has been cool so even my cannas have not grown quickly.
I can give you some money back or give you some more next spring-Considering you only have $6 each into your cannas and they sell for $16 each in a pot you still got a screaming deal. Wait until next year when they are huge.
Thanks!
Yolanda Wilson
vanveenbulbs.com

E-mail #1

Hello,

I purchased some canna bulbs from you at the Clark County Home & Garden Show earlier this year. You had a special of 10 bulbs for $35. I chose 3 different varieties. Out of the 10 bulbs, I have only had 5 grow roots and sprout. They are all planted in the same area for a clustered look. I even dug one of the bulbs up and moved it to a different location just to see if it was the soil that was unfavorable. It still didn’t produce.
I am wondering if you have any kind of warranty on bulbs that do not grow as expected?
Thanks for your time. Michael

Delightful News from Dave's Garden

2007-09-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

It is a good day when I check my e-mail and see on the subject line that-
Vanveenbulbs.com has received a positive rating on davesgarden.com
It is a great source of information to gardeners and suppliers in the plant world. Thank you Dave's garden and Deborah from New Jersey!
________________________________________________________________
On September 12, 2007, lolamina Verona, NJ wrote:
As an Essex County (NJ) Master Gardener, and a passionate Naturalist...I rely on Dave's Garden website, and my peers who also use this site, for info, advice and purchasing. Yesterday, in desperate need of large quantity of Stargazer and Casablanca bulbs for a wedding in three weeks, I contacted Vanveen's based on the positive reviews here. I had already exausted all of my 'tried and true' resources with no luck.Not only am I going to receive exactly what I need within the week...but the owner called me personally to expedite and assure! I have dealt with over 20 different mail-order plant/bulb sites in the past...for huge Spring/Fall Bulb school fundraisers, large commercial plantings, public gardens, etc. Vanveen's pricing, service and availability out-shine even the best that I have purchased from in the past.Thank you to Dave's Garden, and most of all thank you to my fellow gardeners for taking the time to post your experiences. And thank you Yolanda Vanveen for reassuring the Gardening Community that there ARE wholesome, honest suppliers in an electronic market, when just about anyone can 'claim' to do the same! We've all had to 'kiss' quite a few 'frogs' before finding a 'Prince'...(or Princess in this case!)-Deborah MacEvoy Jacobsen
On September 12th, 2007, lolamina added the following:Ooops..I meant to thank Yolanda WILSON, owner of VANVEENS! You can visit the website to see what an amazing plant and garden advocate she is too.
__________________________________________________________________
By the way, Deborah-Vanveen is my maiden name which I used for 32 years and
still use for acting-see actorsinaction.com. So I don't mind using either name-

I loved your e-mail to me as well Deborah-I think all gardeners are kindred spirits. It is our mission to protect and save the plants of our Earth, native and exotic for future generations. Plus we are all a little out there and we feel at home with other plant nerds. Good luck in your native garden business!

From Deborah in New Jersey-
The name I will be operating under for my start-up business is The Native Garden
Our biggest hurdle is the cost of overhead for greenhouse operation through below freezing and freezing winters! We will probably end up 'piggy-backing' on one of our friendly local Nurseries to get started. As I mentioned, I am at the stage of sourcing Native American species for my catalog and test gardens. I have lots of volunteer testers (fellow Essex County Master Gardeners) who have been great sports determining viability, over-wintering, etc.

We also LOVE anything Deer Proof. Due to the sad over-development of land...we have extremely large herds of deer rendered 'homeless,' and they have greatly expanded their palatable repertoire, especially the young ones during Springtime!

Have a wonderful Autumn, it's my favorite time of year. You sound like a kindred spirit, I wish all of the best for your endeavors.

Be Well,

Deborah

Hardy Plant Society of Oregon publishes Leach Botanical Garden Article

2007-09-10T18:25:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Dorothy Rodal of the HPSO Bulletin for the nice letter-

I did like your article. I am sure that now many people will visit your secret garden, the Leach Botanical Garden. By writing this article you give an enormous amount to the plant community and I am happy that you share it with our readers.
I can imagine having small boys keeps you quite busy, but I hope that you enjoy writing as much as I do, and will write again-Fondly, Dorothy

Here is the article -

My Secret Garden-Leach Botanical Garden
Yolanda Wilson

“When autumn leaves turn their golden hue, two lovers say I do.” Many couples in the Portland area have held their wedding receptions at a beautiful botanical garden that few people actually know about, Leach Botanical in Portland, Oregon. It is the only public garden in southeast Portland.

The garden is beautiful every season of the year. In the spring the trilliums and leaves begin to grow, while the summer offers many plants in lush glory. The garden is a safe haven away from the heat and it is always shady and cool. It was a perfect autumn day with briliant sunset-colored leaves dangling in the trees on the day I got married at my secret garden, Leach Botanical Garden.
.
Fast forward seven years. November. It was cold out and it had actually stopped raining for a day. The sky was blue so I decided to take my twin five year old boys James and Ethan out to see an old friend again. We visit every season and every time I come to Leach Botanical Gardens it is a different experience. Winter is one of the best times for me. A visit always boosts my spirits up.
__________________________________________________________________
Leach is easy to find. 6704 SE 122nd. Portland, Oregon. Take I205 to SE Foster East, Right on 122nd and around the corner. Park in the lot across the bridge and walk over to the park. No need to check in because there is free admission.
__________________________________________________________________

“I remember you and the boys from last summer. I told you to come back to see the garden in the winter. I knew you would come back.” The gardener, Scott Hoelscher, welcomed us to Leach as he always does. He was sweeping the leaves up from the walkways.

First we went down the steps toward the creek. They are so welcoming. The rocks are covered with moss and there are ferns everywhere-sword ferns, maidenhair ferns, licorice ferns. Native ferns and foreign ferns sharing the land in perfect harmony. Then you walk along Johnson Creek which is just a trickle of water in the summer. In the winter it is a roaring river.

It was cold but we kept moving. Climbing up the hill to the top garden is a great work out. I took some great pictures. There were Oregon Grape, Salal, Rhododendrons and a Huckleberry Bush with a fruit (a berry-like drupe) on it. The Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar really stood out because there were few leaves remaining on the Vine Maple trees.

The park was willed to the City of Portland in 1981 by Lilla and John Leach and is maintained by the Leach Garden Friends, a non-profit membership organization. Their mission is to ensure that it is maintained and that Leach Botanical Garden remains open to the public. It is the only public botanical garden in southeast Portland.

Lilla Irvin Leach was born March 13, 1896 on a farm in Barlow, Oregon. Lilla, a botanist was educated in public schools in Barlow and Aurora, at the Tualatin Academy, and at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she studied under Albert R. Sweetser. In 1913, Lilla married John R. Leach, a Portland pharmacist.

