Clik here to view.
Holiday Decorating from the Garden
The berries of heavenly bamboo look great outdoors or cut and brought indoors. While this may be winter (not official until December 22, but most gardeners would say this is winter), there are so many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Preparing Gardens for Drought
With good care and moisture, broadleaf evergreens with thrive even in the toughest drought times. In the summer of 2015, the Pacific Northwest experienced one of the longest periods of no measurable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tender Perennials for Pacific NW Gardens
Lantana camara It is hard to believe that it is already March and soon spring will be official. We’ve had a relatively mild winter and I cannot remember when we’ve had so few frosts. Like many other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
April Gardening in the Pacific Northwest
Rhododendron yakushimanum ‘Yaku Angel’ “This is my favorite time of year”, is a phrase that I seem to use for every season because every season is my favorite time of year. However after a relatively...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hummingbirds in the Garden
A hummingbird with Salvia ‘Amistad’. If there was one pollinator I would like to attract to my garden, it would be the hummingbird. It is such a fascinating bird to watch as it zooms from flower to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Preparing the Garden for a Hot Summer
An excellent summer bloomer for heat is Lantana camera. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have had record high temperatures already this spring. When the temperature is 100° F in spring, it is HOT!...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Smart Summer Pruning and Deadheading
Removing the old, spent flowers from perennials, like this coneflower, will keep the plants flowering and looking great for longer. (photo by Jessie Keith) Summer is often not the time of year when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Late-Summer Gardening in the Pacific Northwest
Fuchsia ‘Dying Embers’ has lovely deep purple flowers that draw hummingbirds. It seems as though the gardening season has flown by, and here it is August already. I think August is a good month to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Plants of the Winter Garden
The fragrant flowers of wintersweet can withstand even the harsh winter weather. In the Pacific Northwest, the garden in winter can be a bit bleak. I know mine certainly is. However, the more I talk to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shrubs with Fall Color
This late-season Pacific Northwest landscape shows the bountiful blooms of a pink-flowered crape myrtle. In the spring, gardens come alive with tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs, and the peonies...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mike Darcy’s Favorite Fall Trees and Flowers
Stewartia pseudocamellia fall color The fall season is upon us and what a glorious time of year it is. As I walk around my neighborhood, and drive around Portland, the many deciduous trees are turning...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Smart Tips for Growing African Violets
African violets are popular for their colorful, ever-blooming flowers and compact size. (Image by Jessie Keith) I once heard someone say that the African violet was “America’s Favorite Houseplant”....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Winter Garden Plants for Holiday Cheer
Helleborus Cotton Candy (Image thanks to Terra Nova Nurseries) In years past, Pacific Northwest gardeners have put their gardens to bed at the end of summer. This is changing. I see a greater trend...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blooms in the Ice: The Joy of Late Winter Bulbs
Winter aconite and snowdrops blanket a forest floor in February. (Image by Jessie Keith) Here in the Pacific Northwest, this past November and early December were very warm and mild. My tropical...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Growing Hardy Carnivorous Plants
This fanciful pot of pitcher plants shows the fun you can have with carnivorous plants! When I was in high school, I bought a Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) because carnivorous plants always...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amazing Rhododendrons and Azaleas
Rhododendron ‘Caractacus’ (Waterer Hybrid) has many magenta clusters, or trusses, of flowers in spring. (Image by Jessie Keith) I cannot recall being in a Pacific Northwest garden that does not have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Top 10 Shade Garden Plants for the Pacific Northwest
Hosta is a traditional shade-loving foliage plant that comes in a wide range of sizes and colors. It’s hard for me to list a top 10 list for any category of plants, but here I try. It is a stretch to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Generational Family Gardening with Kids
New, budding gardeners learn how to grow vegetables organically. Gardening is best shared with multiple generations, especially for our youngest gardeners. Whether we gardeners have our own children,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Connect through Curbside Community Gardening
This street-side strip went from sad lawn to glorious garden, and it inspired a neighborhood. Gardening is contagious! I don’t mean that in a bad way, but in the way that it spreads from one person to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bringing Monarch Butterflies to the Garden
Monarch on tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica). (Image by Jessie Keith) Over the last several years, I have become more aware of growing plants in my garden that are friendly to birds, bees, and...
View Article