Share my passion for all things gardening!
I posted some photos on Facebook showing the bulk compost delivery I received yesterday from Home Fires Nursery in Spokane. That has prompted several concerned comments from readers about the safety of the compost. I decided to write a blog post to address those concerns. If you live in another area of the country, this information should prove helpful to […]
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Take a close look at this photo. What you’re seeing on the branches of my apple tree are colonies of lichens. You may have noticed them in my latest video on spring pruning. You might already be familiar with it. However, lichens can alarm many new gardeners and homeowners. They are concerned that some sort of disease has attacked their […]
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Who’s anxious to really get going in their gardens? Boy, I sure am! Once our snow melted, it became very apparent that I’ve got a whole lot of catching up to do. In my column today, I discuss the types of spring pruning we’ll be doing and the timing of them. Here’s a link to my column in today’s edition […]
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Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects. Published by the Xerces Society (Timber Press, 2016, 287 pp., $24.95) Don’t you just love learning new things? I know I do. I’ve been wanting to find out more about attracting butterflies to our garden. And I just found an ideal guide for that exact purpose. Gardening for […]
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I can’t believe it’s time for my 5th column and video already! Today’s topic is about growing a cut-flower garden. This is something that is great fun because flowers are easy to grow and they will provide you with so much beauty both in your garden and indoors. Here’s a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: […]
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My column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review is all about seed-starting. That’s one of my favorite aspects of gardening. Here’s a link to it: Seed-starting basics. (or you can read my column lower in this text) For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been laying the foundation for growing a garden. There are many important things to know. These include […]
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Here in the Inland Northwest, we’ve been buried under a heavy blanket of snow for months. It’s wonderful for insulating our plants against bitterly cold winter temperatures. But it can cause an interesting (and annoying) problem that most of us will likely see. Once the snow has melted from our lawns, we’ll discover snow mold. That’s the weird stuff you’re […]
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It was a tremendous pleasure for me to interview and write a feature story about Phyllis Stephens. She is Spokane’s famous garden guru! This article ran on the cover of The Spokesman-Review’s “Today” section. Here’s a link to it: Phyllis Stephens has answered Spokane’s gardening questions for decades. Even though the article was one of the longest I’d ever written, […]
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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. (or you can read my column lower in this post) While this […]
Read moreOne of the highlights of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle is walking through the amazing display gardens. These beautiful, inspiring, finished gardens have all been created inside a concrete-floored convention center. And in a short period of time, at that. We gardeners we can all appreciate that feat, right? Awesome garden from Farmer Frog This year, a favorite […]
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