Share my passion for all things gardening!
For the past 2 years, I have grown vegetables, flowers and strawberries in my GreenStalk vertical planter. It is so well-designed and all of the plants have thrived in it. Now I’m starting my third year of growing a small garden in it. The only downside to any type of container is that they dry out quickly. I was so […]
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For this week’s column, I wrote about water conservation in the garden. You can read it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Practice water conservation in your landscape. (or you can read the text of my column at the bottom of this post) Here in Spokane, Wash., we’ve been experiencing a very dry spring which is unusual for us. That […]
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A few days ago, I shot a video of the newest addition to our landscape: it’s an elevated garden planter from Gardener’s Supply. As I explained in the video, the pandemic has made it very difficult to order garden supplies from just about any source. But it’s finally here and I had the chance to create an herb garden just […]
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I’ve been growing microgreens during the winter months for several years now. Up until recently, I have planted the seeds in a seed-starting mix (also known as a germination mix). I recently heard about using jute mats in place of the sterile potting soil. Intrigued, I ordered some from True Leaf Market and tried them out. Spoiler alert: It turns […]
Read moreYes, that’s a long title for this blog post, but it really sums things up! I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for a few weeks but just haven’t had the time. But now that I’ve seen TV and newspaper accounts of the return of black flies to the Inland Northwest, it’s definitely important to address this subject. I’ve […]
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While I was on Instagram recently, I saw a photo of some galvanized ribbed barrel planters on the Gardener’s Supply feed and immediately fell head-over-heels in love with them! I mean, the style is right up my alley: they have that country look that goes perfectly with my favorite type of decor. When I swooned over them, they sent me one […]
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As many of you know, my husband and I are avid birdwatchers. Over the years, we’ve learned what will attract birds to our garden, and one of the best ways to accomplish this is by adding birdbaths. Birds need to drink water and bathe — typically every day. Even though our bird feeders attract them, along with our landscape filled […]
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I know I’m forcing the issue here but, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, 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 […]
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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: It greatly cuts down on weed growth. It can raise the soil temperature by as much […]
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Don’t let flies prevent you from enjoying your porch, patio or deck this summer. There is no need to spray poisonous chemicals to control them, however. Our neighbor boards horses and we keep chickens — between these two sources, there is a potential for a lot of flies. We have been using the Rescue Fly Traps since 1993 with great success. Their […]
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