I don’t believe I’d ever seen as many big leaves outside of a conservatory as I did in Buffalo, New York, last summer. In the small residential gardens I was touring, elephant ears in pots were everywhere, doing their best to bring a tropical air to the place. I could easily understand why a hint […]
Want the perfect bloomer for the winter greenhouse? How about one that continually festoons itself with blossoms in the colors of a summer sunrise? Let me introduce you to tecomas. “In the greenhouse they’ll bloom every day of the year,” says their foremost breeder, horticulturalist George Hull. The retired Arizona State University professor explains that […]
Gardening in the intermountain west and high plains is not for faint hearted; even with a greenhouse to coddle plants along, the climate conditions here are tough so plants need to be strong. When temperatures can drop from 85 degrees during a summer day and plummet to 50 – or less – at night, that’s […]
I need new trees. Last winter, a 100-year-old Douglas fir came crashing down on six of my specimen trees. So, now in late summer, I looked for replacements at the Farwest Show New Varieties Showcase in Portland, Oregon. If you also need new trees, early autumn can be an excellent time to plant. According to […]
Over the last few years I’ve come to a greater appreciation of begonias, both in conservatories and outside in the garden. Because my main garden is on the north side of a four-story building, I’m always interested in ways to bring colors other than green to the shade. Like many gardeners, I used to rely […]
Stephanie Niedermyer is a bean farmer. Granted, hers is miniature-scale farming operation in her Eugene, Oregon backyard. But still, she manages to produce at least 26 different kinds of beans each summer. She says, “I’m a magpie, attracted to pretty bright things—that’s beans!” A road trip to the Southwest was the catalyst for her bean-farming […]
On a sunny August day, as I weed among the bee balm and tickseed, some of my favorite garden companions are likely to bustle by: bumblebees. They never move fast, but they never stay still. Every moment of a bumblebee’s day is busy, collecting nectar for food and pollen to feed the young. I love […]
It may be old news, but only in parts; continuing research is revealing even more about the benefits of green as in “green space“. Turns out that you don’t need acres of green to feel the benefit of plants and nature; even a small patch of grass or a houseplant on your desk has theraputic […]
Inside the greenhouse or out in the garden, the tools you use will either make gardening a chore to be put off until tomorrow, or the pleasure that it truly is, luring you into the garden for your daily connection to nature. It’s an unwritten law that while the usefulness of a tool is in […]
You know those social media postings where a friend invites you to put up one favorite photo a day on some subject, without any label or caption? Just post a pretty picture. It’s harmless fun and you get to see some places and things you wouldn’t otherwise (all in the best possible taste, of course!). […]