In 1931 they purchased 15 acres and built their home that they named Sleepy Hollow. The property was originally part of a 320-acre land claim belonging to Jacob Johnson, one of the sawmill operators who furnished lumber for homes in Portland. Johnson’s land extended from Mt. Scott down to the creek that runs through the gardens that is named after him, Johnson Creek. Lilla and John traveled through areas of the West in search for new plants, concentrating on the back country of the Siskiyou Mountains. Aiding them in their travels and collecting were the two famous burros, Pansy and Violet.

Lilla is credited with discovering 15 new plant species and two new genera. Her most famous find was a species that dates back 10 million years ago, Kalmiopsis leachiana. They successfully added exotic plants to their native garden without compromising the native plants. They collected a beautiful array of plants. They never had children and willed the home and property to the City of Portland.

Portland Parks & Recreation maintains the buildings in partnership with Leach Garden Friends who take care of the Garden. It is rented out for weddings and other occasions for a nominal fee and there is a gift shop and plant sales to raise money to maintain the gardens. Upstairs in the house there is a public library with one of the largest collections of gardening books in one place with nearly 900 volumes. You can take your time and read them in a nice warm cozy home.

Seasonal traditional English Teas in the Manor house are also a delightful experience. Guests are graciously served tea, scones, a plate of sandwiches, fruit and dessert followed by a tour of the Garden. Every Saturday morning February through November at 10 am there is a guided tour through the gardens led by volunteers. The first Saturday of each month there is a “Gardener’s Tour” led by Leach Botanical Garden Steward, Scotty Fairchild. There is a monthly theme for the tours. Past tours have included Rediscovering Plants identified by Lewis & Clark, Tall Trees and Conifers, and a Rainbow of Fall Colors.

The Leach legacy continues. They have taught us how to integrate native and nonnative plants together successfully to conserve plants for the future. Let’s not forget to say thanks to over one hundred volunteers that have donated time and money to preserve a botanical treasure at Leach Botanical Gardens.

“I thought you said we were going to the park, “ the twins announce. “Where’s the playground?” Although there is no slide or swing set, this park has 15 acres for the boys explore and they are worn out from running. That was the goal. It is a botanical wonderland even though it is only 40 degrees outside.

In the winter the garden is gorgeous. Many plants are evergreen and can only be seen when the leaves fall of the trees and shrubs in front of them. They greens are really showy this time of year. Every shade of green from chartreuse to avocado is in display. There are still leaves on some of the trees. Shrubs including Aucuba japonica have red berries, while there are Skimmia japonica with red or white fruits (drupes).

I could have stayed longer at Leach Botanical Gardens because I never feel that I have seen enough. We were in and out in a less than an hour but I felt like I had been on a vacation. Visiting Leach makes you feel like have been on a botanical expedition to a native place and met some exotic friends along the way.

For information, contact Portland Parks and Recreation at : http://www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/Parks/LeachBotanicalGar.htm
Portland Parks & Recreation1120 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 1302
Portland, Oregon 97204503-823-PLAY or 503-823-2223v/tt

Plant List Leach Botanical Garden, Portland, Oregon (Not listed in HPSO Bulletin)
Achlys triphylla, Vanilla Leaf
Aquilegia formosa, Western Columbine
Aruncus sylvester (dioica), goats beard
Asarum caudatum, Wild Ginger
Aster modestus, Great Northern Aster
Cornus unalaschkensis (canadensis), bunchberry
Corydalis scouleri, Scouler's Corydalis
Delphinium trolliifolium, trollius-leaf delphinium, Columbia delphinium
Dicentra formosa, Pacific Bleeding Heart
Digitalis purpurea, Foxglove (non-native)
Erythronium oreganum, Trout Lily
Fragaria vesca, Wood's Strawberry
Heuchera chlorantha, Meadow Alumroot
Heuchera micrantha, Small Flowered Alumroot
Hydrophyllum tenuipes, Pacific Waterleaf
Lilium columbianum, Tiger Lily
Linnaea borealis, Twinflower
Lonicera ciliosa , Orange Honeysuckle
Maianthemum dilatatum, False Lily of the Valley
Mimulus guttatus, Yellow Monkeyflower
Montia parvifolia (syn. Claytonia parvifolia), small-leaved montia, streambank spring-beauty
Montia sibirica (syn. Claytonia sibirica), candyflower, miners lettuce
Oxalis oregana, Redwood Sorrel
Petasites frigidus var. palmatus, Coltsfoot
Smilacina racemosa, False Solomon Seal
Smilacina stellata, Star-Flowered Solomon Seal
Synthris reniformis, Spring Queen
Tellima grandiflora, Fringecups
Thalictrum occidentale, Western Meadow Rue
Tiarella trifoliata var. unifoliata, Foam Flower
Tolmiea menziesii, Piggy-Back Plant
Trientalis latifolia, Starflower
Trillium chloropetalum, Sessile Trillium
Vancouveria hexandra, Inside-Out Flower
Viola glabella, Streambank Violet
Viola sempervirens, Evergreen Violet
Trees
Abies grandis, Grand Fir
Acer circinatum, Vine Maple
Alnus rubra, Red Alder
Cornus nuttallii, Pacific Dogwood
Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas Fir
Rhamnus purshiana, Cascara
Taxus brevifolia, Pacific yew
Thuja plicata, Western Red Cedar
Tsunga Heterophylla, Western Hemlock
Shrubs
Amelanchier alnifolia, Serviceberry
Gaultheria ovatifolia, Oregon wintergreen
Gaultheria shallon, Salal
Holodiscus discolor, Oceanspray
Leucothoe davisiae, western leucothoe
Lonicera involucrata, Black Twinberry
Mahonia aquifolium, Tall Oregon Grape
Mahonia nervosa, Cascade Oregon Grape
Rhododendron macrophyllum, Pacific Rhododendron
Ribes sanguineum, Red-Flowering Currant
Rosa gymnocarpa, Baldhip Rose
Rosa pisocarpa, Clustered Rose
Rubus parviflorus, Thimbleberry
Sambucus racemosa, Red Elderberry
Symphoricarpus albus, Common Snowberry
Symphoricarpus mollis, Creeping Snowberry
Vaccinium ovatum, Evergreen Huckleberry
Vaccinium parvifolium, Red Huckleberry
Viburnum trilobum, High Bush Cranberry
Ferns
Adiantum pedatum (aleuticum), maidenhair fern
Athyrium filix-femina, Lady Fern
Blechnum spicant, Deer Fern
Dryopteris austriaca (syn. D. expansa), wood fern, shield fern
Polypodium glycyrrhiza, Licorice Fern
Polystichum munitum, Sword Fern

Thank you to Scott Hoelscher and the staff and volunteers at Leach Botanical Garden for their help in writing this article and to Dorothy Rodal, Editor of the HPSO Bulletin for selecting it for publication in the Fall 2007 edition-Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com
To become a member of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon and receive copies of the Bulletin every spring and fall, as well as newsletters and plant sale information contact them at:
www.hardyplantsociety.org

Thanks for the testimonial Joe!

