Ann Nickerson, a local landscape designer, will be here to talk about designing a great front yard.  Whether you are interested in improving your street appeal; making it friendlier and safer; or just reflecting more of your own unique personality – Ann will have lots of suggestions for making your front yard functional and beautiful.

This is a free class and space is limited.  We are having a tremendous response to our classes this year and ask that you register!  Drop-ins are welcome, but cannot be assured seating.  Either call us at 503-649-4568, or email events@farmingtongardens.com. 

Why does pruning seem so perplexing?  We coddle our favorite plants, and are afraid we will damage them with inappropriate care or incorrect pruning!  Well, if this is you, then we’ve got just the class for you.  Lyle Feilmeier from Collier Arbor Care will be here to  share the basics  -

• when to prune
• where and how to make the cuts
• the right equipment for different tasks
• as well as the underlying reasons why we sometimes need to prune 

You will leave with the confidence you need to maintain your garden throughout the year! 

Bring your tools in for sharpening – we’ll have a professional on site.  First 50 people will get one pruner sharpened free; additional tools at reasonable prices.

This class is free, but space is limited – and only a few seats remain; please register with your name, phone number, and number attending at events@farmingtongardens.com or call us at 503-649-4568.

Our 2010 series of classes  begins soon, and we are as excited as ever to bring you all the information you will need to enjoy being a savvy, knowledgeable, and creative gardener.  This will be another great year for our educational programming – we’ve got some great speakers scheduled for you to meet.  Keep checking this blog for updated information on scheduled classes, or pick up a class brochure when you are in the store.

Our first class is coming up on Saturday, January 30 at 11 am.  Ernie Carlson from Botanical Interests will share his best tips for seed starting.  Whether you are growing vegetables or flowers, this is the most economical way to have those favorites you love to grow.   It is also a great strategy for trying new varieties.   Make plans now to get a jump on the season!

This is a free class; however space is limited, so please register to save your space – call us at 503-649-4568, or email events@farmingtongardens.com, with your name and phone number.

As the season starts to wind down, and the leaves turn into a colorful autumn kaleidoscope, it is easy to think our gardening is finished for the season.  Not so fast there…  The smart gardeners will tell you that keeping up with things now will make for an overall healthier garden, and less work for you in the long term. 

At this upcoming class, Mary Ludlum will share tips for great things to be doing in the garden this time of year.  This is a free class, but we’d love you to call and register:  503-649-4568.  Or email us at events@farmingtongardens.com and tell us you’re coming.

Mary will give you a much more comprehensive list, but to keep you going for the next two weeks, I’ll give you my personal top 5 list of things to do in October:

1. Bait for slugs.  This one is Numero Uno for a reason – reducing the adult population now will result in fewer baby slugs in the spring.  Do the math, and scatter the Sluggo.
2. Lawn care.  This is a prime time to be feeding your lawn, at the very least.  If it needs more intensive attention, it is also a good time to dethatch and re-seed.  But be kind to your lawn and give it a little organic fertilizer or some compost.
3. Do a little pruning.  This is a good time to remove diseased, damaged, or crossing branches on woody shrubs or trees. 
4. Prune rose bushes moderately, so that winter winds won’t whip them around, causing rubbing and breaking.  Major pruning happens in early spring, but now we need to protect them through their dormant stage.
5. Rake the leaves off the lawn – throw them on the compost pile or mulch flowerbeds with them.  This will keep your healthy lawn from getting smothered by leaves.

Now get out there and enjoy these fall days!

Tomato plant in our demo garden

Hopefully by now you know all about our upcoming Tomato Festival, on Saturday September 12th - one of our most fun days around here!  This is a great chance to sample literally dozens of varieties of tomatoes, side by side, to see which you like best.  You will be surprised to find how different they really are.

We invite you to sit down and take a break from all that sampling at 1 pm, when we will have our ‘Tomato Talk’.  Tony and Celina will be teaching this class, and will share lots of tips for growing the best tomatoes in your own backyard, as well as our staff and tomato festival favorites over the years.   It is always a very popular class.

This is another free class and registration is not needed – hope to see you there!

