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Boy, I just got a bit of a surprise: the nighttime temperatures here in the Inland Northwest will be dropping significantly by the end of this week. Since we live in an outlying area, it will probably be even colder than the forecast of 34 to 38 degrees. So, of course, my first thought was “I’d better get out in […]
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Cool Plants for Cold Climates: A Garden Designer’s Perspective by Brenda C. Adams (Snowy Owl Books/University of Alaska Press, 239 pp., $35) I have found a book geared for those living in a colder climate who have a tendency to let their heart govern their plant purchases! I’m sure you know what I mean because I often suffer from the same affliction: I […]
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Every so often, I mention the hoop house in my garden so it seems like the least I could do is give you an update on how the vegetables growing inside it are doing. I’m growing ‘Vates’ kale, 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach and — amazingly enough — celery. More on that in a moment. (For a quick recap, my […]
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Take a close look at the photo to the left (you can click on it to see a larger image). Is this a sick rhododendron? Is it doomed to a terrible fate? Nope, it’s just a very cold rhodie that is doing what it can to get through our cold winters! This doesn’t happen to all rhododendrons, though. When my […]
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Does the photo to the left look like your place these days? Have you got plants stashed all over the place, waiting for the weather to warm up? This week’s column is about protecting seedlings from the weather, which is very important. I mean, you just went to all of the trouble to raise them, right? Well, before you move […]
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Here in the Inland Northwest, we’ve been buried under a heavy blanket of snow for months. While it’s wonderful for insulating our plants against bitterly cold winter temperatures, it can cause an interesting (and annoying) problem that most of us will likely see once the snow has melted from our lawns: snow mold. Yup, that’s the weird stuff you’re looking […]
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My garden columns seem to be coming fast and furious now that my writing season is underway! Today’s is about important regional considerations when selecting plants and seeds. Here is a link to it, in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Know your zone to pick the right plants. While this might seem like a dull topic, I feel this information […]
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If it’s Sunday, it’s time for my next garden column! This one is timely because it delves into some of the most heat-tolerant plants around. Here’s a link to it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Choose flowers that can take the heat. In it, I discuss both annuals and perennials that provide our gardens with plenty of color when […]
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If you live in the Inland Northwest — or in the Pacific Northwest, for that matter — you know that on Nov. 17, 2015, we had a horrific windstorm. There were peak wind gusts of 71 mph, four people lost their lives, there were power outages everywhere, and an incredible amount of damage left in its wake. Now that spring […]
Read more2015 was a great year for growing peppers! Well, I hope this won’t make you sad, but my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review is my last one for the 2015 garden season. But not to worry! I’ll be blogging away and posting to my Facebook page all fall and winter long! And you’ll start seeing my columns again […]
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