If you’re looking for an uplifting and inspiring video, this one’s for you! This week, I take you on tour of our large front flower […]
A Note from Susan
ATTENTION! If you’re on my Blog page and see this “Note from Susan,” scroll below it for access to all my posts… and there are LOTS! (Technical difficulties.)
July 16, 2026 _ Hi, everybody! Well, it is hot, hot, hot here in Spokane, Washington. But the daylilies sure don’t seem to mind the heat. The beauties in this photo are ‘Ruby Spider’ and the flowers are HUGE. If you ever spot one at a nursery or a plant sale, grab it because you will love it!
The heat has been limiting my outdoor projects to some extent. Fortunately, I was able to shoot this week’s video. What’s the topic? How about a tour of our front perennial bed and pollinator garden? After 2 weeks of videos on less-than-cheerful topics (powdery mildew and Japanese beetles), I felt it would be nice to show you some beautiful flowers! Here’s a link to my video: Susan’s Flower Garden Tour. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing what’s blooming these days.
Remember to visit the Grow Vegetables section that I created for my website. It is absolutely packed with useful information and tips on all of the most commonly grown crops. Click on the link, above or look for it in the menu bar on any page.
Be sure to check out my Amazon store for the gardening products I use and recommend so you’ll have a great garden season. The 3 books I’ve written are in there, under the “Susan’s Books” category. I receive a small commission but that won’t impact the price you pay.
Video: Susan’s Flower Garden Tour
If you’re looking for an uplifting and inspiring video, this one’s for you! This week, I take you on tour of our large front flower garden. My previous two videos were on heavy subjects: powdery mildew and Japanese beetles. Important information but I felt you would appreciate seeing lots of colorful, cheerful flowers this time around! As much as I […]
Read moreVideo: Control Japanese Beetles in Your Garden
It’s time for my next video and I realize it’s not exactly a happy topic! But if you need to control Japanese beetles, you’ll find it packed with useful information. Those beetles are so destructive. They were first discovered in the United States in 1916 and they’ve been spreading and wreaking havoc ever since. As you probably know, we live […]
Read moreVideo: Powdery Mildew – What You Need to Know
From time to time, I plan to do videos that explain what to do for insect and disease problems. This week’s topic is powdery mildew. That’s a fungal disease that can wreak havoc with a lot of different types of veggies. When it comes to vegetable plant diseases, at least there are ways to prevent it. Powdery mildew is also […]
Read moreVideo: Irish Gardens
Bill and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Ireland. We saw so many wonderful places and especially beautiful Irish gardens. What a treat that was! This was our first time to this gorgeous country. We started out in Dublin for a few days, then headed toward Kilkenny. At that point, we continued on to Killarney, then to Lahinch, […]
Read moreBook Review: New Wildflower Guides
Western Washington and Oregon in Bloom: Find and Identify the 150 Most Common Wildflowers: A Practical, Pocket-sized, and Beginner-Friendly Wildflower Guide for Western Washington and Oregon. By Ellen Kuhlmann and Mark Turner, Timber Press, 2026 Eastern Washington and Oregon in Bloom: Find and Identify the 150 Most Common Wildflowers: A Practical, Pocket-sized, and Beginner-Friendly Wildflower Guide for Eastern Washington and […]
Read moreStrawberry Patch Critters Update
On May 24, I wrote a blog post called Outsmart Robins in Your Strawberry Patch. Judging by the hundreds of views so far, we apparently aren’t the only ones with bird challenges! Now it’s time for an update. As a quick refresher, robins love to peck at our tasty strawberries which is a frustrating problem. Bill decided to put some […]
Read moreVideo: June 2026 Vegetable Garden Tour
I am so excited about this week’s video! Why’s that? Well, I do a virtual vegetable garden tour each month of the growing season. And this is the first one for 2026. In it, I take you through our garden, bed by bed, so you can see how everything is growing so far. And even more importantly, I share various […]
Read moreVideo: Wonderful Flowering Shrubs for Your Garden
It’s time for my next video and I have to say that it was a joy to shoot! Rather than talking about vegetables, I focused instead on flowering shrubs that add so much to landscape. My goal was to inspire you to look into the options that will work for your hardiness zone. While I love growing perennial flowers as […]
Read moreVideo: Grow with GreenStalk Vertical Planters!
If you are short on garden space or want to grow more, GreenStalk Vertical Planters are a great option! I’ve grown flowers, vegetables and even strawberries in mine over the past 5 years. And I’m hooked on them. That’s why I decided to shoot a video while planting this year’s veggies and flowers. They are so well-designed, have a great […]
Read moreOutsmart Robins in Your Strawberry Patch
Isn’t it annoying when birds eat things we’re growing for ourselves? Would you like to know how to outsmart robins so they don’t eat your strawberries? Well, we can all thank my husband Bill for this ingenious idea! He never ceases to amaze me because he comes up with interesting ways to solve garden problems. We’ve been watching our strawberry […]
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