Fresh, juicy strawberries are coming into season, vegetable gardens are bursting into growth mode, and daylight hours stretch long into the evening—summer has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. While you may be slowly finishing the last of your spring planting of annuals in containers and flowerbeds, planting season is far from over. As the seasons change, June is an excellent time to shift focus to planting shrubs and perennials. Here [...]
For those of us who love to garden, time spent working the soil isn’t a chore, but a joy. Even so, finding time to garden can be a challenge in today’s busy world. With a little effort in choosing the right plants, though, your garden can flourish with color and abundance with minimal time spent tending. Here are six of my favorite plants that bring all the rewards with none [...]
Although not explicitly a Christmas song, “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music has long been associated with Christmas, regularly playing on radio during the holiday season. Truth be told, for us gardeners, the spring season holds more than a few of our favorite things never mentioned in the classic song. As we enjoy a gloriously sunny break from the wet weather that dominated March, here are a few [...]
A piece I read in a magazine the other day encouraged me to change my attitude about the things on my to-do list—to see the work not as a chore but as an opportunity and a blessing. As we look at our final gardening tasks for the season, let’s “switch the O to an E”: focus not on the things we’ve “got” to do, but on the things we “get” [...]
Josephine Neuse is credited with saying that contrary to those who say that gardening begins in spring, “gardening begins in January with a dream.” While I appreciate the sentiment—and often dream of spring in the cold, dark days of winter—I would argue that for many aspects of gardening, the adventure begins in autumn. With mild temperatures, blue skies, and that crisp fall morning air, this “second spring” is the perfect [...]
Years ago, one of my friends commented on what a wonderful verb “gardening” is. I couldn’t agree more—for those of us who love the smell of freshly cultivated dirt, the warmth of the sun on our skin, and the taste of a freshly-picked carrot, gardening is a fantastic word. As your gardening efforts come to fruition in these summer months, here are a few things to tend to in late [...]
Warm days, blue skies, and the joyful shrieks of kids splashing in the pool or running through a sprinkler—this is summer in the Pacific Northwest. As you enjoy long evenings spent on the deck or out in the garden, summer is a time to watch your spring plantings grow and thrive. While you tend to your plants this month, here are a few key tips to ensure success in your [...]
When our son was three, he used to get excited when he would hear a “fever bird”—chickadee, to the rest of us—singing its spring melody. With a call that to the anticipating ear does sound like a sweetly-spoken “fee-ver,” the chickadee’s song reminds me now each spring of the excitement I feel as the new season arrives. As spring begins, let’s consider a few of the tasks to get started [...]
As the snow of the last two weeks begins to melt and we slowly return to a normal weather pattern for February with rain and milder temperatures, it’s time to start thinking about early spring. Indeed, prior to the recent cold snap, the early signs of a new season were beginning to appear, and as the days get markedly longer and the ground begins to thaw, spring will be here [...]
January in the Pacific Northwest can present a challenge for gardeners caught in the “almost, but not yet.” As is often the case, we’re sitting square in the middle of a mild stretch of weather—not spring-warm, but not winter-cold, either. Lest we forget, though, winter in western Washington often arrives later in the season—so often, February brings cold and snow. As you anticipate the coming season, here are a [...]
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