What’s the first thing you notice when you walk into a room? For me, it’s flowers. If there’s a bouquet or a flowering plant in there, that’s where my eyes are drawn. There’s something so magical about flowers. No matter what the season, you can never have enough! And if you can gather the bouquets from your garden even better. But how can you keep flowers coming all year long?Read More →
As I look out my window, the day is dull and gray. The holidays are behind us. So are all the festive decorations we enjoyed early in the season. Now, each winter day is the same. Cold and frosty with a hint of fog. Occasionally, we’ll have a sunny day interspersed with the gray. That helps to break up the monotony, but it doesn’t last long. Maybe you’re in aRead More →
Have you noticed how your likes and dislikes change over the years? Tea is a good example. As a young woman, I thoroughly enjoyed a cup of regular tea. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve discovered that the tannins in the tea irritate my mouth. I switched from regular tea to decaf. That helped a little, but even decaf tea contains some tannins. Then I tried herbal tea. I startedRead More →
It’s the season of wind in eastern Washington. While we get wind most seasons of the year, spring is often the worst. You can recognize the signs of a windy area by looking at the plants. Trees lean in one direction if not supported. Plants take on a beaten look and many plants will flop over. In order to have a beautiful floral show this garden season, something needs toRead More →
As gardeners, we often need valuable information about our plants, the weather and pests. Many of us have become reliant on the quick access we have to garden information on the Internet. You can look up any topic you want and get an array of ideas. But what if you didn’t have that information readily available? And can you always trust everything you read on the Internet? Despite the easeRead More →
Recently, I visited a friend’s garden and was smitten by her ‘Cozy Flower Corner’. She had created a lovely relaxing area that contained abundant flowers. The amazing thing about this spot was most of the flowers were growing in pots and other creative containers. I grow lots of flowers in my garden beds, cutting garden and in containers. But I have never considered creating an area in my garden thatRead More →
For many years, I thought it was too much effort to grow and save dahlia tubers. There are so many chores to complete as fall sets in. Digging up dahlias each year didn’t sound like a good use of my time. And figuring out how to dig and store dahlias was intimidating. But that was before I became addicted to dahlias. Little did I know how rewarding it would beRead More →
When it comes to flowers, more is better! Take a walk through your garden. Do you see areas that could use more blooms? Are there spots that look a little bare or sparse? You can easily fill these holes in your landscape if you increased the number of plants you’re growing. The biggest problem with increasing flowering plants is the cost. The price of nursery stock has jumped this year.Read More →
Every morning, I take a stroll around my newly planted garden areas. The seedlings are coming up and the dahlias have broken ground. It’s so exciting to see all the new growth. While my plants are growing slowly, all around them is a massive amount of very determined plants that have sprung up. Some of these plants are weeds and some are overachievers in the garden. What is an overachieverRead More →
Here’s a gardener’s nightmare… you purchase your beautiful flower seeds for the growing season. In the spring, you plant those seeds in the ground. And then you wait for the first little sprouts to pop up. You wait. And you wait. And you wait some more. Eventually, you realize nothing is going to grow. Why did your brand new seeds fail? Maybe the seeds needed a period of cold inRead More →