Late summer in the garden can be both a challenging and rewarding time, with increased insect and disease issues at a time when plants are their most productive or beautiful. You’ve cared for your garden this many months, watering, fertilizing, and carefully tending to your plants’ needs—so let’s finish the summer strong. Here are a few tips to keep your garden healthy and looking its best as fall looms just [...]
With long days and warmer weather arriving in the Pacific Northwest, barbecues and evenings spent on the deck or patio will soon be the agenda for summer. As you plant up your flowerbeds and deck pots, here are four of my must-have plants I recommend you check out at Vander Giessen Nursery. First, Beacon Impatiens. One of the most used annuals in gardens worldwide has recently undergone some major upgrades [...]
Puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky, tassled sweet corn beginning to mature, and dahlias in full bloom—this is summer in the Pacific Northwest. After a delayed start to the warm weather this year, we’ve finally enjoyed some real summer temperatures and sunny days in the last month. As your garden offers the best of its summer glory before the decline into autumn, here are some tips to [...]
To say that this year has been unusual is in so many areas of life an understatement. And although the cool, damp weather we’ve had the last several weeks seems unusual, it’s not unprecedented—after all, Washingtonians are the ones who coined terms like “June gloom” and my favorite, “June-uary.” While the last few years have brought us beautiful weather in June, it’s not uncommon for gloomy weather to hang [...]
Cool as it's been compared to the last few years, summer has arrived with gardens full of colorful blooms, vibrant foliage, and fresh produce. As you settle into the rhythms of the season, here are a couple plants you may wish to find a home for in your garden this summer and a few things to watch for so your flowers can continue to look their best. First, take some [...]
One of the most rewarding and easy-to-grow flowering plants in your yard, hydrangeas are incredibly popular for good reason! With a wide variety of shapes, sizes, sun or shade requirements, and colors, hydrangeas are a must-have for summer color in your garden. At Vander Giessen Nursery, we grow and sell a broad selection of hydrangeas, from dwarfs that top out at just 1-2 feet tall all the up to [...]
The phrase “April showers bring May flowers” has never seemed to ring so true as this year. After a roller coaster spring that started late due to February’s bitter cold, then raced ahead during a warm, pleasant March, only to grind to a halt with a cool, wet April, it’s finally time to enjoy blue skies and great weather for planting just about anything. As you spend time outside [...]
To people who don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, it almost sounds unreal to say our summers are dry. So stereotyped is our corner of the world as an always-drizzling moss-covered region that many don’t realize how dry it can be from July through September. One look, however, at the heat-stressed pots on your patio reveals the truth: summer is dry! To keep your hanging baskets and pots going [...]
Summer is in full swing in the Pacific Northwest, and with long days and warm weather, you’re likely finding yourself spending more time outside than in. As you enjoy evenings on your deck and weekends in the garden, here are a few tips to keep your plants looking their best. First, midsummer is the time to start keeping a close eye out for pests and disease in the garden. Up [...]
With summer in full swing, now is the time of year we can really enjoy the beauty that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. The flowers you planted in May and June are in full bloom and your vegetable garden is beginning to offer its bounty. Maybe, however, all is not perfect in paradise—whether insects, fertilizer deficiency, or disease issues, any number of problems could put your garden’s beauty [...]
