Plant Picks from the Master Gardeners

By Sara Perry

A beautiful and appealing landscape is part of what makes our homes lovely, comfortable and comforting places to be.

Purchasing plants can represent a significant investment, and mistakes can be frustrating and costly. Luckily gardeners are notorious share-alls and advice from an experienced gardener – especially one who gardens in the same area you do – can be very helpful.

I recently asked some of our most experienced WSU Master Gardeners to share their “best picks” for plants – ornamentals or vegetables – that thrive in their Yakima area gardens.

Tomatoes are at the top of many gardeners’ priority lists, and this is certainly true for Larray Prather. Larray and a team of dedicated Master Gardeners propagate thousands of plants each year at our greenhouses in anticipation of our annual spring plant sale. Tomatoes and peppers are his specialty. When the sale is over, Larray goes to work in his huge half-acre garden where he grows more than 200 tomato plants, peppers and other veggies. Here are his top picks:

* Super Fantastic – an indeterminate hybrid tomato with a smooth taste that cans, juices, sauces and slices;

* Kelloggs Breakfast – a yellow beefsteak that has won our annual taste-off more than once. Larray says, “You just have to get over having a red tomato.”

* Sun Sugar – an orange hybrid cherry – sweet and yummy;

* Burpee’s Supersteak – an indeterminate hybrid for those big hamburger-bun-sized slices;

* Nu Mex Big Jim – a medium hot pepper;

* Fat and Sassy – a sweet bell pepper that really performs;

* Armenian cucumbers (which are really melons!) – He likes them fresh and pickled.

Hosta is one of Kris Vestad’s favorite ornamentals. Propagated for its lush green, blue or multicolored leaves, it fills in beautifully under shrubs and trees. This low-maintenance, long-lived plant thrives with afternoon shade and even watering but will grow in sunnier spots as well.

Kris’ favorites:

* Big Daddy – true to its name with large, deep blue, heart-shaped leaves that grow to 3 feet;

* Albo-marginata – with deep green, white-edged leaves that grow to about 2 feet;

* June – with a variegated leaf that is a little smaller.

Carol Barany’s expertise is filling large spaces with free-flowering, long-blooming perennials, and the beautiful gardens surrounding her lovely old period home prove it.

* Of geranium Rozanne Carol says, “When I first found this “Perennial Plant of the Year” for 2008, it was love at first sight, and I haven’t changed my mind since. This plant is simply the best hardy geranium, and my favorite perennial.” Rozanne’s violet-blue blooms continue all summer.

*A Dahlia called Fascination, with striking blackish-purple stems and leaves, is the best of the dark foliage dahlias, according to Carol. A diminutive 24 inches tall, its pink blooms make great cut flowers.

* The Centranthus ruber called Alba is a warm-white version of the familiar red (or pink) Valerian. Carol says this tall flower with pretty silver-green foliage “never seems to be without flowers, and it responds well to deadheading. When it’s time for a haircut, I whack the bushy, upright plants back with hedge-clippers, then wait for the next flush of blooms. Hands down, when people tour my garden, this is the plant they ask me to share.  There’s no better recommendation than that!”

Diana Pieti grows a wildlife-friendly garden:

* Agastache rupestris, Licorice Mint, or Agastache cana, Bubble Gum Mint — for the hummingbirds and butterflies

* Amelanchier, Serviceberry — a North American native shrub with small white blooms in spring and edible, blueberry-like fruit for people and birds

* Cornus stolonifera, Red Twig Dogwood — with its beautiful red branches in winter for general wildlife habitat.

Zinnias are everywhere in Bill Gillespie’s yard. “We plant them in thick drifts in our largest beds. Miniature, short and giants go well together and provide a mass of color from ground level to 4 feet high.” Some favorite varieties include State Fair, Dreamland and Lilliput; all are available in mixed colors.

Mary Killingstad is hooked on garlic.  Plant certified, disease-free cloves in the fall, feed and water well and you will be rewarded in July with large heads of home-grown culinary heaven.  Mary likes two heirloom hardneck varieties called Chesnok Red and Persian Star.

“Hemerocallis” or Daylily, and “Gaillardia” or Blanket flower, are two of LaVonne Benner’s garden stalwarts.  Easy to grow and maintain, and available in lots of colors, they bloom all summer.  A hybrid flowering shrub called “Caryopteris clandonensis” or Dark Knight is also on her list of bests, with its attractive blue-purple flowers that bloom from July until late summer.

The Yakima Arboretum’s annual plant sale runs 3-7 p.m. Friday, May 7, and continues 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 8. This is a great way to find a new-to-the-market selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and vines for your yard.

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service. Do you have questions about gardening or landscaping? Call the Master Gardener Clinic at 509-574-1600 or visit us at the WSU Extension office on 104 N. 1st Street in Yakima. New volunteers are welcome.