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Primroses

5 days ago
2 min

Primroses

Primula pulverulenta in the landscape Primula is a large genus of about 425 species and an untold number of cultivars. Most are herbaceous perennials and can be found in a variety of conditions from boggy areas to alpine meadow. Most can be divided into 5 basic type, Auricula, Acaulis, Candelabra, Polyanthus and Juliana. I have tried growing a number from all these different types and find some easier than others. I tend to have trouble with the Auricula type. I think these j

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Trilliums

Apr 20
2 min

Trilliums

Trillium ovatum in the woods at Old Goat Farm One of the real harbingers of spring are the Trilliums. They are also one of the real show stoppers in the garden. There is nothing like coming through the woods and seeing big sweeps of them or just a couple real stand out plants. We grow about a dozen different types here at Old Goat Farm and have about half them available in the nursery. Growing them from seed is a long process but if you do it every year they just keep coming

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Hellebores

Apr 6
2 min

Hellebores

Helleborus x hybridus – double One of the main foundation plants in our garden is Helleborus x hybridus, the Lenten Rose. We probably have close to 200 because we use them in almost every bed. What I like is the fact that they are evergreen and the foliage looks good year-round. The foliage is also quite bold so it stands out in the garden. When we moved from Seattle we brought a full truck load of just hellebores from our old garden. They were looking good in the garden in J

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Spring Ephemerals

Mar 30
2 min

Spring Ephemerals

mix border Spring ephemeral describes a life cycle of perennial woodland wildflowers which develop aerial parts (i.e. stems, leaves, and flowers) of the plant early each spring and then quickly bloom, produce seed and then go summer dormant. Some of the plants included in this group are Tulipa, Narcissus, Eranthis, Galanthus, Trillium, Anemone, Frillaria, Crocus, Cyclamen, Erythronium, Iris, Corydalis, Muscari and Cardamine. Trillium ovatum in the woods at Old goat Farm They

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The Nursery

Mar 23
4 min

The Nursery

Nursery Being a small specialty nursery isn’t like most nursery businesses. Specialty nurseries tend to grow their own plants and it is a passion for the plants that came first. When we moved here there was already an area set up for what would be the nursery. There was a gravel pad in front of the barn and another on the side and behind where berries were grown. There was even a hoop-house out in the field which just encouraged us to jump into the nursery business. We did li

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‘Great Plant Picks’

Mar 15
3 min

‘Great Plant Picks’

It’s that time of year to revisit ‘Great Plant Picks’. While I was working at the Miller Botanical Garden the ‘Great Plant Picks’ program was developed as an outreach program so I had the opportunity to work on it from the beginning and still do. I am now a member of the perennial committee. I reference the program often when I do the daily Facebook posts if the plant happens to be a ‘Great Plant Pick’. I thought it may be useful to make people not familiar with the program a

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Winter pruning

Mar 3
3 min

Winter pruning

pruning 80 year old apple trees Late winter or early spring is a good time to prune many woody plants while they are still dormant. There are exceptions, like some evergreens that tend to bleed sap are better pruned mid-spring so frost doesn’t effect the cut. Each plant is a bit different so it’s best to check out specific plants before you start in. Knowing the plant also helps you figure out how it should look. This winter has been milder than most so we were able to get to

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Composting at Old Goat Farm

Feb 23
3 min

Composting at Old Goat Farm

hard at work We usually try and compost earlier in the year when things are really dormant, like fall, but it’s never too late to compost. Well right now the garden is just coming out of being buried in snow so this is a good time. Compost is decomposed organic material made from garden waste and kitchen scraps from plant material. Do not use animal products such as meat, bones and dairy (or you’ll have rats). Over time this material breaks down into a rich, black material re

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Rocks

Feb 9
2 min

Rocks

The hardscape and solid elements in the garden create an anchor for the plants and space. In the public garden I worked at, the original gardener had used stone extensively. She had a stone staircase, rock gardens with 20 and 40 tons respectively and a gully wall that was created out of stone. All were made from granite from the Cascade Mountains, the local mountain range. This brought the mountain, literally, right into the garden. When we decided to add a terrace and an alp

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Into the Woods

Feb 2
2 min

Into the Woods

Entry to the woods Since we are having rain in spirts, now is the time to get a little bit done back in the woods in-between showers. Our little woodland is one of my favorite places to be. This is a very peaceful time of the year here at the farm. Most things are dormant so the garden is quiet, except the noise from all the birds in the distance. It is the time of year I am drawn into the woods. CJ and Blanche taking a stroll We have just an acre and a half of woods but it f

