Plant Talk

Gardening is the Ultimate Localism - the Proof is in the (Fruit) Pudding

Gardening is all about localism; to grow plants successfully we need to garden where we live. Sounds obvious, but  the banana/canna tropical rage - mostly killed off (quite literally) in the tough freezes of the last three winters - was nothing if not climate denial. Or perhaps the triumph of imagination over reality, until winter bared its fangs, anyway.

Which brings us to fruit, and why you should buy local to ensure you end up with fruit-bearing trees and plants that will actually ripen in our climate. We're lucky enough to have two fabulous fruit nurseries nearby - Raintree in Morton, and Cloud Mountain Farm, which is opening for the season on February 1st.

The folks at Cloud Mountain tell us they'll have bareroot fruit trees available next week, strawberries by February 10th or so, raspberry canes in mid-February. They suggest calling to make sure what you seek is ready before driving to the Farm to pick it up - 360-966-5859. Cloud Mountain features fruit and nut trees and native plants, Japanese maples, and a gorgeous setting - be sure and check out the new Mott's Pink Apple, with watermelon pink spring blossoms, and two new varieties of high bush blueberries...

And here's a good reason to make the trek north to Everson (near Bellingham) - Cloud Mountain offers free Saturday workshops, beginning Febrary 5th, where you can learn  to prune fruit trees, grow grapes and berries, and incorporate Northwest native plants into your garden. The February 5th workshop is on growing apples and pears, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Dress warmly, as you'll be outdoors; this workshop, with information on how to renovate older fruit trees as well as how to prune newly planted dwarfs, will be repeated February 12 and March 12.

Through June, Cloud Mountain retail hours are Monday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday 11-4. To learn more: info@cloudmountainfarm.com; 6906 Goodwin Road in Everson.

Harvest Time

This morning as I was walking up our alley in Langley, I was thinking about "Restoration Harvest", a piece Tim Egan wrote this week on his New York Times blog about the beauty of the Eastern Washington apple harvest. Of course, this was Tim Egan, so there's plenty in there about food safety, irrigation, etc., but mostly it's an ode to apples...

It begins “The apples look like Christmas ornaments, wearing a blush of dew at first light” and ends with the conviction that the harvest satisfies a need that has never been bred out of as people.

So just as I’m contemplating this comforting thought, I come upon my neighbor’s final pear harvest and his wheelbarrow full of pumpkins and squashes. So beautiful on a sunny October morning – harvest visuals courtesy of Linda Morris and Dan Babbit’s fruitful garden. 

Beautiful Fruit

If you've ever debated between planting trees that are ornamental or those that are productive, you can put that quandary to rest.  I've never seen such sensual, sumptuous fruit as that growing  in the garden of Linda Morris and Dan Babbit, right down the alley from our garden in Langley.  Really, these pears and plums are so shapely they should be painted by Renoir, so colorful you need a Van Gogh or Cezanne to do them justice. These trees are such beauties, with perfectly healthy leaves and fruit.

This is a semi-dwarf, 'Rescue' pear, with red-orange blushed fruit that matures in September and keeps until December. Both the pear and the plum tree are available from Raintree Nursery in Morton.

As you can see in the photo below, the 'Hollywood' plum tree is so laden that Dan's supported the branches with bamboo canes. It's a Japanese plum with purple leaves that show off the pinkish red fruit, grows about 12 feet high, is disease resistant, and self-fertile.