What a terrific follow-up class we had here yesterday!  After last month’s class on concrete leaf casting, this time Jackie Flowers helped us take it to the next step with COLOR.   Here are some pictures of how fabulously us amateurs did for our first project.  Thank you Jackie, for a great class.

For those of you interested in concrete leaf casting, this Saturday we are having the second in our series on this topic.  We’ve already done the actual casting, and on Saturday Jackie Flowers will be teaching her painting techniques.  If you’ve seen her garden art here  at Farmington Gardens, you know she has a terrific color sense, layering colors and adding details that bring cold concrete to life. 

This class is suitable for everyone:  if you took her earlier class, you can paint the casting you made.  If you missed that class, you will be able to purchase a cast piece for an additional $7, so that you can practice her techniques.  Space is still available for this class; call to register and save your spot:  503-649-4568, or email us at events@farmingtongardens.com.  Class is $45, or both for $80.

Le Tour des Plants is fast becoming an annual regional event that gardeners have come to anticipate.  Participating independent garden centers plan interesting classes, demonstrations, and special give-aways to celebrate the fall garden season.  Did you know that  Fall is The Best Time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials?  Well, it is — the soil is still warm and  nurturing and, combined with the autumn rains, plants have a much easier time getting established.  In Oregon we are blessed with long mild autumns, so it is still a rich and abundant time in the garden. 

Stop in and pick up your free official program - complete with maps, schedule of events, and passport.  In order to participate in the Le Tour drawing for some fabulous prizes, you will want to get your passport stamped at each garden center you visit during Le Tour.  The more you visit, the higher value prizes you are eligible for!   Top prize is valued at over $600.

Le Tour des Plants runs September 12 -20.  Here is what we have going on at Farmington Gardens – we hope you will stop by and say hello!

All Week - Hot New Plants from Terra Nova – Check out our week-long showcase of exciting new perennials from Terra Nova Nursery.

 Saturday, September 12 — 11 AM – 4 PM     7^th Annual Tomato Festival

• Free tomato tasting, over 80 varieties, all locally grown
• 11 AM – Chef Dan Brophy cooks up tomato recipes – taste samples!
• 1 PM – Tomato Talk – learn how to grow your own, and which are the best varieties for this climate
• 2 PM – Chef Dan returns for a second cooking segment – more great samples!
• Red Ridge Farms local olive oil tasting throughout the day
• Check our website for all the day’s activities

 Sunday, September 13  1 PM – 3 PM     Preserving the Harvest, with Chef Dan Brophy from the Oregon Culinary Institute

Take advantage of the abundant harvest – from your own garden or the farmer’s market!  Chef Dan Brophy, of the Oregon Culinary Institute, will show you how easy it is to preserve food for the winter.  He will have information on dehydration, root cellars, and infusions, but will focus most of his time on the art and science of canning.  Once you master these techniques, your family will truly be living local, in a sustainable and healthy way!  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.  Free class.

 Friday, September 18     1 PM;  $35      Green and Edible Wall Art, with Landscape Designer Lisa Annand

During this hands-on workshop, you will construct a beautiful vertical garden – your choice of edibles or succulents.  This thoroughly chic “green wall art” would look great on a deck, handy for picking and enjoying!  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.

 Saturday, September 19    3 PM; $10     Girlfriends’ Afternoon Getaway  ~ Awesome Au Courant Fall Container Gardens, with Laura Nash and Marinda Parks from Farmington Gardens

Grab your best friend or your mom, and join us for a gardening afternoon.  Enjoy nibblies and a glass of sparkling wine while Laura and Doris inspire you with their container garden creations!  You will leave with “recipe cards” for each of their collections, as well as lots of trendy ideas for fall containers.  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.

 Sunday, September 20    1 PM     Great New Perennials for Your Garden

Larry Finley from Terra Nova Nursery will introduce us to some fantastic new perennials.  Larry offers a very entertaining discussion about where these plants originated; how Terra Nova developed them for commercial markets; and most importantly, how best to use them in your own garden.  Class registration is limited to 50 – please call 503-649-4568 to sign up.  As an added bonus, Larry will bring a special gift for everyone in the class!

