Fresh produce from the vegetable garden, warm summer sun, and the sweet aroma of raspberries hanging in the air: this is summer in Whatcom County. While there’s so much to love about this month, July can bring a number of challenges to your garden success if you’re not paying attention. To ensure your plants continue to thrive, here are a few tips for this month in the garden. First, this [...]
My Grandma Vos—long-time owner of Vander Giessen's and gardener par excellence—often advised her customers that “God’s colors don’t clash” when picking out flowers. Her point in offering such advice was to encourage customers to plant what looked good to them; after all, gardening is meant to be fun, so why stress over what plants “work”? Whether you like bold, saturated colors in your containers or prefer the muted elegance [...]
This week’s forecast: nothing but sunshine. While the webbed-feet crowd can bemoan that spring’s rain has transitioned solidly to dry summer weather, we can all appreciate the fact that summer brings with it the abundance of a garden harvest, days spent at the lake or the bay, and relaxing in the cool of the day outside on the deck. As you work in the garden this month, here are a [...]
We gardeners are always on the lookout for plants that have that special characteristic: unique foliage, multi-colored flowers, unusual growth habit, or some other eye-catching trait. In today’s world of dozens of options on the shelf even for toothpaste, it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd, which is why so many of the new plant introductions are released specifically for their “wow” factor. As you plan and [...]
If I had to pick a favorite season, my choice would have to be autumn. Cool, crisp mornings and warm sunny afternoons; occasional rains returning and bringing the earthy, welcome smell we call petrichor; and the opportunity to get out in the yard and reimagine gardens and containers for a new season—all these bring me almost as much excitement as the thrill of spring. With a new season upon us, [...]
With sunshine and blue skies here, we’re in for a stunner of a weekend, and after a cool, wet spring, I think we can all appreciate the arrival of more warm, dry weather. Along with the sun comes the perfect weather for getting your pots, containers, and flowerbeds planted up with color for summer beauty. As you plan for what you’ll plant this spring, here are five no-fuss plants you [...]
Foolish me—I thought that after all the rain we had from last October through early June, we might just escape the summer wildfire smoke we’ve experienced the last few years. Although some forecasters predicted a cool, wetter-than-normal summer, since early summer it’s been very dry and warm, and with wildfires burning once again in our mountains, even the most rain-weary among us are wishing for a good, soaking rain. With [...]
Talking with a local farmer the other day about just how far behind schedule he and other farmers in our area are in fieldwork and planting this spring, his parting comment struck me. “In my forty years of farming, we’ve always gotten the planting done; we just have to wait a little longer some years.” After a couple of years of early starts in our gardens—both for flower and vegetable [...]
With some of the coldest temperatures we've seen in years forecast for the Pacific Northwest in the coming days--and with winter officially just beginning--now is the time to take action to protect any tender or at-risk plants you have outdoors from winter damage. While this is far from a comprehensive guide to protecting plants in winter, here are a few quick tips to keep your plants happy and healthy no [...]
With regular soaking rains, cool temperatures, and crisp sunny days marked by the slanting rays of a sun sinking further into the southern sky, there’s little doubt that autumn is here to stay. As you work at cleaning up your yard and getting your garden ready for winter, here are a few items to keep your lawn and garden healthy and thriving throughout the months to come. First, while our [...]
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