2007-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Ms Wilson: Thank You for the notification of soon to be shipped paperwhites. The other bulbs I ordered and gave as a gift (Casa Blanca lilies) produced some of the MOST OUTSTANDING blooms and fragrance. The recipient enjoyed them so much. You do great work. Thank You! Joe

What is your name little plant?

2007-09-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

by Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

So a name is a name is a name. Call the plant whatever others will understand or make up your own name. I am so confused as to what I should call the plants we sell!!

Brodiaea is really Triteleia hyacintha or laxa, Acidanthera is really Gladiolus callianthus murielae but Scilla Peruviana is still Scilla Peruviana although it is not from Peru. What the?
If I am this confused how confused can I make my customers? I have pictures on my web page vanveenbulbs.com if you can figure out what category I have placed them in.

1. Triteleia

Let's look at Brodiaea or Triteleia first. This summer I spent some time in the Trinity Mountains near Mad River in Northern California and it was blooming all over the mountain side. The Indians dried them and ate them like nuts. We used to grow Brodiaea Queen Fabiola in our greenhouses as a cut flower so they are very special to me. It is such a beautiful plant. Here is some detailed information:

According to: http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Triteleia+hyacintha

Triteleia hyacintha
Common name: Hyacinth brodiaea
Family: Alliaceae
Synonyms:
Hesperoscordum hyacinthinum (Lindl.), Brodiaea hyacintha ((Lindl.)Baker.)
Known Hazards:
None known
Range:
South-western N. America - British Columbia and south to California.
Habitat:
Grassy, often rocky open flats to mid-montane meadows, also found in wet places, meadows and slopes to 1800 metres.
Other Possible Synonyms:
Brodiaea dissimulata[B,P] Brodiaea hyacinthina[B,P] Brodiaea hyacinthina var. lactea[B,P] T. hyacinthina[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,,HORTIPLEX,P]
Other Common Names:
Fool's-onion [B], Hyacinth Brodiaea [P],
Physical Characteristics
Bulb growing to 0.7m by 0.1m . It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3 out of 5 for usefulness.
The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.
Habitats and Possible LocationsCultivated Beds, By Walls, By South Wall, By East Wall.
Edible UsesRoot.
Bulb - raw or cooked. Rich in starch, the bulb can be used like potatoes. An emergency food, it is only used when all else fails.

Cultivation details
Requires a rich well-drained sandy loam[1]. Likes plenty of moisture whilst in growth followed by a warm dry period in late summer and autumn[200]. Succeeds outdoors in a very sheltered warm position, otherwise it is best grown in a bulb frame[90]. There are two basic forms of this species, a large white-flowered form grows wild in wet places whilst a smaller form is found on drier slopes[90]. The hardiness zone has been given as 4, this is somewhat questionable, the plant is liable to be much less hardy[K].

2. Gladiolus callianthus murielae

Again, I really want to call this plant by the name I have known it by, Acidanthera. It is easier to remember and most people know what it is. When I call it a glad they look at me funny and when I call it peacock orchid, people look at me like is that really an orchid-it looks like a bulb. Then I tell them it isn't an orchid, just looks like one. I think I'll call it a peacock glad.

Here is some more information:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-summer/acida_bi.html

Scientific Name
Acidanthera (ass-i-DAN-ther-uh) bicolor, Gladiolus callianthus
Common Name: Abyssinian, Fragrant gladiolus, Sword lily
Geophyte Organ: Corm
Light Requirements: Full-PM Sun
Height: 24-36 inches (60-90 cm)
Flowering Season: Summer
Flower Color: White with maroon center
Planting Time: Spring
Planting Depth: 5 inches (12.5 cm)
Spacing Between Corms: 8 inches (20 cm)
Hardiness: Tender III - injured below 25°F (2°C)
Bulb Storage: Harvest corms in the fall, dry, clean carefully, and store at 55-68 °F (13-20°C) with some ventilation
Comments: Fragrant flowers; opens one at the time; good cut flowers; thrives in damp borders; delay planting until soil has warmed; prefers well-drained soil
Cultivars: Murielae, Zwanenburg

3. Scilla Peruviana. It doesn't look like a scilla but more like an agapanthus or Lily of the Nile.
I purchased one in a pot at a garden show in Newport, Oregon for $15 and they told me it was a miniature agapanthus. It died and I found a bulb inside and then realized it was not what I had thought it was originally-it was a Scilla Peruviana.
It is not from Peru but really from Southern Europe but the Explorers took them with them around the world. We bring our favorite plants with us, they did too. That is why it has so many nicknames, Spanish squill, Caribean Lily, Cuban lily, Miniature Lily of the Nile and the list goes on.
Here is some more information from Wikipedia:
Portuguese Squill
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Liliopsida
Order:
Asparagales
Family:
Hyacinthaceae
Genus:
Scilla
Species:
S. peruviana
Binomial name
Scilla peruvianaL.
Portuguese Squill (Scilla peruviana) is a species of Scilla native to the western Mediterranean region in Iberia, Italy, and northwest Africa.
It is a bulb-bearing herbaceous perennial plant. The bulb is 6-8 cm diameter, white with a covering of brown scales. The leaves are linear, 20-60 cm long and 1-4 cm broad, with 5-15 leaves produced each spring. The flowering stem is 15-40 cm tall, bearing a dense pyramidal raceme of 40-100 flowers; each flower is blue, 1-2 cm diameter, with six tepals.
The scientific name peruviana, "of Peru" results from confusion over the origin of the specimens from which the species was described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1753; he was given specimens imported from Spain aboard a ship named Peru, and was misled into thinking the specimens had come from that country. The rules of botanical naming do not allow a scientific name to be changed merely because it is potentially confusing.

