The decisions about which new plants will appear at a nursery near you next spring are happening right now. Here’s a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes process so you can jumpstart your own plant wish list. I was recently one of three judges for the 2009 New Varieties Showcase at the Farwest trade show in Portland, […]
Unusual fruiting shrubs and trees – where have you been all my gardening life? That was the question I asked myself while standing at One Green World’s tasting table in Molalla, Oregon. The nursery specializes in unique fruits from around the world. Affable owner, Jim Gilbert, presided over an enticing array of mouth-watering offerings. Landscaping […]
Five questions for strong healthy growth What do gardeners really want? Recently, I conducted an unscientific two-day sampling of homeowners’ gardening questions. The most common concerns were about how to help ailing plants. I spent an enjoyable weekend, volunteering in the “Ask An Expert” booth at the Sunset Celebration, a hoopla of all things great […]
Two new plant introductions in two If they made movies about the plants’ life stories – how they start out as unknowns in far away places and end up as star performers at a nursery near you – these two variegated must-have specimens would have award-winning biopics for best screenplay. Act One The first is […]
This is the year of the vegetable garden—from the White House to local front lawns—everyone is planting crops. However, even seasoned gardeners can have disappointments with veggies. So I asked my friend, Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner/ president of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Oregon, what to do about the most common edible errors. Rose […]
