Avid Gardeners Plant Sale

Today was the annual Oregon Plant Fair at Alton Baker Park. This year, for the first time in many years, I didn't have to work the LCDS booth, so I could shop the Fair with Mom and Beth. While rain was predicted, the weather behaved for the most part. Partly sunny skies only gave way to only one, fairly short rainstorm the whole day. After we made our many purchases at the Plant Fair, we headed over to the Fairgrounds for the Hardy Plant Sale. At the end of the day, I came home with the following purchases:

• Tomato "Indigo" Amethyst Jewel - from Log House Plants. Indeterminate. Slicer, Gorgeous pink w/purple amethyst splashes. Large trusses load up with great tasting exotic looking 1-3 oz fruit. Large production, hang on the vine ability with real tomato flavor. wild Boar Farm Hybrid. Mid-Season
• Tomato "Bumblebee" Sunrise Cherry - from Log House Plants. Indeterminate. Yellow, round cherry tomato with red stripes and a pink interior marbling. Excellent, sweet and tangy flavor. Great in mixes with other colorful artisan varieties.
• Tomato "Moonglow" Heirloom (OP) Grafter from Log House Plants. Intermediate. Gorgeous, brilliant orange globe shaped 6-8 oz fruits have a fantastic sweet-tart flavor and smooth texture, perfect for fresh eating or making a beautiful, unusual sauce. Heavy yields, good keeper. 80 days from transplant.
• Kale "Red Russian" from Log House Plants.(OP) Silvery, blue-green leaves with rose colored ribs & veins. Thick, chewy leaves are great in winter soups and stews or with grilled meat. 50 days from Transplant.
• Pepper "Lunchbox Yellow"  Sweet Pepper from Log House Plants. New mini "snack peppers" have a delicious sweet flavor for fresh eating but are also good for cooking. Tons of the 2-3" fruits mature to golden yellow on tall, strong plants. 55 days to green, 75 to yellow.
• Berben's Thunbergi "Golden Pillar" from the Secret Garden Growers, Canby OR. Golden Pillar Barberry 3-4' multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, upright form, with dramatic bright yellow/gold foliage. Full sun to part shade, won't burn. most soils, deer resistant, average water, easy, USDA Zone 24
• Coreopsis "Red Satin" 15-18" H X 18-22 " W. Full sun, zone 5-9 Blooms summer thru late summer. This hardy coreopsis produces deep wine red to ruby red flowers all summer long. If cut back, it can rebloom until frost. The deep green, threadleaf foliage forms a tight mound.

I also picked up these three metal birds are the Plant Fair. A couple was selling dozens of different designs so it was very hard to choose. I finally selected a Nuthatch, a Chickadee, and a Cedar Waxwing. Now I only need to decide where to place them.

After visiting both plant sales, we made a stop at Down to Earth. I picked up 2 bags of potting soil and the following seed packets:

• Cosmo "Kneehigh Sonata Mix" from Renee's Garden.Sonata Cosmos compact feathery two foot plants are soon covered with spays of buds that open and bloom non-stop all summer long. The blossoms satiny 2" petals in shades of magenta, clear white, soft pastel pink and pure rose, surround cheerful yellow centers. Reliable and long-lasting, with stems long enough for cutting lots of bouquets, free blooming sonatas are perfect for containers, beds or borders and fill the garden with dainty gaiety all summer long. 2' tall.
• Melon "Minnesota Miget" (OP) 65-70 days. This exquisite heirloom produces a bounty of early and true to its name, mini cantaloupes. Fruit measure 4-6" across and have deep orange flesh that is succulent, sweet, and delicious down to the rind. The ultimate melon for short season areas, and the compact plants are ideal for mall spaces or container gardens.
• Cucumber "Marketmore 97"(OP) 55 days. Developed at Cornel University, Marketmore 97 is a great slicing cucumber, and is one of the most disease resistant varieties that we offer. Bitter free and burpless to boot. with vines up to 6 feet long, this northern cultivar bears loads of 9-11", strait, white spined cukes. A first rate addition to anyone's garden.