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The Winter Garden

Jan 20
3 min

The Winter Garden

the trail into the winter garden Now is the time of year when gardeners in the Northwest start itching to be back out in the garden or thinking about it on those few nice days. The holidays are long gone, the days are barely starting to get longer, tons of spring catalogs are arriving daily in the mail but we are only about half way through winter. Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ It is also the time of the year when most gardens look their worst. Most things are dormant but th

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Bark

Jan 12
2 min

Bark

Western Red Cedar – Thuja plicata Today is one of those cold winter days in the Northwest, highs just in the 40s and raining. It’s really the kind of day I don’t want to be out working in the garden but I don’t mind a walk-about. Everywhere I see little signs of spring but what I really appreciate are the simple things like the color and texture of the bark, mosses and lichens. I’m fortunate to have big trees with stunning trunks. There are a couple Western Red Cedars, a cou

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Dwarf Conifers

Jan 6
3 min

Dwarf Conifers

Dwarf Conifers in the garden This is a good time of year to assess your garden. Does it look good now? If it looks good in January and into early February it probably looks good year round. One way to approach the garden is to try and look at each bed. When I’m designing a garden bed I try and make sure at least one third to one half the bed is either evergreen or the bare trees and shrubs have interesting branch structure. Dwarf conifers in the nursery One of my favorite “go

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Christmas

Nov 30, 2020
2 min

Christmas

Old Goat Farm The one constant at Old Goat Farm is Christmas. Gary has a passion for Christmas that is unsurpassed. He has always pulled out all the stops and decorated to the nines. It probably isn’t a coincidence that Gary saw Old Goat Farm for the first time on Christmas Eve. He immediately started to think how cool it would be to decorate this old house. Being a Victorian type farmhouse it lends itself well to being decorated. peeking in the window When I say Gary has a p

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Inspiration

Nov 28, 2020
3 min

Inspiration

Inspiration can come from many different sources. About 33 years ago I had a little lapse of sanity and moved into a condominium. I thought it would make life easier and it did but for me not gardening drove me crazy. After 6 months I was ready to find a house again. Unfortunately it took me 5 years to get out of that condo. There is only so much you can do in 700 square feet so we spent a lot of time walking the neighborhood. We were lucky to be living in the north end of Ca

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Thanksgiving

Nov 23, 2020
4 min

Thanksgiving

Tom and Jerry This being the week of Thanksgiving makes me reflect on how fortunate we are to be living at Old Goat Farm. What started out as a whim or maybe a mid-life crisis has turned into a truly unique lifestyle. We are lucky to be able to combine our passions for plants and animals and spend our time immersed in that every day. I know 2020 has been hard on everyone but we are fortunate to spend our isolation time here. It made us realize that almost everything we do is

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Fall Color

Nov 11, 2020
2 min

Fall Color

Orting Washington It is mid November and here in the Northwest, with the changes in the season the plants take notice. It is probably the most dramatic time for deciduous plants. It is when the color really pops. Japanese Maple It is a very simple process in the leaf. The leaf starts to produce less chlorophyll which is what makes the leaf green. Chlorophyll captures sunlight and turns it into food for the plant. As the days shorten and the temperatures decrease, this process

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Putting the Garden to Bed – Part 2

Nov 3, 2020
3 min

Putting the Garden to Bed – Part 2

Tender plants put into the greenhouse The fern greenhouse Well I certainly hope you got the first 6 items done from last weeks list. Item 7 is to protect tender plants. Many people take their house plants or tender plants out for the summer, but now is the time to take them back indoors. Make sure you clean them first with a nice spray of water. If problems are evident you might want to spray with an insecticidal soap. Watch to see if any problems develop. You may also want

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Putting the Garden to Bed – Part 1

Oct 28, 2020
3 min

Putting the Garden to Bed – Part 1

Seasonal containers Now that we have had our first frost, I think it is that time of year when you need to start to put the garden to bed. I’ve developed a list over the last several years which comes in handy to make sure I get all my chores done. It goes back to when I worked at the botanical garden and needed to stay organized. I thought I would divide it into two parts, this week and next week. Seasonal container 1. Plant up winter containers. A few strategically placed c

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Fall Planting

Oct 21, 2020
3 min

Fall Planting

Grasses at OGF nursery Get ready, get set, PLANT. I know you have heard it a hundred times but here in the Pacific Northwest fall is the best time for planting. There are a lot of good reasons to plant now. The soil is still warm so roots will still grow giving you a much larger plant next spring. The soil doesn’t get too cold until about late November. The fall rains have started so you don’t have to water or worry about the new plants getting too dried out or burned. Actual

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