Wildflower Tour

We just got back from the wildflower tour to Jackson Hole and we had a great time!  We had 45 "Friends of the Gardens" come with us and everything on the trip ran smoothly and without any hiccups.

Our group awaiting our tour at Aberdeen.

We left from the gardens on Wednesday morning at 7am on the bus and headed towards Idaho.  Our first stop was at the University of Idaho research plots in Aberdeen.  There we saw many native Idaho flowers that they are evaluating for use in home gardens.

A selection of Blanket Flower at the Aberdeen research plot.

From there we went to Rexburg to see the beautiful gardens at BYU-Idaho.  I personally had never been there and was pleasantly surprised to see such beautiful flower displays. 

Some of the beautiful & colorful pots at BYU-Idaho.

Hollyhocks at the entrance of their Victory Garden.

Rexburg is known for high winds and cold temperatures, but we had great weather when we were there.  The gardens were awesome!  Their gardens are maintained exclusively by students and each year they have students complete their class projects, which helps their gardens to grow and evolve. 

Blooming water lilies in one of their many water features.

After Rexburg we were off to Jackson Hole and stayed at the Snow King Resort.  Thursday we went to Teton Village and took the tram up to the top of the mountain to look at the wildflowers. 

Our group waiting for the tram at Teton Village.

Richard, JayDee, and Jerry gave tours and help everyone indentify the many wildflowers that we saw there--about 30 different varieties of wildflowers. 

Some of the many wildflowers from on top of the Tetons.

Wall flowers

There was still some snow left along some of the ridges and everything was so green and lush.  It was such a beautiful place to see wildflowers and the weather was just perfect!

Look at that view!

Later that night we went to the Bar J Ranch and saw the show and enjoyed a great dinner.

On Friday we visited three landscapes in the Jackson Hole area.  The landscapes were beautiful and the homes were spectacular.

This house had a stream running right under the house and flows right into the Snake River.

We had so much fun on the trip and made many new friends.  Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a great time!  We hope to have more "friends of the gardens" join us next year!

Are You Ready For a Salsa Show-Down?

This is your special invitation to the . . .         

                  Salsa Show-Down

  Thursday, August 18 – 5-6 p

Farmer’s Market at USU Botanical Center tent on 50 West

                                DEADLINE to sign-up:  By August 11^th

              E-mail:  Dorinda.jones@usu.edu or call 801-399-8081

We know you are a great Master Gardener, but are you a Master Salsa Maker as well?  Come show off your salsa making skills at the 2^nd Annual Salsa Show-Down.

Those who have already signed up include Kris (our intern), Jake (works at the USU Botanical Center), and Barney Barnett (from Willard Bay Gardens).  Come participate, and we promise you good company and an extra special community event.

To sign up call or e-mail Dori now!   Tomatoes will be provided; all you need to bring is the rest of your secret ingredients to make a gallon of fresh salsa on-site at the Farmer’s Market.   Prizes worth “dollars” will be awarded, so join us for a ton of fun at the Salsa Show-Down! 

Hosta Garden Tours & Garlic Braiding Workshop

{Update:  Sorry I put the wrong date.  These events happened in July, not in August. Sorry.}
For all those interested here are some upcoming Master Gardener Activities on August July 30th.  There is the Utah Hosta Society Garden tour in Utah, Salt Lake and Davis county.  For more information click here.

Also, Sandhill Organic Garlic Farm in Eden is having a free Garlic Braiding Workshop at 4pm on August July 30th. 

Limited class size so call Marsha at 801-745-8584 or Pete at 801-866-3620 to make a reservation or get more information.

The workshop is free butparticipants pay for garlic used.

New Perennial Garden

Yesterday we planted a new perennial flowerbed at the gardens.  The bed  is located along the walkway and can be seen by all those that use the trail.  We planted about 600 perennials yesterday in 2 1/2 hours. 

Thanks to all the wonderful Master Gardeners who came out and helped us planted this massive bed in world record time!  We have the best Master Gardeners in the world!  Thank you, thank you! 

It looks spectacular and will be a great addition to our gardens.  A Ogden Botanical Gardens sign will be placed in this bed soon!

July Gardening Tips

• Apply nitrogen to potatoes and sweet corn in the garden, as needed.
• Harvest vegetables early in the morning or in the cool of the evening.
• Plant short-season vegetables such as peas, carrots and radishes (70 days or less) where space is available after harvesting.

• Apply a second cover spray in July to control codling moths in apple and pear trees.  Check updates at http://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm.
• Water turfgrass with 1/1 2 to 2 inches of water per week in July and August.  Avoid over-watering to satisfy one or two brown patches.

• Measure the amount of water the sprinklers are providing the lawn.  *For information on performing a water audit go to: http://extension.usu.edu/htm/horticulture.
  
• Mow turfgrass 2 ½ to 3 inches long to prevent stress and help with weed control.

• Watch for grub damage in turfgrass, and apply a curative registered insecticide, if necessary.
• Feed roses with an all-purpose fertilizer.

• Apply borer control to the lower 1 foot of the base of stone fruit trees (peaches, plums, apricots). Go to http://extension.usu.edu/htm/horticulture for more information about peach borer control.
• Pre-register for the Budding Workshop held July 16, 9-10:30 am USUBC Greenhouse by going to http://asapconnect.

Art in the Garden Gala: Thursday, June 23rd

I hope that we get a lot of people out to our Art in the Garden Gala this Thursday.  It is going to be such a great free, family event.  This is the third year that we have held an open house to celebrate our 17th Anniversary with you.  Each year this fun event gets better and better.  This year's schedule goes as follows:

3-8pm  Art Stroll through the gardens--come check out some beautiful local art and watch the masters paint on site.  We have 17 artists participating this year!

3-8pm Garden Tours provided by our wonderful Master Gardeners

5,6,7pm Local Musicians will be performing in our Rose Garden
The three performances are as follows:
5-6pm  Harpist, Maren Baumgartner
6-7pm Aspen Strings
7-8pm Acoustic guitar duo

5,6,7pm  Kent Teichert, owner of 'For Your Kitchen' will be showing how to prepare the perfect fresh salssa and how to perserve the harvest with a dehydrator.

We will also have Poppin' Johnny's Ice Cream for sale.  Trudy is making an Ogden Botanical Garden signature flavor.  So come and eat the best ice cream in the world and tell us what you think of our secret flavor!
CB Kettle Corn will also be making their famous kettle corn.  The gardens are going to smell heavenly!
We will also have cotton candy for the kids and adults!

Spray Now to Prevent Wormy Apples Later

Codling moth larvae feeding on a apple.

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30-3:30pm people call in with horticultural questions. The most asked question this time of year is when to start spraying apple and pear trees for the codling moth.  The codling moth is the pest that causes wormy apples and pears in the fall.  So when do we recommend that you start spraying?  The answer is June 18th for Weber County residents.  With all the rain we had this weekend you can start your spraying schedule this week June 20-25 and you'll be just fine.  To get more information about the codling moth and timings of sprays, please follow this link to the Utah Pests website.