I love the unexpected look of vegetables growing with ornamentals. Several years ago when we visited Paris, I found many public gardens featured a riot of cabbages, lettuces and colorful beets, all corralled by classic clipped boxwood hedges. Fun. Yet, my own efforts to plant this way have been disastrous. Last year, I boldly grew […]
Nine Newcomers for Every Gardener’s Wish-List As a garden writer, I get to grow new plant introductions when they first come to market. But not all the freebies fare equally well in my garden. After a long cold Northwest winter and spring, here are the best and brightest. They not only survived—they thrived. Look for […]
April is the cruelest month, if only because that’s when slugs and snails start to proliferate. Usually, in this column I seek out an expert to follow, but as far as these slimy underleaf denizens are concerned, I am an expert. After all, I live in Eugene, Oregon, where every year we crown our own […]
Orchids stand apart. At flower shows these movie stars of the plant world gather under the lights, their jewel-tone speckled faces shining. But I confess— Orchidaceae’s astonishing allure has always passed me by. However, that changed last month, when my friend Ann Murphy, Director of Marketing for the Oregon Association of Nurseries, invited me to […]
Pest control starts long before the question- “What do I spray?” This month greenhouses take center stage in the gardening year. However, insects can come along with the show. I’ve turned to Sue Nicol, a Seattle consulting horticulturalist and arborist ([email protected]) for advice on indoor pest management. Sue says, the first question all greenhouse owners […]
One whiff of fragrant plants in winter and I’m transported far beyond the gray and white landscape outside my windows. The exotic aromas, redolent of the tropics, develop fully when captured within the enclosed walls of a greenhouse or sunroom. But I don’t want clashes of strong scents – think how your nose reacts when […]
I live with a family of non-gardeners. As the holiday time approaches, I can see my husband and grown children looking at me speculatively, gift-buying puzzlement in their eyes “What shall I get her that she’ ll really like?” So this year, instead of making them guess, I’m sharing my wish list. And I hope […]
Best Begonias Combine Beauty and Easy Care On a recent visit to Texas, I got lucky at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden (www.fwbg.com). I had the good fortune to tour the Begonia Bank’s collection of rare and endangered plants. Affable begonia curator Deborah Garrett explained that their mission is to preserve begonias from around the […]
A Preview of the 2011 Winners from the Far West Show Ladies and gentlemen, start your plant lists! I’m a big believer in lists. After all, you wouldn’t plan a large party and then go to the store without a shopping list. Yet we arrive at nurseries on the first warm spring day without a […]
September is often touted as the month when you can plant hardy perennials, shrubs and trees, giving their root systems a good start while the soil is warm. Even if you’re already thinking about restocking the greenhouse, you can still prepare your outdoor garden by adding amendments, and loosening the ground to get a jump-start […]
Summer’s horticultural bounty makes it easy to decorate your home with the contents of your garden and greenhouse. But annual and perennial flowers are not the only candidates for the best displays. Alongside your favorite black-eyed Susans, lilies, and bunches of sweetly scented roses, consider adding colorful foliage, boughs and berries from shrubs and grasses […]
Each year a moment arrives when your garden calls out to be photographed. Suddenly those cascading branches of ‘Snowmound’ spirea create a colorful explosion next to vivid yellow daylilies and bright purple sparks of chive blossoms. Get out the camera! But how can you create a shot that rivals those fabulous magazine photos? Over the […]
