Each year about this time, the
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District has a big sale of native plants. You pre-order through their web site in January, then pick up and pay for the plants about five or six weeks later. It's a great way to get reasonably-priced trees, shrubs, perennials and ferns for your garden.
The GardenTrip picked up her modest selections yesterday: here they are, along with the
helenium and
trillium she got at the Seattle Garden Show.
She got five Oregon iris, (
iris tenax) and three
oxalis oregana. The EMSWCD plants had been nicely packed in plastic bags with moist sawdust.
The iris were bare root, and the oxalis were rhizomes.
Although the Mulchmaid only ordered five iris, she got twice as many! She was told they put two plants in each packet, in case one of them fails to grow.
It's important to plant the roots and rhizomes quickly so they don't dry out. Luckily, today was a perfect day for working in the garden.
This picture of
iris tenax is from the Pacific Bulb Society.
The irises are ready to grow and are already putting out fresh new leaves.
The oxalis were long rhizomes, with only one leaf among all of them.
The trillium got planted under a cedar tree. The Mulchmaid hopes it will grow: there was no sign of life.
These were both
Great Plant Picks. That's a program by the Elizabeth Miller Botanical Garden to promote outstanding choices in plants for maritime Pacific Northwest gardens.
The
helenium had already started to sprout in its bag. It was good to get it into the ground today, and a great day to be out in the garden.
