gardening

Lessons From The Garden

Lessons From The Garden

I am feeling a bit philosophical today, so bear with me.  Last week I finally bit the bullet and got into the garden for my spring cleanup.  I had purposely left everything in the fall to die back naturally, as normally happens in nature.  In retrospect, I think it was a good idea as it provided lots of visual interest throughout the entire winter.  But alas, the time has come to remove the dead and rotting foliage from my perennials and evaluate just exactly what survived and what needed to be replaced.  Here is what I learned…

It's Show Time!

It's Show Time!

This week marks the beginning of the 33rd annual Northwest Flower and Garden Festival which will run February 15th to the 19th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle (it should be the 34th but Covid shut it down in 2021).  This is a world class production that is sure to get you in the mood for the upcoming gardening season.  Every year I come away with some new ideas, a few new plant purchases, and an overall renewed excitement for gardening.  If you have yet to partake in this event, then you really should consider going this year…

Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

Here at Sunnyside Nursery, we have been teaching classes for years.  This is not unique to our garden center.  No matter where you live in the Puget Sound region, you should be able to find a garden center nearby that offers gardening classes, many of them…

A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

I know a few of you might find it incredibly hard to believe, but I actually spend a considerable amount of time researching my columns rather than just making s#%t up.  In truth, it is probably a combination of both.  We live in the information age where knowledge is all around us, literally at our finger tips.  The challenge of course is…

Regenerative Gardening: Saving The Planet One Garden At A Time

Regenerative Gardening: Saving The Planet One Garden At A Time

Have you heard of “regenerative agriculture”? I hadn’t until recently, but after a bit of research, I realized that this “new” movement is at its base just an expansion of organic gardening and farming principles that can be adapted from commercial agriculture to our very own backyards. Here are some components of this style of gardening that we should all take to heart…

Do You Suffer From "Hortitostrogenitis"?

Do You Suffer From "Hortitostrogenitis"?

I have this theory (I know, some of you are thinking, “OMG, what is he going to say next”), that gardeners possess a special “horticultural hormone” that I have dubbed “hortitostrogen”. This is a non-gender specific hormone that kicks in about this time of the year and causes my fingers to start twitching with an intense desire to go dig in the dirt. I wonder if any of you can relate…