The early spring warmth of March is starting to awaken the many clematis and other plants arrayed in the farmhouse garden at Luscher Farm last October and November. The narcissus planted to coincide with the City of Lake Oswego’s annual Daffodil Festival bloomed bang on time, and most notable among them was bright little ‘Jet Fire’ which is yellow with an orange trumpet.

FRCC was given many lilies from one of the community gardeners at the farm, and these are beginning to poke their noses above ground, clearly smelling spring. Most of the clematis planted last fall are reviving wonderfully, and some of these antiques, such as ‘Mrs. Cholmondeley’ (pronounced “chum-ly”) are working on buds and have already grabbed hold of supporting fences. A few more clematis are being added to fill in bare spots, but it does appear that most have survived their first winter of “freedom”, in the ground instead of in containers.

The last of the indoor winter clematis, Clematis cirrhosa var. balearica and our hybrid of it (study name, “Early Times”) are winding down, but the atragenes are starting up. Both ‘Jan Lindmark’ and ‘Ballet Skirt’ are in full bloom, and interestingly, the young indoor plants of these two cultivars and the older specimens which wintered outside, all bloomed within a day or two of each other. Other macropetala, koreana, and alpina cultivars seem only moments from following suit. The New Zealand species and hybrids are also just on the point of bursting into bloom.

Volunteers continue to spread weed suppressing composted mulch, and much of the collection has had its first dose of organic fertilizer, so generously donated by Whitney Farms. We use their “Rose & Flower Food” (4-6-2). The test plot in the community garden has been weeded, and the final additions are being made to the historic garden.

Larry Beutler, new to the FRCC board as our orchardist, is actively taking classes and researching apples for the new orchard. Because the whole farm is an organic site, we have ordered birdhouses appropriate for swallows and bluebirds which will be placed around the orchard. The birds will act as our “insecticide”. Three newly grafted trees are already waiting in pots, the scion wood comes from vintage apples from the area’s Llewelling Farmstead, originally in Milwaukie, Oregon, and obtained by Larry through the Home Orchard Society.

We look forward to reporting on this website when the first clematis in the ground blooms. It may well be Clematis montana ‘Warwickshire Rose’, which has been the most vigorous of the montana group planted on the split rail fence in early June, ‘06. It could also turn out to be the Clematis macropetala forma Farrer, which has been planted into the existing Ribes speciosum in the farmhouse garden. The race is on!

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