Rhododendrons and azaleas

The rhododendrons and azaleas are showing their brilliant colors right now. Here are some places to see some right now in the Mid-Willamette Valley.


This is a photo from last year at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem. The path with the rhododendrons is located a little bit in toward the center of the massive park.

This is from the rhododendron garden at Hendricks Park in Eugene. It was taken in 2009.





















These next three are in Central Park in Corvallis. I took these photos last weekend.

Corvallis also has a rhododendron walking path located toward the far back side of Avery Park.


This yellow azalea is from a walk in my neighborhood this morning.

Peonies

The Buckeye Belle peonies in my garden are in full bloom today. I bought this plant at the Adelman Peony Gardens in Salem a couple years back. It's amazing all of the display gardens that are in Oregon this time of year. Peonies, rhododendrons/azaleas, irises and then later roses. Adelman's website says their nursery, fields and display gardens are open now through June 15.  Lots of choices for Mother's Day trips!

Corvallis Spring Garden Festival 2014

The rain held off for most of the day but the wind was sometimes strong at yesterday's Spring Garden Festival. There were booths filled with local vendors and organizations and a nature-themed art exhibit in the Arts Center. There was information on beekeeping and also Natural Areas Celebration Week, which includes a whole slew of events going on now through May 11. I brought home a couple of small plants including a golden lemon thyme and a dwarf conifer.

One of the information booths held a small planted garden bed and your task was to identify four weeds in a row on this bingo chart. I wish I would have taken a picture of the garden bed, darn.

Another activity sponsored by the Civic Beautification Urban Forestry Commission (CBUF) was a tree identification quest. The passport asked you to identify the tree and provide different values on that specific tree, for example, atmospheric carbon reduction, storm water intercepted annually and the year planted. It is my understanding that the chair of this commission, a recent Oregon State University graduate, did the wood burning on these medallions. 

 

Oregon Grape

To round out Native Plant Appreciation Week here is a cross-stitch my great aunt made in 1984. She had bought the patterns and made one for every state, with the Oregon Grape being the symbol for Oregon. When my husband and I first moved to Oregon I remembered being amazed at all of the vegetation like the Oregon Grape, salal and Nootka Rose, and especially the beautiful Oregon Coast! It was all so different from anything I had grown up around in the mid-west.

Below is a Nootka Rose that we have. It came to our house as just a small plug and sat in front of our garage, still in its little plug, for probably over a year. It pretty much looked dead. But we planted it and it took over. And watch out it because it does take over. It's a bit too much for someone who wants a little control over their garden. Its underground runners pop up all over. I'll have to take a picture of it later when the small pink roses are in bloom.

The Madison Avenue Task Force in Corvallis will hold its annual Spring Garden Festival this Sunday, May 4 in Central Park. I love this festival. Can't wait!

Happy May Day today!