Unless you have been living under a rock, you should be aware by now of the importance of bees (and insects in general for that matter) on our ecosystem. They are our chief pollinators, along with wasps and flies, some moths and butterflies, and even hummingbirds and bats. In the early seaso…

Sometimes I feel like the world is spinning out of control. There is all the fear over the coronavirus, the political turmoil over the November elections, concerns over climate change, the stock market, March Madness (okay, maybe that isn’t a life or death issue), and just general angst over…

When I think of the word “wallflower” or “shrinking violet” for that matter, I conjure up an image in my mind of a timid plant that is shy and socially challenged. It is not very flashy and prefers to grow in an obscure location where it will be barely noticed by the passing visitor. In rea…

There is no doubt in my mind that spring has sprung. This indisputable fact lies in the discovery this week of the first white blooms on a wild plum tree that lives down the street from the nursery. On that same road, I caught a glance of the swelling buds of several Bradford flowering pears…

Traditionally speaking, Valentine’s Day is the “Christmas” season for florists, whereas Mother’s Day belongs to the garden centers. However, not being one to follow tradition, I am going to take this space to help you stretch the envelope, so to speak. Here are some suggestions, not to repla…

Let’s face it, compared to other regions of our country, we have it pretty darn good when it comes to winter. Occasional snow rarely sticks around for more than a week or two, nighttime lows are usually above freezing and the day temps can even get up into the 50’s. Nothing stays dormant f…

It looks like the next couple of weeks are going to be wet and cold and some preparation on our parts can help minimize any deleterious effects. We rarely see more than 10 to 14 days of continuous below freezing weather during the winter, but despite its short duration, it can do a lot of da…

I have just spent this last week, and countless hours, researching the topic of "trends for 2020’’ in hopes of bringing you something of deep profundity. Unfortunately, I have to confess; it has been a struggle to find the perfect morsels of wisdom for your reading pleasure and I have come t…

I know it is crunch time for gift buying and you might still have a few tough ones to figure out. Avoid the crazy mall madness and have an actual tactile experience of touching the gifts you’re searching for (to maybe even be hand-wrapped with care, rather than just clicking a mouse for an o…

As the season winds down and the garden is put to bed, I can’t help but pause and reflect on the past several months. It was a roller coaster year for me with lots of promise, a major setback, and then a fantastic recovery.

As gardeners, the concept of “going natural” is nothing new. Whatever our reasons, whenever practical we tend to shy away from synthetics and instead choose products that are natural. In the case of Christmas trees we have the same choices — one is buying an artificial tree, and the other is…

Back in late September of this year, I introduced you to several new shrubs for 2020 and promised to continue later this fall with several more new introductions. After reading through the November/December edition of Horticulture (one of many gardening magazines that my wife and I subscribe…

As the temperatures continue to drop, along with all those leaves on our deciduous trees, we are pretty much left with just shades of green in our gardens to look at throughout the winter. There are, of course, quite a few winter-blooming perennials and shrubs that can add some winter inter…

I think it is fair to say that the dark season is upon us and it seems to have arrived a couple of months early. September and October have both been unusually wet, which always cuts down on my time to spend in the garden and subsequently, prematurely kicks off my seasonal affect disorder, …

First off, I suspect you would like an explanation of what the heck is a “bud-blooming” heather. It’s a fair question so here is my answer: A bud-blooming heather is a type of Calluna (a commonly planted summer-blooming heather that is in many of our gardens) whose buds never fully open but…

With the mercury dipping down into the low thirties, and maybe even some frost for some of you, I am reminded of the often asked question: “How do I save some of my seasonal color for the next season”. It’s only a matter of time before a really good hard frost is going to make that question …

We have a vast palette of plants to choose from for our northwest gardens, and in many cases they come from the same genus. The genus Pinus for instance includes eastern white, Japanese white, red, black, Swiss, Ponderosa, mugo, and so on and so forth. These are all different species within …

Back in March of this year, I introduced you to several new plants for the 2019 season that were sure to be hits in your garden. There was a landscape rose called ‘At Last’ that actually sported some fragrance - something that had been sorely missing with past landscape/shrub roses. If you m…

