Clik here to view.
The Hippest Roses with Colorful Hips
Rose hips can really add bright color to the fall and early winter landscape. Generally, when gardeners purchase roses, they think of flower color, fragrance, disease resistance, and the overall beauty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Small Evergreen Conifers for Winter Gardening
Kohout’s Ice Breaker Korean fir has beautiful silvery and blue-green foliage that stands out in winter gardens. I grow “miniature” or “dwarf” plants with caution*. Living and gardening in the Pacific...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Winter Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden
Winter Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden Here we are in January at the start of the New Year. Now is always an exciting time in the garden to be thinking of what new plants to add, what plants to remove...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting Phalaenopsis and Oncidium to Rebloom
Moth orchids, or Phalaenopsis, are the most commonly sold orchids and easiest to grow. I think that most of us have walked into a grocery store or the houseplant section of a garden center and seen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Magnificent Magnolias for Majestic Spring Flowers
Saucer magnolia is one of the most popular magnolias grown and blooms beautifully in early- to mid-spring, I will always remember the early spring day in the 1960s when I exited the freeway into a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Garden Tips for a Happy Garden
April is here, and it is a welcome relief to have winter gone, especially with the ongoing constraints of Covid-19. I am really looking forward to the new spring season and plan to garden nonstop this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beautiful Buckeye Trees for Yard and Garden
The flowers of Aesculus x carnea may be pink or red, depending on the variety. Probably known to many, the state tree of Ohio is the Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra, 20-50 feet, USDA Hardiness Zones...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Prune Spring-Flowering Shrubs
Unless you are removing dead or dying stems, it is best to prune spring-flowering shrubs just after they bloom. When we think of pruning our shrubs and trees, we probably think of late fall and early...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden
July, 2021 –If ever there was a time that showed the benefits of adding compost to the soil, this past week was it. With temperatures in the Portland, Oregon area setting records for all-time highs,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nonstop Fuchsias For Fall Gardens and Hummingbirds
With summer winding down here in the Pacific Northwest, as I walk through my garden it is the fuchsias I notice. They have bloomed nonstop all summer, and on this September day, their blooms continue....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mike Darcy’s Fall Garden Tasks For a Happy Garden
As potted annuals and vegetables die back, it is time to clean them up for the season. Mike Darcy’s Fall Garden Tasks For a Happy Garden RAIN! We actually had rain. Not just rain but enough to clean...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Effortless Junipers for Practically Every Garden
Ground cover junipers look handsome when planted in spacious containers. There are few plants that come in as many different forms as the juniper. The Genus Juniperus includes plants that are grown as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unique Poinsettias for the Holidays
These days, poinsettias come in all shades of red, white, and pink. Some are even apricot and salmon hues. ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Winter Rose Red’, ‘Whitestar’, ‘Cortez Burgundy’, etc., are just some of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Winter Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden- 2022
January is a good time to remove old Helleborus leaves, just be sure not to accidentally snip flower stems. December was a month of trying to get my winter garden tasks all done before the end of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Favorite Old & New Salvias For Flower Gardens
The red and white ‘Hot Lips’ is heat-tolerant and beautiful. It would be difficult to come up with a group of plants that can add as much to the garden, in so many ways, as the flowering sages in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beyond Your Average Dogwood
‘Satomi’ is a classic pink Korean dogwood to try. The diversity of dogwoods (Cornus spp.) goes way beyond the common eastern flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), which is much-loved but prone to serious...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden 2022
Spring is here! Officially it was March 20th, but I knew it was spring as soon as I saw the daffodils emerge. The hellebores have been glorious this year, but as their late-winter flowers slowly fade,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Best Reblooming Clematis
When visiting older established gardens, if there is a border garden, it will probably contain at least one of these three plants: peony, bearded iris, and clematis. These are often considered...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer Garden Tasks for a Happy Garden
July, 2021 –If ever there was a time that showed the benefits of adding compost to the soil, this past week was it. With temperatures in the Portland, Oregon area setting records for all-time highs,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nonstop Fuchsias For Fall Gardens and Hummingbirds
With summer winding down here in the Pacific Northwest, as I walk through my garden it is the fuchsias I notice. They have bloomed nonstop all summer, and on this September day, their blooms continue....
View Article