 Specials

•  One free 1 gal Terra Nova Coreopsis ‘Autumn Blush’ or ‘Gold Nugget’ with purchase of any 1 gal or larger Terra Nova merchandise.  One per customer please.  While supplies last!
• 50% off regular priced select containers and container gardens.  While supplies last!

We are offering a great opportunity to learn the techniques of concrete leaf casting.  Garden artist Jackie Flowers (appropriate name!) will be here this coming Saturday, July 25th.   I am really impressed with the quality of Jackie’s work – the texture of the castings themselves, and also the sophistication of the coloring she uses.   She layers on many colors, and brings out the texture of the leaves in very life-like ways.  I can’t wait to learn her secrets!

This two hour class begins at 10 AM to avoid the heat of the day.  Class size is limited to 16, so you will get lots of individual attention – and lucky for you, there are still a few spots available!  The class is $45, and you will create a beautiful leaf bird feeder mounted on a copper stand.

If you would like to learn her color techniques, we are offering a companion class on Saturday, August 29, also 10 AM to noon.  We will be painting our cast leaf bird feeders, and taking them home.  Same price for this class, $45, but we are offering a two-fer:  take both classes for $80.  Still not an inexpensive set of classes, but I really feel you will come away with some great skills to build on.   (Also, should you not be able to attend the first class, but would still like to take the second class for the color techniques, you will be able to purchase for $7 a pre-cast leaf; so don’t let that stop you!)

Pre-registration is required for both of these classes:  call 503-649-4568 to sign up.

As you’ve seen in all the gorgeous garden magazines recently, concrete leaves make beautiful garden art.   Once you’ve learned the techniques from an expert, you can make them for all your friends.  So, we are offering a two-session series of classes – you can take one or both.  During our first class July 25th, we’ll mix the concrete, select the type of leaf, and learn to cast from a live leaf.  Once it has cured for a month, on August 29th we’ll learn the leaf painting techniques.  Jackie Flowers, who will be leading these classes, really does a great job with the finishing – she uses several colors, layering them on in various ways.  Come in and see the samples in our store.

Space is limited in this class, and registration required;  please call us at 503-649-4568.  A discount of $5 for each class if you sign up for both.  For those not able to attend the first class, but still wanting to learn the painting techniques, you may purchase a pre-cast hanging leaf for $7.

We’ve just added a couple of new classes – because you’ve asked for them!  We will have garden artist Jackie Flowers here to show us how to create concrete leaf castings using real leaves.  The finished product will be a medium sized leaf, which will be attached to a copper stem – this would be perfect to use as a small bird bath or  feeder.  They will tuck nicely into the garden and last for years.

The first class, on July 25th, will cover making the casting.  They need a month to dry before the surface painting can be applied, so we’ve scheduled the companion class, Cast Leaf Painting, for Saturday, August 29th, 10 am – noon.  I am very impressed with Jackie’s color sense, and her techniques for coloring her castings – I know we will learn a lot from her.  Come in to see samples of her work here at the store.  Each class is $45, with a $5 discount for each one if you register for both.  You will come away with a great one-of-a-kind sculpture for your garden, and with the know-how to make more. 

Due to the nature of these classes, there is limited space and pre-registration is required – call us at 503-649-4568.  While I hope you can attend both, if you are unable to make the first one but would like to know her color techniques, you may purchase a pre-cast hanging leaf for $7 in order to participate in the color class in August.

What’s not to love about succulents?  They are colorful; dramatic; like to be grown in containers OR in the ground; and they are very low maintenance.  They are the perfect summer plant, because they’re so easy to leave when you want to get away – no worrying about whether they are getting enough water!

Last year’s succulent container class was such a hit that we are doing it again.  Leah McDonald will cover all the basics about our vast collection of succulents, and then we will help you in selecting a pot and your own customized assortment of plants.  We will provide a space for you to pot them up, and will even throw in the soil and the fertilizer!  No charge other than for the materials you select. 

Space is limited, and registration required:  call 503-649-4568, or email events@farmingtongardens.com.