Garden Tour Season is just around the corner.  You will soon be seeing lots of opportunities to go behind the fence, and see what some private local gardeners have created.

The Inviting Vines III tour is coming up Saturday, May 29th – and we have tickets available here ($20 each with accompanying map).  This tour benefits the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection at Luscher Farm (www.rogersonclematiscollection.org).  It features the gardens of some well-known plant collectors in our area:  Portland garden writer Barbara Blossom; Gail Austin; plant explorer from Terra Nova, Dan Heims; and several more.

Since this tour benefits the Rogerson Clematis Collection, these gardens all show great ways to incorporate these beautiful vines into a lush landscape. 

I love going on garden tours, because I always come away with lots of useable ideas - so here’s my advice: don’t forget to bring your camera and a notepad to remember them all!

(And P.S. ~ We have a dozen or more varieties of clematis on hand right now – here are a couple of beauties.)

We are having monthly drawings to celebrate our 15th anniversary - this is so much fun giving away prizes!  This month’s winner is  Barbara Skeels, who will take home a great collection:  a 5 gallon Clematis montana rubens (see photo at right); some E.B. Stone Sure Start to get new plants off to a healthy start;  and two tickets to the Inviting Vines private garden tour on May 23rd (see blog post on April 27th about this wonderful tour).   This beautiful perennial vine will grow to 15-20 feet, and will be loaded with showy, fragrant, soft pink blossoms.  Vines are a great element in any garden – I encourage you to look for a place to add that vertical focal point to your garden.

And the icing on the cake, since we have such a grand selection of Japanese maples this year, we are throwing in a large Acer palmatum ‘Tamukeyama.’   This tree is the connoisseur’s choice in red dissectums – a ‘Great Plant Picks’ plant!  It makes a fantastic statement in the garden, and is a no-brainer to grow.  (For those of you who might be interested, we have more of these in our sales section!)

Congratulations again to Barbara.  And to everyone else:  don’t forget to fill out a drawing entry ticket every time you visit us.    We’ll be selecting a new winner in 30 days!

The Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection are holding their second annual benefit, Inviting Vines II, on Saturday, May 23rd, and you can purchase your $20 tickets here.  See how local gardeners grow these unique and beautiful vines – from a few well-chosen clematis cohabitating in mixed borders and containers to gardens beset by clematis mania.  The tour will include:

• The lush and colorful borders at Phyllis McCanna and Gary Smith’s garden.
• Nancy and Ron Gronowski’s verdant woodland garden, which is framed by two 60-year old dogwoods, firs and hemlocks accented by specimen shrubs and perennials.
• A red barn focal point in the large, country garden of Charlene and Bill Tuttle where large mixed borders consort with vegetables, berries and a small orchard.
• Nancy Dunis’ eclectic garden of themed plantings augmented with colorful object d’art.
• A 50’ totem pole carved from a recently deceased cedar tree in Judy Dauble’s one acre garden filled with beautifully maintained mature trees and shrubs and vintage structures.

The Rogerson Clematis Collection garden is open year round and makes an ideal gardener excursion – it is located at Luscher Farm, 125 Rosemont Road in West Linn.  Check their website to see what is in bloom before you head out.

The past few days have been the warmest since last September, and the spring bloom has gone into high gear.   There are so many plants blooming right now that we simply don’t have room to post all of them!   Here are some of the highlights from a trip around the nursery yesterday:

We’re on the verge of the “big show”, and we’re really starting to see some plant growth.  Buds are swelling, and we’ll be experiencing the full magnificence of spring really soon!  In the meantime, here are a few things that we caught blooming around the nursery today…

Appleblossom Bergenia

Salix caprea 'Pendula'

Anemone

Golden Glory Cornelian Cherry Dogwood

Valley Valentine Pieris

Dwarf Iris

Pansies

Burgundy Belle Red Maple

Evergreen Clematis