Cultivation and uses
It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant for its spring flowers; several cultivars are available ranging in colour from white to light or dark blue, or violet. In some areas it is also known, confusingly, as Hyacinth of Peru, Peruvian Scilla, or Cuban Lily.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Squill"
Category: Hyacinthaceae

Getting back to name changing. I found a web site from a link from Northwest Garden News that lists the "rules" to naming plants.
Although Linnaeus named Scilla Peruviana incorrectly, it can not be changed just because it is from Europe and not Peru. The way I understand it is that the first naming applies unless there is a genetic test run and there is DNA evidence to place it in another family. Many times a new plant is found in the world and when they name it they run DNA tests that place it in the correct family but many times that changes the names of other plants as well when they realize they are related. Six degrees of separation in the plant world is to blame.
All the rules for assigning plant names are in The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). You can find the list online at:
www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/nomenclature/code/SaintLouis/0000St.Luistitle.htm
I am warning you if you go to that web site you will come back out not knowing what to call any plants in your garden.

So the confusion continues. I find it exciting as well. History is very interesting and it makes you realize, the more we know, the less we really understand. I think we should all make up nicknames for our plants as we do our friends and random people around us and not worry about their given names. Some day it will all become clear.

Advice from the Oregon Environmental Council

2007-07-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

According to www.oeconline.org/climate/gwgardening
The Oregon Environmental Council:

How to Grow a "Cool Planet" Garden
Document Actions
Gardeners are inherently in touch with thier place. That is why many gardeners have been the first to notice changes that may be linked with global warming.
Changes in Hardiness Zones
The National Arbor Day Foundation has recently updated its hardiness zone map to reflect recent trends. Click here to see a map showing the differences in USDA hardiness zones between 1990 and 2006. These zones reflect a warmer climate.
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has put together an interactive map showing which state trees and flowers may no longer grow in their "home states" as the effects of global warming increase.
Global Warming May Aid Noxious Weeds
Noxious weeds, including poison ivy and ragweed – the pollen of which is a leading cause of allergies – will flourish as levels of CO2 in the atmosphere increase. At an experimental plot where scientists can precisely control the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, Duke University researchers discovered that when exposed to higher levels of CO2, poison ivy goes haywire. The plant not only grew faster, but produced a more noxious form of its rash-causing chemical – in other words, a more poisonous poison ivy. The study found that poison ivy grew about 149 percent faster in an environment with a higher concentration of CO2. At the same time, urushiol – the chemical in poison ivy that causes rashes and sometimes more serious symptoms – was found to be about 153 percent more concentrated per leaf. And rising CO2 seems to favor the growth of weeds above the growth of plants we’d prefer to see succeed.1
What You Can Do
Choose to create a "cool planet" garden. The National Resources Defense Council has teamed up with expert gardeners from the Garden Club of America to develop the Gardener's Guide to Global Warming, a useful guide that brings global warming solutions home to your own back yard. Click here to download a copy. [PDF]
Pick Up the Hoe, Then Call or Click
Creating a rain garden and planting native species can have a huge impact, but we also ask you to increase your positive impact by contacting your lawmakers. Your state legislators are now debating what actions Oregon should take to solve global warming, and they need to hear from you. Sign up for OEC's Action Alert emails, which bring you timely information on relevant bills being considered before the legislature along with the opportunity to contact your legislators with the click of a mouse.
1Mohan, J.E., Ziska, L.H., Schlesinger, W.H., Thomas, R.B., Sicher, R.C., George, K., Clark, J.S. Biomass and toxicity responses of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) to elevated atmospheric CO2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103 (24): 9086-9089 (June 2006)
Home » Climate & Transportation » How to Grow a "Cool Planet" Garden
In this section:
Drive Green Save Green The Impacts of Global Warming on Oregon Biofuels for Oregon Clean Car Standards Top 10 Things You Can Do to Slow Global Warming Oregon's Strategy Additional Resources New Orleans: A Warning to Warming How to Grow a "Cool Planet" Garden
Document Actions
Email Signup
Looking for tips on a "greener" lifestyle? Timely updates about OEC's programs? The latest volunteer opportunities? Or the latest research on environmental health? OEC offers four free online newsletters that can help.

Privacy Policy

2007-07-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Global Warming-Gardening in your new climate zone
Yolanda Wilson
The United States Department of Agriculture is working on a new climate zone map for the country that was scheduled to be finished three years ago. It is difficult to do because there are so many climate zones within each geographical area between the mountains, the lakes, the valleys and the oceans. To top it off some winters in Portland, Oregon are a zone seven, others a zone nine. It just depends on how cold it gets each winter. Every seven years or so we have really a bad ice storm that causes major devastation to exotic plants because plants turn into an ice cube for a few days. When they defrost they turn to slime.
Because the Earth is the right distance from the sun and we have the right combination of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen, so we can live on this planet. It is a beautiful place to be. Our temperatures have gotten a little warmer in the summer and the winter. Blame it on a cycle, carbon, or overpopulation. It has happened in the past when humans were not on the planet and it is happening again. The experts say we are speeding it up.
The Clackamas River froze completely over when I was in primary school way back in the seventies as my daughter tells me. We could walk across the river to the other side. We threw big boulders onto the ice and it didn’t crack. I can’t imagine that ever happening again. It froze in Oregon for nearly a month straight then. Now it rarely freezes for more than a day. Just the ice storm every few years that gets a few exotic plants but never all of them. Especially if they are near the eves or have really good drainage.
Pictures of the past remind us of the change. The museum in Seaside, Oregon has photos of the city from one hundred years ago.. They had a few feet of snow every winter and people owned sleds they could hook up to their horses to get supplies. They used sleds to get to town. That is hard to believe.
Plants Acclimate to Assimilate
Climate change is great for exotic gardening. Twenty years ago an agapanthus or palm tree could not survive our cold winters. Now they can in Portland, Oregon .Many plants can go down below freezing for short periods of time. I have tried to over-winter banana trees outside but have lost them each time. Maybe when we have no freezes at all, then we could grow nearly all the plants from the tropical areas again here in the Northwest.
History repeats itself they say. Fifty million years ago, the Pacific Northwest had lush tropical flora and marine fauna similar to the South Pacific today. Behind the high school in Fossil, Oregon you can find leaf prints of species of plants such as bananas that indicate the habitat of O. borealis would have been similar to today's subtropical and tropical forests.
Then everything started to cool down during the Eocene-Oligocene epochs nearly 40 million years ago. The forests in the Pacific Northwest changed from tropical plants to a combination of conifers, broad-leafed evergreens and deciduous plants that were adapted to cooler climates.
Banana plants ultimately became extinct in the Northwest because they could not survive in the new temperate climate. They still don’t make it most winters but if experts are correct, they will survive outside in Oregon twenty to fifty years from now.

We all know we should reduce, reuse, and recycle to slow down global warming. Instead of pointing fingers, let’s concentrate on acclimating to our new climate zone. There are many things that we can do in the garden particularly to prepare for our future. It may take twenty, fifty, or even one hundred years or more before we notice some of the changes so don’t panic, just think about what you can do to help your plants adjust.

