P2 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, February 9, 2022
State to lift indoor mask requirement March 31
oregon Capital bureau
The Oregon Health Author-
ity announced Monday that it
will lift the state’s indoor mask
mandate by March 31.
State health leaders expect
that by late March, Oregon’s
COVID-19 hospitalizations
will taper off to about 400 or
fewer.
That’s the level the state re-
corded before the omicron
variant began to spread.
“The evidence from Ore-
gon and around the country is
clear: masks save lives by slow-
ing the spread of COVID-19,”
said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the
state’s epidemiologist. “We
should see COVID-19 hospi-
talizations drop by the end of
March because so many Or-
egonians are wearing masks
and taking other steps to pro-
tect themselves and each other,
such as getting a booster shot
or vaccinating their children.
At that point, it will be safer to
lift mask requirements.”
Indoor mask requirements
will remain in place un-
til further notice for now, as
COVID-19 hospitalizations
continue to strain the state’s
hospital system.
A new rule was filed Mon-
day by the OHA with the Ore-
gon Secretary of State to keep
the state’s indoor mask require-
ment in place, replacing a tem-
porary rule that was set to ex-
pire Feb. 8.
The new rule allowed health
officials to extend the current
restrictions past their
temporary expiration date un-
til no longer needed, OHA
said.
Oregon’s average number
of newly diagnosed cases has
dropped about 40% over the
past week, according to the
OHA. Despite that, hospital-
izations have remained above
1,000 per day.
OHA said Oregon has
the “third lowest cumulative
COVID-19 case rate in the
nation and the seventh lowest
COVID-19 death rate” since
the start of the pandemic.
In a filing with the secre-
tary of state Monday, Oregon
health officials said scien-
tific research has shown that
masks protect people from
COVID-19, and the state’s
overall compliance with mask
rules, combined with a high
vaccination rate, has blunted
the omicron surge and pre-
vented a meltdown of Ore-
gon’s hospital system, at least
for now. According to Oregon
Health & Science University
data, more than eight in 10
Oregonians report continuing
to wear masks in public.
That has helped Oregon pre-
vent topping the 1,178 hospi-
talizations recorded during the
peak of the delta variant surge,
despite initial hospitalization
projects the state received.
Gardening corner
The Chelsea Chop and other pruning methods
BY LIZ DOUVILLE
For The Spokesman
Nostalgia can evoke either sadness
over life remaining to be somewhat
restricted: the glass is half empty. Or it
can bring back a memory that brings
a smile and a feeling that the glass is
half full.
The longer days prompts a gar-
dener to start making to-do lists. I
thought about what needed to be
pruned and recognized the fact I
needed a refresher session with my
pruning file.
The nostalgia came to the forefront
when I revisited an article referring to
the Chelsea Chop.
The Chelsea Chop is a method of
pruning. The name was derived from
the famous flower show in England,
the RHS Chelsea Flower Show that
takes place in May. My thoughts went
immediately to the Northwest Flower
& Garden Show in Seattle to run Feb.
9-13.
In 2013, I and another Master Gar-
dener boarded a plane for a glorious
and overwhelming experience of lec-
tures and breath-taking demonstra-
tion garden exhibits from plant nurs-
eries and landscapers. There wasn’t
enough time or enough money in the
checking account to take advantage of
all there was to see or purchase. The
trip created a memory I will never for-
get. Would it have the same impact if I
went again? I wonder.
What is the Chelsea Chop? It is a
123rF
There are several methods of pruning, all with intended results.
“method of pruning perennials that
limits the size, control the flowering
season and often decreases the flop-
ping of a number of herbaceous pe-
rennials.”
Keeping plants compact
In England the Flower Show takes
place in late May which is historically
when the pruning takes place there.
The general rule of thumb is to prune
when the plant has a fair amount of
vegetation, not a particular date on
the calendar.
CROSSWORD
Many directions for pruning flow-
ering perennials is to cut the entire
plant by one-third or half to delay
blooms and limit plant size. The Chel-
sea Chop offers an option to the one-
third cut back which they choose to
delay summer flowering and to keep
plants more compact.
That option is to randomly cut only
half of a stem back which will extend
the season of flowering rather than
delay it.
Another reason to become familiar
with pruning flowering perennials is
that some perennials are valued more
for their foliage than their flowers.
Some flowers detract from the beauty
of the foliage, either in their appear-
ance or by causing decline in the
health of the foliage. Those unwanted
flowers should be pruned out before
the buds open.
I have never thought of pruning as
a means of pest control until I read
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden
by Tracey DiSabato-Aust. Thinning
SUDOKU
stems on mildew-prone perennials
can increase the air circulation around
the plant and decrease the incidence
of disease. The better air flow might
discourage pests from landing.
The following plants are good can-
didates for the Chelsea Chop:
• Garden Phlox , Phlox paniculata
• Yarrow, Achillea
• Bellflower, Campanula
• Aster. Symphyotrichum
• Coneflower, Echinacea
• Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia
• Penstemon, Penstemon
• Golden marguerite, Anthemis
tinctoria
• Goldenrod, Solidago
• Shasta daisy. Leucanthemum
Pruning can seem intimidating and
for that reason it is put aside for an-
other day. Pruning is based on com-
mon sense and comes naturally with
experience and working with plants.
Think in terms of sculpturing: shap-
ing, forming trimming.
Perhaps you have a tatty looking
older perennial that you had just
about decided to dig out this year.
Why not try the method of cutting
back the entire plant using the one-
third or one-half method? You may be
surprised at the growth results.
I am no further ahead on writing
my early spring to-do list, but due
to rereading the article, I have had a
wonderful trip of nostalgia remem-
bering the Flower Show in Seattle.
e
Email: douville@bendbroadband.com
WEATHER
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monday, Jan. 31
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