Since time out of mind, we humans have loved colors. And for most of those eons, we have been creating clothing and useful items with the pigmentation that plants have to offer. A few months ago, I met Oregon nursery owner, Meredith Reifschneider. When I visited her country property, I discovered she had a whole […]
It’s hot. Really hot! Forecasters say that temperatures here in Rhode Island could reach 100oF (38oC) with humidity to match even though summer is just beginning. Fortunately, I live on the coast, so high temperatures inland create a sea breeze that cools our local area outdoors. But inside my greenhouse is a different story. If […]
“Water adds life, movement, and sound,” says Vanca Lumsden. For fourteen years she was the owner of Pondering, an aquatic plant and supply business in Medford, Oregon. She says, “Even plants growing in still water add a whole new dimension to the greenhouse.” Whether it’s a fountain or simply containers where aquatic plants can thrive, […]
May! At LAST! And all craziness in the garden has broken loose. The mantra in the Rockies is not to plant anything before May 14, or Mother’s Day, whichever is latest. This is, however, a newer rule. Consulting my trusty volume, How to have Good Gardens in the Sunshine States, published in 1957, the author, […]
I have tried to grow a lot of plants in my greenhouses. They have ranged from orchids to vines, from seasonal vegetables to perennial fruit and I have found that there are certain plants that or either difficult, invasive or just plain ornery when grown in the greenhouse. They range from plants that cannot stand […]
One of the secrets to success with plants is simple—look at the conditions where the plant has evolved in the world and then duplicate those as close as you can. This is true of both species and the cultivars and hybrids that are derived from them. By knowing whether they grew in damp or dry […]
Spring burst upon the scene this month, and was I ever glad to see it, as was just about everyone else I know in my part of the southwest, i.e. from the Rockies south thru the Sangre de Cristo mountains to Albuquerque. We had the errant snowfall…like it lost its way then dropped a desultory […]
There are so many ways to enjoy strawberries, a bright-colored topping on your breakfast cereal being just one. So why not try your hand at growing them. Strawberries can be grown in pots, both inside and outside a greenhouse. Or you can grow them in the ground, either outdoors or in a greenhouse bed. If […]
There is never a perfect time to have knee replacement surgery…or any surgery for that matter. However, for this gardener, May 1, 2024, was exactly the wrong time since it erased for all practical purposes an entire gardening year. Even now, as I write this, my right knee is complaining after just a brief totter […]
Space in a greenhouse is often at a premium. Traditionally, seed starting requires room on tables for multiple containers, heat mats, etc. So, when I found out that my colleague, Seattle garden journalist and speaker, Erica Browne Grivas was working with a new space-saving method, I was interested. Basically, it involves creating long rolls of […]
Last year the US Department of Agriculture released a new Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which is based on average minimum winter temperatures over the prior 10 years. Most locations were given a somewhat higher categorization on this new map to account for global warming. So, because of ongoing climate change, gardeners may be seeing earlier […]
For more than twenty-five years, with few time-outs, I have attended Seattle’s Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. This year, in the gardens created on the show floor, I was struck by the tawny shades of winter—tan, brown, gray, and almost black—apparent in many of the displays. Not that the gardens didn’t show off massive amounts […]
