Share my passion for all things gardening!
I know I’m forcing the issue here but I can’t help myself! The bulbs we’ve all known for so many years as Amaryllis are actually called Hippeastrum. So here is an update on how my Hippeastrum is doing! (After all, as a garden writer, I should probably be using the correct terms myself, right?) This gorgeous flower is ‘Papilio’ and […]
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Do you grow artichokes in your garden? I’ve been growing them for quite a few years now and have noticed that the plants can vary widely in productivity. Here in Spokane, Wash., which is in USDA zones 5 and 6, artichokes need to be grown as annuals. Each year, I start the seeds indoors around the first of March. I […]
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Well, here we are in the dead of winter and I’m talking about how to propagate geraniums by taking cuttings. Why now? Well, the cuttings I took of my ivy geraniums last fall have been doing so well, I decided it was an important skill to share with you. The take-home message from my latest video is simple: Don’t be afraid […]
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Did you grow a fair amount of garlic last year? Are you wondering how you’ll use it up before it becomes bitter? Well, here’s a simple way to preserve garlic for future use. When garlic is put into storage, the cloves eventually develop a sprout in the center, which can be quite bitter. One solution is to trim it out […]
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I’ve noticed that a lot of you have “found” me. That was after watching the “Growing a Greener World” episode where our garden was featured. But perhaps you haven’t actually seen the episode. Well, I’ve got you covered! “Growing a Greener World” is a wonderful PBS program that I’ve followed and enjoyed watching for years. In August of 2016, the […]
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Have you ever noticed how we humans tend to focus on the things we have done wrong? Yet we neglect than all of the things we’ve done right? Well, we gardeners are no exception. We often fixate on our “failures” rather than learning from them, which ultimately leads to success in our gardens. As a garden writer, I often hear […]
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Do you enjoy growing Amaryllis bulbs? Those are the popular bulbs that are usually sold during the fall months for growing indoors over the winter months. Their flowers are huge and gorgeous. But what if I told you they’re not Amaryllis but Hippeastrum instead? Say what?! Yup, all these years, we’ve been calling them by the wrong name. There are […]
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Last year, while looking through a seed catalog, I saw a listing for something called “solar mulch.” Hmm, what’s that, I wondered? I learned that solar mulch is a green plastic sheeting that will do two important things for a vegetable grower like myself: If you like growing warm-season crops such as melons, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes and peppers, it’s important […]
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After reading Jessica Walliser’s book, Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, I’ve become a big fan of her work. She does a great job of tackling useful subjects and breaking them down into their most important components. Jessica delivers this information in a very approachable way. I was excited to hear about her newest book, Container Gardening Complete (Cool Springs […]
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Take a close look at the photo to the left. Do you see how the rhododendron leaves are curled? Is this a sick plant? 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 husband […]
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