Fall Gardening

Something Coming And Something Going

Something Coming And Something Going

It’s been almost 3 years since my wife and I moved into our new house, just 2 miles from the nursery. In the first year we did nothing to the yard, but the second year (2020)…

Fall - The Second Planting Season

Fall - The Second Planting Season

Let me get straight to the point. Fall is an excellent time of the year for planting trees and shrubs, as well as continuing to introduce annuals, perennials, and ornamental grasses to our gardens. It’s a fact…

New Wintergreen Varieties Are A Holiday Hit

New Wintergreen Varieties Are A Holiday Hit

Now that the thrill of summer has passed and the warm colors of fall are fading with each passing storm, our eyes should be being drawn to attractive broadleaf plants like…

The Dreaded November To-Do List

The Dreaded November To-Do List

The recent freeze we experienced over this last weekend should have been a wakeup call for gardeners to take care of some chores before winter finally sets in…

Fall & Winter Can Be Colorful Seasons Too!

Fall & Winter Can Be Colorful Seasons Too!

I just had the opportunity to sit through a class on plants for fall and winter interest… and it brought back home to me that there is no excuse for a drab garden in the fall, or even the winter, considering that there is a multitude of plants to choose from that will brighten our gardens over the next 5 to 6 months…

October In The Garden

October In The Garden

In my world, September always feels like a continuation of summer, whereas October puts me in the mood for fall. Shrubs and trees are starting to really color up, everywhere you look retailers are displaying mums and pumpkins (not to mention Halloween candy)…

Red Twig Dogwoods - A Shrub For All Seasons

It isn’t every day that a plant comes along that will grow just about anywhere and has some interesting feature every season of the year. But that’s just exactly what our northwest native Red Twig Dogwood does…

Heath Or Heather? Whatever!

Heath Or Heather?  Whatever!

Common names for plants can often create confusion, especially among botanical nerds like myself. The main reason we like to rattle off multi-syllabic Latin names is that there is never any question as to what plant we are talking about. In the case of common names however, many different plants can share similar common names depending on what part of the country one comes from… My point here is that while common names can be misleading, in the case of heaths and heathers, nobody really cares! Not even the nursery professionals.

Vacation Is Over, Time To Get Back To Work

Vacation Is Over, Time To Get Back To Work

In a normal time, all of us would be sending our kids back to school and returning to the office to our routines, but we all know these are not normal times…

Beware, Seeds Are Germinating All Around You

Beware, Seeds Are Germinating All Around You

This little northwest mist we just experienced reminds me that this is the time of year when all those little weed seeds that have been lying dormant in our soils suddenly get a notice from Mother Nature that it is time to wake up and start growing. There are 3 environmental signals that cause this response…