A Note from Susan

Hello, gardening friends!

April 17, 2024 _ As you can see by this photo, we’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to our last frost date! But this is totally normal for Spokane, Wash. (zone 5b-6a) this time of year. Our last frost date is usually in mid- to late May so we gardeners have to be patient. By the way, you’re looking at one of the lupines in our pollinator garden. Thank goodness they are very tough so this frost shouldn’t harm them in the least.

Have you watched last week’s video yet? It celebrates the official start of the vegetable garden season here in our zone 5b garden and what we do to prepare the garden. Here’s a link to the video on my blog. My next video will be about planting carrots, parsnips and beets, and will be available starting tomorrow.

Are you ready for any vegetable garden challenges that might come your way this season? In my book, The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, I address weather-related issues, vegetable disorders and diseases, germination and pollination problems, dealing with all sorts of critters in the garden and so much more. You can get a personalized copy of The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook from me! Just send me an email at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com and I’ll take care of you quickly. If you would prefer to order it directly from Amazon, here is my affiliate link to it. Thank you for supporting your friendly author!

Video: Gardening Sun Protection

sun protection, Gloriosa daisies

If you’re a regular viewer of my weekly garden videos, you might recall seeing a large bandage on the side of my face in January and February. And that has led to this week’s video about sun protection. I had surgery for basal cell carcinoma and it was a huge shock to me. As I explain in this video, I […]

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Video: Pruning Tips for Trees, Shrubs, Roses & Blueberries

pruning tips

Did you know that spring is a great time for pruning? In this week’s video, I share all sorts of pruning tips for trees (esp. fruit trees), flowering shrubs, roses and blueberry plants. You’ll learn how to prune properly and avoid common mistakes. Also, within the video, I mentioned that I have some videos that contain pruning tips for specific […]

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Video: Organic Insect Control Pt. 2

organic insect control, flea beetles

This week’s video is the second of three installments about organic insect control. In this video, I focus on more challenging vegetable garden insects: flea beetles, hornworms, and slugs and snails. Although I should clarify that those last two are technically mollusks, rather than insects. It is so important to use organic strategies and products to control these and other […]

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