“Suit your plants to your soil, rather than creating soil to suit your plants.” That’s what Paul Bonine tells me. He’s the co-owner of Xera Plants, in Portland, Oregon, and author of the upcoming Gardening in the Pacific Northwest—A Complete Homeowners Guide. The results of following his advice? We’d all experience less struggle, less work, […]

The much publicized health benefits of turmeric, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, have made it a popular addition to everything from lattes to smoothies to teas. Although fresh turmeric tubers have been said to have more potent health benefits than the powdered turmeric sold in grocery stores, a small bag of them can cost upwards […]

The aspen trees have moved from shining beacons on the mountainsides to puddles of gold beneath the trees; greenhouses — retail and residential — are being cleaned out, and pumpkins, turkeys and sugar plum fairies are dancing in shoppers’ heads. The holiday season is upon us. In 1574, Nicolas Monardes, a Spanish man of letters, […]

Cape Primrose, or Streptocarpus, is a genus of beautiful flowering plants that contains numerous species, most of which are easily grown in a heated greenhouse. These plants superficially resemble those of the genus Primula but are not related to them. In many ways, the five-petalled Cape Primrose flowers remind me of orchids. Each has somewhat […]

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 […]