Find ways to use less water.
*We will have longer drier summers and warmer wetter winters. Storms and summer heat will be more intense.
*Plant drought tolerant plants from South Africa (Red Hot Pokers, Agapanthus, Crocosmia), the Mediterranean (Euphorbia, Salvia, Allium, Grapes, Figs), and Mexico
(Cannas, Begonias and Dahlias)
*Add small round or crushed rock to the top of your beds because they do not give off carbon, they keep plants moist, and keep weeds down.
*If it is over 90 degrees outside in the day or if there is no dew at night, water in the evenings after 9 pm for only a short time so that the plants can hydrate overnight.
*Watering in the mornings is also good but when it gets that hot that fast, plants will need more time to hydrate if they are to survive. Never water between 9 am and 9 pm outside when it is really hot out.
*Set hanging baskets in a bucket of water and let them soak the water up. Spray the foliage with water at night as well. Instead of fuchsias, invest in geraniums that don’t need as much water and they can handle the heat much better and need less water.

The raising price of water and water restrictions
*You will be forced to decide which trees, shrubs and perennials you can not live without and water them above others. Sentimental, historic, endangered, and expensive plants will be at the top of your list and your lawn should be at the bottom.
*Plant raised garden beds with groups of plants crowded together that are drought tolerant. Mix vegetable, exotic and native plants together.
*Cover with rock, mulch, and bark dust to help retain the water.
*Water will be expensive but we will have more rain in the winter so we will find ways to collect it in tanks to use for the summer.

Save the native plants
*Eradicate all invasive plants like English ivy and keep wildlife areas native.
*Plant exotic flora next to your home and in the city but be careful not to plant anything invasive next to a state park or natural habitat.
*In the future there will be no dew at night. Native plants will need to watered lightly at night for them to survive the hot summers.
*Place natives in more shade so they don’t get as hot.
*Send a few up north to any place that used to have our climate zone. Friends, botanical gardens and parks in cooler climates will think they are exotic and they can be saved on earth.

Garden organically with no fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides
*Americans spend $956 million on synthetic lawn fertilizers and $1.5 billion on pesticides and herbicides. Most of it goes into our waterways.
*Most lawns are placed directly on top of clay with no compost underneath. Either start over with a layer of compost or add sand or compost to the areas of your lawn that are not doing well and sprinkle with grass seed each spring and fall. You will be amazed how well it will do.
*Hand pull weeds in your lawn and garden. By adding grass seed each spring and fall, you will choke out the weeds so there will be no need for herbicides to kill your weeds.
Using a hand held flame burner after it has rained so you don’t catch the neighborhood on fire also removes unwanted weeds from gravel and garden areas..
*Currently, in colder climates we use Kentucky bluegrass, perennial rye, bentgrass and fescue. Many of these varieties have become invasive weeds in natural areas so we need to watch out where we plant them. When temperatures continue to rise into the triple digits for days at a time, our lawns will burn. They can not handle that much heat.
*Eventually we will have to switch over to warm climate grasses such as Bermuda or Zoysia grass in order to have a lawn without burn spots. They can not handle freezes so we will have to deal with our current lawns for now.
*Another option is to remove your grassy areas and replace with flower beds or rock gardens.
*Fertilizer will not make a plant healthy, moving it to a location with more drainage, more sun or shade, adding compost or watering less or more is usually the answer. Think of it this way. You can not give someone that is starving vitamins and expect them to become healthy. A good diet (for plants that is compost) is the key. Change is good.

Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs
*Because our winters will be milder, insects will not die in the winter so we will have more of them in our lives. Pesticides are not the answer (although there are some organic options that aren’t too bad for the environment) but watch out because even if it is organic it may be very poisonous.
*We deal with bugs when we travel to Hawaii, we will have to deal with them in colder climates as well soon. They will be a fact of life.
*There are some options: Cover your body with cedar oil, rubbing alcohol,, vaporub, vanilla, garlic, or mineral oil to ward off fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes.
*At the first sign of insects on your plants, spray them off with plain water. If that doesn’t work spray watered-down dishwashing soap or oil (canola, olive, soybean or vegetable) on your plants. It works on aphids, ants and many other insects.

Grow vegetables that can handle heat
*Eggplant, gourds, melons, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cowpeas, peanuts, snap beans and limas love warm summers.
*Cool-weather vegetables including cabbage, onions, potatoes, lettuce, peas, radishes, carrots and greens will need to be planted earlier or become a winter crop.

Flowers will bloom at a different time and for a longer season
*The bloom date for flowers will continue to change. Most plants now bloom at least one week to one month earlier than they did one hundred years ago. Summer blooming flowers will bloom in the spring and spring blooming flowers will bloom in the winter.
*Many annuals will become perennials because we won’t lose them and they will continue to bloom through the winter. Pansies, petunias, cosmos, marigolds and begonias will not have to be replaced each year.
*Perennials will become annuals. In San Diego cold climate bulbs such as lilies, tulips, crocus, lily of the valley and peonies must be pulled up and placed in refrigeration to grow the next year. Even then they do not do so well because of the heat. In the future, we may have to treat cold climate plants as annuals.

Trees will have to handle wet winters and dry summers
*Silver maple, black cherry trees, sycamore, yew, magnolia, eucalyptus and willows thrive in warmer weather and are resistant to storm damage. Be careful to plant them where they will not become invasive to native trees.
*Spruce, pine, fir, and alpine trees will grow further up mountains and will need water to survive in the garden.
*Acid rain and pollution will continue to be a problem for some conifers, oak trees and other plants around the world. They will have to be relocated to remote areas only that are not near any major cities.

When one door closes, another door opens. Embrace our climate change and take it one day at a time. It won’t happen over night but if we take steps to save our native and endangered exotic plants now we can look forward to a beautiful garden for many years to come. We acclimate when we go on vacation to Hawaii. Plants can do it as well.
Someday, I will enjoy my pineapples, oranges and bananas that I grew in my Northwest garden and you will too!

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

What are Exotic Plants?

The word “exotic” has always enticed me. By definition it means, “from another part of the world; foreign; intriguingly different , unusual or excitingly strange.” Exotic gardening is simply, gardening with any plant that is not native to your area.

I have always felt a little different from the rest of humanity so I think that is why I love plants so much. I think all true plant nerds feel the same way. So many beautiful plants are hidden away in remote places of this planet and it is in our nature to want to find them and share them with the world.

A life long dream came true for me last summer when I attended the Indigenous Bulb Society of South Africa Symposium with Mary Gutierrez of Northwest Garden News. Nearly 100 delegates from America, Canada, England, Holland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and South Africa gathered to learn about these beautiful plants. I was in heaven. These people were not just plant nerds, but true bulb nerds.

