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 [...]
Hydrangeas are incredibly popular plants, and with good reason: they're easy to grow, are available in varieties well-suited for sun or shade, come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and offer colorful flowers throughout the summer months. At Vander Giessen's, we offer a wide variety of hydrangeas, and we've just gotten in our biggest selection ever--nearly three dozen unique varieties! While we have several hundred plants available, many [...]
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 [...]
With school buses making their final rounds for the school year and last weekend’s short heat wave, my mindset is shifting to enjoying summer in the Pacific Northwest. Our region boasts some of the most gorgeous scenery and comfortable climate you’ll find anywhere in the summer, but one thing it’s not: the tropics. Whether you’re staying home this summer and want to make the most of your backyard spaces or [...]
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 [...]
With the screams of kids enjoying carnival rides and the wafting smells of fried foods, the telltale signs of the Northwest Washington Fair can mean only one thing: early autumn is just around the corner. However, if this year’s weather proves anything like last year—and frankly, many years—we still have nearly two months of summerlike weather ahead of us, so now is no time to give up on the garden. [...]
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 [...]
I love the excitement of a good winter storm, but once February rolls around, my mind starts shifting to the anticipation of spring. With mild temperatures and sunny days teasing the new season just around the corner, it’s time to start preparing your garden for spring. As you get started with your initial spring garden tasks, here are a few suggestions of where to start. My first task around the [...]
Looking out my window, the maples and sumacs in my neighbors’ yards are proudly showing their fiery fall colors, the last of the cucumbers are ripening in my vegetable garden, and the zinnias and dahlias are beginning to wind down their summer blooms. As autumn tightens its grip on our corner of the world, October is the month to begin preparations for winter and take the first steps toward a [...]
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