With April Fool’s Day this week, I find myself reminiscing about a fabled article from the legend himself, my esteemed predecessor at Sunnyside Nursery, Mr. Steve Smith. The Whistling Gardener pontificated about the mythical “wonder shrub” for April Fool’s Day many moons ago - luckily…
Dazzling Deciduous Azaleas
As we head into the peak spring season and the temperatures continue to rise, more and more of our landscapes are popping with spring color. Another shrub all gardens should contain is a deciduous Azalea. Us gardeners have plenty of evergreen options to help with our Azalea and Rhododendron addictions, but a deciduous Azalea specimen offers…
Rockin’ Out With Rhododendrons
Amazing Azaleas
One tried and true shrub for our local gardens are Azaleas - spring flowering beauties that can be utilized in many locations the landscape. These plants are brothers and sisters to Rhododendrons, offering us spectacular flowers on smaller growing plants that thrive in similar conditions. There are hundreds of options out there, including…
The Changing Garden, What A Difference A Couple Of Weeks Can Make
A few weeks back I was lamenting the fact that there were still so many bare spots in my new garden that needed to be filled in, due to plant failures from this last winter… No matter how good of a gardener we might be, some things thrive while others just whimper away into oblivion. Isn’t that the nature of gardening?
Here's How To Have The Best-Looking Containers
May is, without a doubt, the primary month for planting up our containers. In the garden center you will find an endless supply of annuals and perennials ready to be creatively combined, for what will hopefully be a summer-long display of blooms. But to be successful (as in “over the top” successful) with our pots, we need to pay attention to a few details. Here are my thoughts on “growing in” containers…
Get Some Color In Your Garden, For Pete's Sake
May is high season in the garden center, when all levels of gardeners venture out for their annual spring ritual of adding some color to their yards. Whatever level of gardener we might happen to be, I think it is safe to say that we all get the same rush of endorphins whenever we interject colorful plants into our gardens. It is a feel-good kind of activity…
Take Time To Enjoy The Season
Lessons From The Garden
I am feeling a bit philosophical today, so bear with me. Last week I finally bit the bullet and got into the garden for my spring cleanup. I had purposely left everything in the fall to die back naturally, as normally happens in nature. In retrospect, I think it was a good idea as it provided lots of visual interest throughout the entire winter. But alas, the time has come to remove the dead and rotting foliage from my perennials and evaluate just exactly what survived and what needed to be replaced. Here is what I learned…
When considering shrubs for the yard, keep the many flavors of Spiraea in mind. In the Pacific Northwest, these deciduous gems are easy to grow, super hardy and low maintenance in almost any landscape. Now that spring has officially sprung, these shrubs are…