I was shocked to find out that nearly 20% of the bulbs in the Cape will become extinct in the next five years. Many varieties of babianas, gladiolus, ixia, morea, and romuleas
will not have a native habitat on this planet in the near future. My dream is to make them available to the American public. It is our responsibility to save them and other plants that are facing a similar fate through education. Don’t you know by now as Americans, we have to save the world. It is expected of us.

Babiana Angustifolia is on the Near Threatened List

Aristea Biflora of the Iris Family is also at risk of extinction

My parents came from Holland to America fifty years ago and have lived the American dream. My father Bart Vanveen came to the States. His cousin Bert Korenstra went to Australia. People as well as plants get around. My cousin Eileen is only two months younger than me and grew up in Australia. We met in Holland at my grandparents wedding anniversary party when we were eight and have stayed in contact since.

When I went to visit my cousin Eileen in Melbourne ten years ago I was so excited to see the exotic plants of Australia-Kangaroo Paws, Bottle Brush and Eucalyptus trees growing wild. I spent three days at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. It is an incredible place.

It really hit home to me the meaning of the word “exotic” when the main attraction at the gardens wasn’t Australian native plants. Billboards, buses, and newspapers displayed big pictures of a plant that grows in the woods behind my parents house-Rhododendrons were the exotic plant that everyone came to see.

Ironically, I married an Englishman and live in Vancouver, Washington and Eileen married an Irishman and now lives in Ireland. We both decided American men and Australian men were just too new world for us. We like exotic men with accents.

If you have gardening questions or comments you can contact Yolanda Wilson at info@vanveenbulbs.com. Yolanda's parent's Bart and Atty Vanveen came to the United States from Holland where their families grew chrysanthemums and cyclamen and started a nursery in Estacada, Oregon. They first sold Christmas trees then switched to cut flowers 25 years ago. Their daughter, Yolanda started Vanveen Bulbs 15 years ago selling the bulbs from the beautiful cut flowers. Yolanda married Peter Wilson 7 years ago and together they manage the bulb company and run after their 5 year old twin boys James and Ethan. Yolanda holds a BA degree in communications and international studies from Linfield College and is a 2004 graduate of the WSU Master Gardener Program . She is also proprietor of Vanveenbulbs.com, a flower bulb company selling on the internet and at garden shows and farmers markets. She has been featured on the PBS show, Smart Gardening demonstrating which way is up with flower bulbs.

Summer Blooming Bulbs Make a Splash in the Garden

2007-06-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks Debby for featuring us in your article! It is greatly appreciated! Yolanda

Beaverton Valley Times "Bloom" section May 17th, 2007

The Beauty of Bulbs
Summer Blooming Bulbs Make a Splash in the Garden
by Debby Garman

Are you a person who would like to have colorful blossoms in your house and yard but think you don’t have the know-how—or the time—to produce floral bounty in your garden? Or maybe you only have room for a couple of planters on your apartment patio and need advice on plants that work well in containers? Or are you perhaps an experienced gardener looking for something new and fun to add pizzazz to your garden landscape?
If your answer is "yes" to any of those questions, here’s a tip for you. Stop by the Vanveen International Bulb booth in the Beaverton Farmers’ Market any Saturday and chat with proprietor Yolanda Wilson. She’s sure to have some great ideas for you on which of her easy-care and colorful summer blooming bulbs will be just right for your needs.
Wilson has been a vendor at the Saturday session of the Beaverton Farmer’s Market for 17 years, and she really enjoys visiting with people in search of new gardening adventures. In fact, she was having her own new adventure selling bulbs for her first time at the Cincinnati Flower Show when we connected last month to chat about bulbs.
Wilson and her husband Peter are both descended from plant enthusiasts and growers. Wilson's grandfather Johannes Vanveen was a cyclamen hybridizer in Holland and Grandfather Paul Stigter grew chrysanthemums. Her parents emigrated to America in 1959 and the family nursery has been going since 1969.
As a young girl, Wilson learned her trade by carefully watching her parents’ methods of growing and caring for plants. Being professional growers, the family were consistent about two things: plant quality and customer service. Wilson aims to uphold those same values while running her Vancouver-based business, Vanveen Bulbs, which she founded in 1992.
So, what about Wilson’s bulb recommendations?
She says, "Gardeners should bloom where they are planted." In other words, have fun making use of the garden situation you have, large or small, sunny or shady.
And bulbs are the perfect plants to fulfill your gardening needs and dreams. There are bulb varieties that flower in rainbow colors, bulbs that are deer resistant, bulbs with flowers that attract hummingbirds, sun-lovers, shade-lovers, and bulbs perfect for colorful combinations in containers.
You can plant bulbs all year round, and they can offer color in Western Oregon gardens from February through November.
Wondering how exactly to go about planting bulbs? Wilson advises "No standing alone in the corner ‘time-outs’ for bulbs! Plant them in triangles of three bulbs six inches apart. Plants like to be crowded to do well, and they have much better visual impact in dense groupings."
One of the great things about bulbs is that they are tough enough to take on a wide variety of garden conditions. Wilson doesn’t recommend using fertilizer or bulb booster, suggesting that the gardener should let the bulbs fend for themselves. She specifically says not to use bone meal as a bulb food, because many critters will be attracted by the scent and want to dig it up.
If your garden soil is the heavy clay that many of us have to work with, Wilson recommends building raised beds of good soil or compost on top of the existing clay to ensure good drainage.
Easy and rewarding bulbs for beginners include Asiatic lilies and fragrant Oriental lilies, medium to tall Canna lilies with colorful foliage and flowers in hot reds, yellows, and oranges, clumping Calla lilies in pastel colors, cool purple Liatris, gladiolus in dozens of colors, and sky blue Scilla peruviana.
If container gardening is your thing, bulbs are perfect for that, too. Wilson says, "All bulbs love containers—they like the summer heat in the container environment." Try different flower color and leaf texture combinations to suit your own taste. Wilson suggests a medium tall yellow Canna lily with shorter purple Calla lilies below. Or purple Liatris goes beautifully with Oriental lilies in white or pink. You can keep experimenting and change your combinations every year, because bulbs are very easy to move.
Beware of over-wintering bulbs in containers where the rain and cold will impact them. Bulbs will survive the winter much more successfully if the soil in the containers is kept dry. Wilson suggests tucking the containers next to a building where the eaves will keep most of the rain off, or even covering planters with plastic bags to keep them dry.
(More of Wilson’s bulb gardening tips are available on her Web site, www.vanveenbulbs.com)
Unusual bulbs for adventurous gardeners include new Calla lily hybrids, as well as exotic tropical introductions such as Eucomis, or Pineapple Lily; and Gloriosa lily from Africa, with bright scarlet flowers and a climbing habit. Wilson suggests Canna ‘Cleopatra’ is one of the most unusual variegated plants she has encountered in all of her years working with plants.
Want to attract hummingbirds? Plant Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker), Canna lilies, Agapanthus, and Crocosmia to invite these nectar-seekers to your garden summer through fall. Wilson says that although most people think hummers prefer red flowers, the color is less important than the flower shape.
Wilson’s current bulb favorites are the Orienpet lily 'Conca d'Or', which has cinnamon-scented fragrant blossoms (Orienpet lilies are new hybrid crosses between Oriental and Trumpet lilies); Calla ‘Lavender Gem’ for its petite charm; Canna ‘Cleopatra’ because of the unusual variegation of both leaves and blossoms; and blue-flowering Scilla peruviana, which is not a Scilla and is from Portugal, not Peru!
As the summer moves along, Vanveen Bulbs and other nurseries will begin to stock spring-blooming bulb varieties for fall planting including tulips, daffodils, crocus, cyclamen, and more. Happy planting!Sidebar 1:
Sidebar 1:
A few choice bulbs:
Scilla peruviana – short, with sky blue ball-shaped blossomsAgapanthus ‘Peter Pan’ – short, dark blue flowers, great for containers
Pink Eucomis (Pineapple Lily) – sun or shade, good in containers, unusual purple striped exotic foliage will last through Thanksgiving most years
Kniphofia – (Red Hot Poker) – hummingbird favorite
Canna ‘Cleopatra’ – gorgeous variegated leaves and flowers
Sidebar 2:
You’ll find them at the Farmer’s Market
The Vanveen Bulbs booth sells bulbs every Saturday at the Beaverton Farmer’s Market and The Portland PSU Farmers Market through the full market season May 12 through October 27
Beaverton Farmers Market:
4550 SW Betts AveBeaverton, OR 97005
(503) 643-5345
SATURDAYS May 12 — Oct. 278 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Get your garden party started

