Share my passion for all things gardening!
My Sunday column was an update on how my vegetable garden is doing. In it, I mentioned how I’ve learned firsthand just how important sunlight is for plant growth. (If you missed my column, here’s a link to it: Wacky weather confusing to vegetable crops.) On the south end of our garden, we have (3) 4′ wide by 16′ long […]
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I can’t believe how quickly this summer is zipping by! Since it’s Sunday, it’s time for another of my garden columns. This one is a vegetable garden update: Wacky weather causing confusion for crops. (or you can read my column lower in this post) In it, I discuss how most of the veggies are growing. In general, everything is doing […]
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Oh how I love succulents! They are the coolest and toughest plants around. They are incredibly popular these days because lots of folks have come up with creative containers to plant them in. My column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review is about this very topic: For low-water performers, give succulents a try. (or you can read it below) In […]
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Just in case you aren’t on Facebook, I wanted to share this video with you. I think it is such an amazing thing to witness: a hummingbird taking a bath on a peony leaf! You don’t see that every day, do you? So here’s how it came about: A few days ago, my husband Bill and I decided to talk […]
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As I’ve mentioned before, I’m all about attracting pollinators to my garden. No matter what it takes, I want those guys here! All joking aside, we all need to do what we can for pollinators. Several factors are having an adverse impact upon them. “Colony collapse disorder” affects honeybees, also the decline of habitat for pollinators. And certainly the use […]
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This is a common question I hear as a Master Gardener each year. A gardener will discover small zucchinis on their plants and excitedly start looking at recipes to use for their bounty. But then, the worst thing happens: those little zucchinis fall off the plant and shrivel up. What the hey? Well, you can usually blame one of two […]
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About 3 weeks ago, I took you on a tour of my vegetable garden. Now that we’re at the end of June, I thought you might like to see how it’s coming along. Here is the “official” vegetable garden tour #2! I wanted to make a correction on something I said in my video. When I talked about the ‘Sugar […]
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If it’s Sunday, it must be time for another of my garden columns. This week’s is on two awesome perennials, heucheras and heucherellas. Here’s a link to the column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Heucheras add color in shady places. Or you can read my column below. Many folks know heucheras by their more common name of coral bells. […]
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It’s always exciting when we see new birds visiting our garden. This time, it’s the Gray Catbird. What, you’ve never heard of it before? Well, they really do exist and have quite a large range. In Washington state, they are more likely to be seen east of the Cascade Mountains… which is great since that’s where we live! Catbirds use […]
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I love learning new things, but I’m not so happy to learn the following tidbit. Pillbugs aren’t quite as benevolent as they’d like us to believe. Darn. For years, I’ve known that pillbugs are benign critters that primarily feed on decomposing organic matter. So they play a useful role in building soil fertility. However, I now know there’s a Dr. […]
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