Share my passion for all things gardening!
Have you ever taken a moment to admire trees and appreciate all they do for the environment around it? They are pretty amazing. They just happen to be the topic of my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. Here’s a link to it: Trees give us so much, including beauty, clean air, sustenance. (or you can read my column […]
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With the garden season getting underway, I decided a column on compost and composting would be in order. After all, if we take care of the soil in our gardens, it in turn will take care of our plants and — in the case of veggies — provide us with higher yields. Sounds good to me! Here is a link […]
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The Praying Mantis is an insect with a voracious appetite. Because of this, it’s always a treat to find them in the garden since I know they’ll help me keep insects in check. While my husband, Bill, was trimming back our large lavender patch, he came across all sorts of Praying Mantis egg cases attached to many of the plants. How cool […]
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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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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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