Conference attendees explore Portland horticultural attractions

The International Rose Test Garden is home to 600 diffferent roses.

 

On Day 2 of the International Trials Conference, the attendees loaded up into two buses and toured five of the Portland region’s top horticultural attractions.

 

The first stop on the tour was the International Rose Test Garden, which covers 4.5 acres in the heart of Portland. The nearly 100-year-old garden boasts more than 600 varieties and 10,000 plantings, yet survives with one full-time employee: Harry Landers, the garden’s curator. Landers said the gardens have no issues with rose rosette disease, although the prospect terrifies him. Attendees had plenty of questions for Landers about the difficulties of maintaining a garden that is part of a public park. Every two weeks, the garden is sprayed with fungicide. Every entrance is marked and closed, including the trailheads, and the garden does not reopen until the last rose is dry.

 

The second stop on the tour was the Oregon State University North Williamette Research and Extension Center, where attendees were treated to a berry trial, complete with tasting). Neil Bell, community horticulturist at OSU NWREC gave attendees an in-depth look at his manzanita trial. The shrubs, all members of the Arctostaphylos genus, are native to California and Oregon, and are fairly well adapted to summer droughts. The goal of the trial was to evaluate their hardiness. After being planted in September 2011, the shrubs received no pruning, no spraying, and no irrigation after establishment.

 

 

Also, attendees learned about CropTime, a project aiming to develop a degree day model for vegetables. Although degree days are commonly used in ornamental and row crops, there are no similar models for vegetable crops, said Nick Andrews of the OSU Small Farms Extension. Andrews said the project’s goal is to have degree day models available for 50 varieties by the end of 2015. The data will be online by January 2016 at http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/croptime.

ITC attendees peruse the trial garden at Fessler's Nursery.  The CropTime program will help farmers schedule planting and harvest more accurately than with calendar days, understand nitrogen and temperature, and prevent weed seed rain.

 

Next, the buses jaunted over to Fessler’s Nursery, which specializes in bedding plants and annuals, as well as poinsettias and tropical foliage plants. Attendees meandered Fessler’s extensive trial garden, where they were able to view the latest annuals and perennials from Selecta North America and Ball FloraPlant. Fessler’s Nursery was founded in 1960 by Ken and Marie Fessler, and the 40-employee operation has grown to 550,000 square feet of enclosed greenhouse space.

 

Dan Heims, one of the founders of Terra Nova Nurseries, took great pleasure in showing off his display gardens on the next stop on the tour. The visitors also were able to view Terra Nova’s trial garden, and tour the company’s production facility. The 16-acre operation produces eight million plants per year, including coreopsis, Echinacea, tiarella, nepeta, and of course, plenty of heuchera and heucherella.

 

Heims also highlighted oddities like melianthus major, commonly known as the honey bush. The leaves of this shrub have the distinct scent of peanut butter. But don't be tempted -- it's quite poisonous to eat.

 

 

Finally, the tour arrived at Swan Island Dahlias, the largest dahlia grower in the U.S. More than 360 cultivars are grown over 40 acres for retail mial order and wholesale customers.

 

The 35-employee business is run by Nicholas and Linda Gitts, and it was one of the first horticulture companies to jump on the internet bandwagon. Thanks to input from Nick and Linda’s daughters Jennifer Gitts Eubanks and Heather Gitts Schloe, Swan Island registered Dahlias.com early, and built a strong online business with Google ads.

 

The company also hybridizes its own cultivars, planting more than 10,000 seedlings each year and introducing five to 10 new cultivars each season.

 

“I let the bees do all the work, and I take all the credit,” Nick said.