2007-05-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

Get Your Garden Party Started
Yolanda Wilson

When our tulips, roses or lilies come in to bloom it is like an old friend coming for a visit.
We look forward to it each year. Summer potlucks and Christmas parties are the same way. We look forward to seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while.

We take our gardens very personally. We take the time to select our plants and then bring them home to introduce them to everyone else in their new gardenhood. Sometimes your new plant guests thrive, other times they have a terrible time. Just like your coworkers at the annual Christmas dinner, you can’t take their behavior personally. They act differently in different locations and from year to year. One year they shine because they are in love, the next year they whine because they are going through a divorce.

Gardening is so much like throwing a party. You can never predict how everyone will act until you are in the middle of it. Some garden party rules:

*Plant your plants in groups of three or more. Seat people in groups as well. They are both social and need each other to have a good time. Plants and people can move to different spots as well. Change is good.

*Place plants that love the sun in the hottest spot in the garden. Place shade plants in the shade. At summer parties, the teenagers usually like to lay out in the sun while the babies and older folks prefer the shade. Plants like people can move around the garden until they find a comfortable spot.

*Start as a triangle as your base and place people and plants in rounds or stars as opposed to lines. Or zigzag them so they have more room and don’t look so stiff. The more plants in one area the better. Like chocolate. No one will take the last piece and it will look lonely for a long time. When there are three or more in a group, everyone enjoys them. Don’t put your plants in time out alone in the corner. They haven’t done anything wrong.

*When the groups are so crowded that it becomes a mosh pit, step in and separate everyone.
Place them in a different part of the garden . Introduce them to your neighbors, relatives and friends so they can take them home with them. Or bring them over to their house at the last minute.

*Separate the children from the parents when they are old enough to take care of themselves. Plants multiply and get crowded so when the babies are as big as the mamas you can plant them in a different location. At parties and in the garden, keep the children in groups together with adults. They do better and are easier to manage. The teenagers are on their own and do better in a different area.

*Provide beverages. You can give your guests fancy drinks with minerals, alcohol, and vitamins but in the end good old fashioned water is the healthiest choice for everyone. Plants and people don’t like too much chlorine in their water so if it is a problem, use a filter.

*Provide food. You can give your house guests caviar and your botanic guests fish fertilizer but in the end a good barbecued steak and vegetables is what your guests want at your summer barbecue and compost is the best choice in your garden. You don’t give your guests slim fast or vitamins for dinner. Don’t do the same to your plants when they need food. Bone meal, growth enhancers or high nitrogen fertilizers alone won’t make them healthy. Basic compost is what will make them thrive.

*Never compare your parties or garden to the neighbors. Plants and people act differently depending on their location. They are social so bond differently with plants and people.
How many times have you met someone at a neighbors barbecue and then invited them to your
holiday party and found they were not the same people you met last summer. They show up drunk and start pushing everyone out of their way. Plants do the same thing. They may be a great plant down the street but as soon as you place it in your yard it doesn’t grow at all or worse, becomes invasive, killing all plants in its path.

*Don’t take it personally if a plant doesn’t thrive in your garden right away. Sometimes it takes a couple of years for them to feel comfortable and blossom in front of everyone. They need to get to know everyone and get their roots established before they shine. Remember that plants thrive in conditions closest to the natural homes. Willows like wet boggy areas near lakes while fir trees prefer good drainage and elevation. Fertilizers aren’t going to make them healthy.

*When plants and people are not doing what they are supposed to do, don’t nag them but ignore them. We want to give plants fertilizer and water. What they need is time and maybe some compost. We want to move them to a different spot but then you have to wait for the roots to grow all over again. Many plants bloom better when they dry out in between watering. As a host or hostess you don’t want to overwhelm your guests by forcing them to drink too much. Don’t dote on them. Let them have a good time on their own.

*Don’t feel bad if you need to 86 a plant or guest from your garden. Some plants and people just don’t do well with others. English Ivy is an invasive bully that will take over the world if we let it. Eradicate it by pulling it out at any opportunity. Daylilies can multiply to the point they take over the entire garden bed. Other plants just don’t look good to you. That is okay. There is always a friend or neighbor who may enjoy it.

*Just remember that it is your garden party and you can invite anyone that you want to invite. You can decide not to invite certain plants and people if you think there may be a problem when they show up. If others tell you they love a plant in their garden but you hate it, dare to disagree.
If everyone loved the same plants, our gardens would be pretty boring.

*It is all about you realizing you can not predict the behavior of any person or plant at your garden party. You are responsible for giving them food and water but it is up to them to have a good time. Just enjoy their company while you can and bloom where you are planted!

