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The INDEPENDENT, April 18, 2012
Can You Dig It?
By Schann Nelson
Columbia County Master Gardener
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Kudos to the city
crews! They’ve done a
really nice job of pruning
our street trees this year.
This is one area where
the city planted the right
thing (the second time)
and have done a good
job of beginning the
process of developing
pollards – those funky, round knobby ends on all
the major branches that provide all the [allowed]
growth for the year. I suppose some of the ad-
vantages for this style of pruning are that, once
established, the pruning is relatively straight for-
ward and allows lots of air and sunlight into the
tree, a premium in the city. Pollards take a long
time to develop.
One of the most striking plant photos that I
have ever seen was taken in a European coun-
try which had trees with big, old established pol-
lards. As I recall, the pollards appeared to be
about a foot in diameter. Of course, during the
long, war-time period and immediately after,
these trees didn’t get pruned, and were probably
lucky to survive. Then, when pruning started
again, they had to establish a whole second lay-
er of pollards, creating some very interesting
looking trees.
The sun is out as I write this and I feel a need
to get out in my garden, instead of sitting here at
a computer. Sooo, it’s time for a bit of poetry.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle in the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
DAFFODILS
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of Daffodils;
The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such jocund company;
I gazed and gazed, but little thought
What wealth to me the show had brought!
For oft when on my couch I lie,
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.
— William Wordsworth
This poem is from a small Kate Greenaway
book, Language of Flowers, originally published
in 1884. Greenaway’s delicate illustrations of
flowers, children and women set a standard for
proper dress and decorum. I’m not much of a po-
etry reader but it is fun to have an excuse to dis-
cover that the back of the book has a bunch of
poems about various flowers. Back in the Victo-
rian world, the contents of a poesy, a small bou-
quet given to another, could convey by the type
of flowers chosen any sort of message to anoth-
er about their feelings for that person. For in-
stance: A mixed bouquet of daffodils (Regard),
forget-me-nots (True love) and a sprig of goose-
berry (Anticipation) would convey quite a differ-
ent message from a poesy of hellebore (Scan-
Church Directory
V ERNONIA F OURSQUARE C HURCH
C OVENANT C HURCH V ERNONIA
P IONEER B APTIST F ELLOWSHIP
Carl Pense, Pastor
850 Madison Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-1103
Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 a.m.
Children’s Sunday School
Pastor John D. Murray
359 “A” Street, Vernonia
503 860-3860
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
John Cahill, Pastor
939 Bridge Street, Vernonia
503-429-1161
www.pbfalive.com
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.
Thursday Prayer 7:00 p.m.
S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST
Larry Gibson, Pastor
2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia
503 429-8301
Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m.
Sabbath School 9:30 a.m.
A SSEMBLY OF G OD
Wayne and Maureene Marr
662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia,
503 429-0373
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship 11:00 a.m
S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH
Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator
960 Missouri Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-8841
Mass Sunday 12:00 Noon
Religious Educ. Sunday 10:30 a.m.
V ERNONIA C OMMUNITY C HURCH
Ralph Young, Pastor
957 State Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-6790
Sunday Bible Classes 9:00 a.m.
Family Praise & Worship 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer 6:30 p.m.
Thursday Ladies Study 7:00 p.m.
Nursery 10:15 a.m.
Vernonia Community Preschool
dal, Calumny) fly-
trap (Deceit) and
wild tansy (I declare
war on you). Thank
goodness we don’t
have to try to mas-
ter this language!
Now we arrange
our bouquets in a
pleasing way – or
just dump flowers in
a jar and call it a
bouquet – bringing
the beautiful abun-
dance of spring into
our homes helps to
stave off the de-
pression of con-
stant rain and the
low cloud ceiling.
Sometimes flowers
are just the thing to
lift that feeling that
the world is crush-
ing you. Inside or
outside, I love the
joy that flowers
bring to any setting.
It’s time to start
cold weather vegetables indoors, if you want to set out strong
plants next month. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, pars-
ley, leeks, endive and other Asian greens can all be started in-
doors. Peas and carrots don’t take well to transplanting, but if I
had seed I might try planting onion seed. Potatoes and parsnips
can be planted outside directly. Be patient for the rest of the gar-
den – seeds are too expensive to let them rot in the ground, and
it is labor intensive to replant time and time again. It’s not like
there isn’t plenty of other stuff to do.
This is the perfect time of year to get the lawn in shape. Fertil-
ize at a rate of one pound nitrogen per 1000 square feet. Try to
get it on the lawn just before it rains a bit – you want your expen-
sive fertilizer to stay on your lawn, not the neighbors, or the street,
or sidewalk.
Spray lime sulfur for apple scab and blossom blight. The
amount used is lower after bud break so be sure to read and fol-
low directions. See the OSU extension publication EC631 Manag-
ing Diseases and Insects in the Home Orchards. You should be
able to find it online or you can call the extension office and re-
quest a copy. Try not to get carried away by the vast array of ti-
tles available.
As our array of daffodils fades, the days get longer and our out-
side chores become more enjoyable. Remember to stretch before
and after garden work, and take a few minutes whenever you can
to just enjoy the outdoors.
N EHALEM V ALLEY B IBLE C HURCH
Gary Taylor, Pastor
Grant & North Streets, Vernonia
503 429-5378
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship 10:45 a.m.
Nursery available
Wednesday Service 7:00 p.m.
V ERNONIA C HRISTIAN C HURCH
C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST
OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS
Sam Hough, Minister
410 North Street, Vernonia
503 429-6522
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m.
(meets in Youth & Family Center)
Various Home Group Meetings
Marc Farmer, Branch President
1350 E. Knott Street, Vernonia
503 429-7151
Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m.
Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m.
Relief Society, Priesthood and
Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m.
Hear gospel singing on April 21 in
Woodland, Washington
The Ambassadors of Gospel
Music is hosting an All Day
Singing with your favorite AGM
members on April 21, starting
at 12:00 p.m. The singing will
be at Woodland Assembly of
God, located at 360 Gun Club
Road, Woodland, Washington.
A variety of artists, from
soloists to groups, will be per-
forming a variety of music
styles, from traditional hymns
to southern gospel and country
gospel. There is no charge, but
a love offering donation will be
taken. Concessions will be
available for a nominal charge.
Please visit the website for
directions to the church at
www.ambassadorsofgospel
music.com For more informa-
tion call 360-225-6332 or 360-
658-1922.