I recently read an article on designing with foliage in the garden by a local author, Christina Salwitz. She has written two books: “Fine Foliage” from St. Lynn’s Press and “Gardening with Foliage First” from Timber Press — I highly recommend reading both of them. Her main point is that wh…

As we move into the fall season and our summer bloomers start to fade, it is encouraging to know that there are still quite a few choices for late color in our gardens. The classic fall blooming perennials are of course mums and asters, which sadly seem to have been relegated to the status o…

Ornamental grasses are an interesting class of perennials. They have some unique qualities that make them an essential part of my borders, as they should yours. Unfortunately, many gardeners still see them as weeds that either need to be sprayed with Roundup or trimmed with the Weed-Eater. …

Last week I mentioned that August was a good time to plant all sorts of plants, but I failed to mention vegetables. It might seem hard to imagine that in the heat of August we would be planting vegetable crops that thrive in the cooler time of the year, but in reality this is the time to get…

August can be a surprisingly busy month in the garden. There are timely chores, if attended to this month, that will improve the look and health of our plants. Here they are for your reading pleasure.

There is an old expression that goes like this: “Doctors bury their mistakes, architects plant ivy." Admittedly, this is a crude analogy but it is very true that vines can cover a multitude of sins. Perhaps a more positive way to put it is that vines have the ability to soften the edges of o…

Anyone who has followed me over the years knows that one of my many mantras is “There is always room for one more plant”. No matter how packed my garden is, on any given day I can find a little patch of bare earth that is just screaming for something to be planted in it. My wife often fond…

I know I mentioned last week that I always hesitate to spend too much ink on just one variety of plant, so it was my intention to discuss some summer chores for us to complete this month. However, I found myself distracted by an article in the September edition of my wife’s ‘The English Gard…

It is always hard for me to focus in on one variety of plant this time of year. There are so many fabulous summer blooming perennials (and a surprising number of shrubs) that are strutting their stuff in the months of July and August, that to dedicate a whole column to one variety seems imp…

If you are looking for a perennial that will bloom from June until frost, will tolerate full sun or part shade, comes back every spring (unless Mother Nature is really nasty to us) and makes a wonderful companion to so many other plants, then what you need is a hardy fuchsia. They are hard t…

July is a very busy month for me in my garden and it should be for you as well. This is the month I like to put the finishing touches on everything, so all I have to do for the rest of the summer is water and enjoy the fruits of my labor. Here are some things we should all be focused on.

There is a certain fact that northwest gardeners are going to have to start embracing: our summers are getting longer and drier and our plants are only going to get more and more moisture stressed. It is up to us to help our landscapes get through the summer months, so here are the basics o…

I couldn’t help but notice the other day while driving around town, that lavender was coming into bloom. That of course got me thinking about growing lavender, choosing varieties, and how to actually use the plant other than just to look at it. It turns out lavender has been in production fo…

Okay, I’ll admit it, I have always had a love affair with cannas. Having grown up in southern California, cannas were a staple item in the landscape. The large growing varieties that reached 6 to 8 feet tall were seen throughout most of the public parks where they were used in formal plantin…

Every year I try to move my customers a little farther out of their comfort zones to experiment with some plants that perhaps they are unfamiliar with or are afraid they will fail to make grow. Mostly, I am talking about the focal or “thriller” components of a container planting. Traditional…

Out of all the different types of vines that I have sold over the years, wisteria is by far the queen of them all. It is the personification of what people think of as a vine and when gardeners want a plant that will travel and cover some space, I always recommend wisteria. But, it’s not a …

I first fell in love with Peonies back in the early 70’s when I was stationed in Petersburg, Virginia, with the U.S. Army. I was driving out in the country one afternoon when I came upon row after row of these incredible plants covered with pink, red or white blooms that looked like carnati…

If there was one perennial that personified a cottage garden, I think it would have to be the Delphinium. They are the epitome of what I think of when I picture a Victorian border or even just a simple country garden. Their tall stature often anchors the back of a bed and provides the height…