Yolanda Vanveen is a 2004 graduate of the WSU Master Gardener Program and has a degree in Journalism from Linfield College. She is the proprietor of Vanveenbulbs.com, a flower bulb company selling on the internet and at garden shows and farmers markets for fifteen years. She has been featured on the PBS show, Smart Gardening demonstrating which way is up with flower bulbs. You can contact her at info@vanveenbulbs.com.

Understanding Botanical Conservation Lingo

2007-05-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

Understanding Botanical Conservation Lingo

Information provided by the Nature Conservancy

Q: What is a weed?
A: For a gardener, a weed might be a misplaced plug of grass. For a corn farmer, a weed may be a clump of nightshade. Since The Nature Conservancy is in the business of protecting native biodiversity, our weeds are those plants that harm the native plants, animals, and communities.

Q: What is an invasive species?
A: Invasive species are those which spread from human settings (gardens, agricultural areas, etc.) into the wild. Once in the wild, invasive species may continue to reproduce, and displace native species. Biodiversity suffers. Invasive species are usually non-native, i.e. they were first introduced into an area by humans.

Q: What is a non-native species?
A: This depends on where you are. In the USA, non-native species are typically defined as those that arrived since the time of European contact. But on closer inspection, the issue is actually much more complicated. For example, humans may transplant USA species to regions outside of their native range, but which are still within the USA. For example, a California poppy growing in Alabama would be considered a non-native plant.

Q: Are all invasive species non-native?
A:Not always. Occasionally a native plant may start acting like an invasive species. Usually this is because of some human-caused habitat change. One example would be a change in water quality because of agricultural runoff; another might be the abnormal suppression of fire. In these situations, fixing the underlying environmental problem would be the best solution.

Q: Are all invasive species plants?
A: No. In fact, some of the worst invasive species are animals. The effects of hemlock woolly adelgids, zebra mussels, brown tree snakes, feral pigs, and many other non-plant invaders are devastating to native biodiversity.

Q: How do invasive species harm biodiversity?
A: Dense growths of non-native weeds can displace the native plants that once provided food and shelter for the native animals. As weed populations rise, native species populations fall. The worst weeds even change the character of the entire habitat by changing important processes like fire, nutrient flow, flooding, etc. Invasive animals like rats can attack roosting birds, eating the eggs and chicks.

Q: Why do invasive species sometimes reproduce so rapidly?
A: Recall that the invaders are usually non-native species. Free from the herbivores and parasites which keep them in check in their native range, they reproduce rapidly. They increase their numbers, unfettered by natural controls. They displace the native plants. When the populations of native plants are reduced, the animals that depend upon them may perish. The functions of the entire ecosystem are disrupted. Invasive species are truly a form of biological pollution.

Q: How do invasive species behave in their native lands?
A: In their native habitats, these species are quite often found in small, well-behaved populations. This is because they occur with other organisms that keep the plant populations in balance. It is not until the species are removed from their habitat that their invasive characters emerge.

Q: Plants and animals move around naturally---isn't the arrival of new species a natural process?
A: It is true that organisms do change their ranges, usually over periods of thousands of years. We are not concerned with these slow changes. The invasions we are worried about are the ones that humans have caused, and which are resulting in the suffering in our native biodiversity.

Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes

2007-04-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes-Yolanda Wilson, vanveenbulbs.com

Plants adapt when they change climate zones, just like we do. If we go to a colder climate we store up sugars and go dormant for the winter drinking little water. (Cabin in Alaska) If we go a warmer climate we take that fat right off and drink lots of fluids and come out of our pods. (Mexican Cruise). We adjust to the change and bloom where we are planted even if it is a different time of the year than where we come from.

My cousins from Australia always ask me how we are doing down under. He thinks we are down under because we are just a globe in space. Who is to decide who gets to be on top and who is under? I guess those Aussies have a point.

That is why I love to go to the Southern Hemisphere in our winter. It is summer there. No matter where you go, it is beautiful and sunny. They have the opposite seasons and plants bloom exactly six months from when they bloom here if you go to the same latitude as yours but on the other side of the world. That means plants from a similar area (inland, woods, beach, mountains) and the same latitude would probably do just fine in your yard.

The Earth is just a ball floating around the sun and if you are on the equator (0 degrees latitude) it is summer all year while the North Pole (90 degrees north) and South Pole (90 degrees south) never see the sun. Because Portland, Oregon is almost half way between the equator and the North Pole at a 45 degrees latitude we have perfect seasons. Exactly three months of each season.

While New York (42 degrees north) is closer to the equator it still has colder winters than Portland at 45 degrees latitude. New York has the cold from the Artic and the icy Atlantic ocean while Portland stays warm because of the heat from the Pacific Ocean and the warm fronts from California. There is an occasional cold front from Canada that causes ice storms that damages plant life.

While western Oregon and Washington have a mild climate and can grow many warm climate plants outside, the Eastern part of both states have very cold winters and warm summers and must bring most of them inside for the winter. In the Pacific Northwest, the Cascade Mountains stop the warm rain clouds from going inland while keeping the cold artic air on the eastern side of the mountains.

Latitude are the imaginary lines running horizontally around the globe. Zero degrees latitude the equator and the widest point of the globe. Latitude is measured from 0 to 90 degrees north. Each degree is about 69 miles (110 km) apart. If you follow the 45 degrees north all the way around a globe you will find Portland at the same latitude as New York, France, Italy, Mongolia, and China. If you go down to 45 degrees south you will find Portland is the same latitude as New Zealand, Argentina and Chile.

On the equator you will have many tropical plants in countries like Columbia, Kenya, Indonesia. The seasons never change. There is no winter so many cold climate plants would not survive the warm winters. They need a dormant season or temperature change to come back the next year.

At about 20 degrees north or south it is still tropical in Tahiti, Brazil, Sudan and India.
Key West is at 24 degrees and is the southernmost city in the United States. It may be a couple of degrees cooler in the winter from summer but not much change.

At 30 degrees north or south there is a difference between summer and winter but still not enough for many cold climate plants. Cape Town, South Africa, San Diego and Atlanta are at near the coast and at 32 degrees latitude. Plants from this latitude will survive in much colder climates.

Oregon and Washington are between 40 and 50 degrees north so have similar climates to South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile. Plants like agapanthus, callas, flax, ismene, palms and alstroemerias from these areas do extremely well in the Pacific Northwest . We will continue to see more of them available in the United States.

When selecting plants for your garden take note of their native environment. What is the latitude? Sun or shade plant? Beach, mountain, valley, desert or lake plant? By planting them in similar conditions to their native areas you will find they need very little attention to enjoy your garden party.