It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
I don’t know how you all feel about 2021, but for me it was like circling the airport waiting for clearance to land and never getting it. Oh sure, we made a couple of approaches and were really close to touching down, but then at the last minute the tower waved us off. There was great anticipation that maybe this was finally it and life would return to normal, or at least something close to normal. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. But thankfully…
If you are the type that visits a garden center on a regular basis, then you have probably noticed that plants have their seasons. Most blooming plants will be featured front and center during the time of year when they are the showiest and the rest of the season either moved to the back or simply become “out of stock”. It’s no different than seasonal candy, like red and green M and M’s for Christmas or yellow and pink Peeps for Easter. Hellebores are a classic example of a seasonal perennial that is readily available throughout the winter and then missing during the summer months. I am excited to tell you that they are once again arriving on our benches and ready for planting…
When it comes to perennials, the Perennial Plant Association is the place to go when you want to know what is happening in the world of these wonderful plants. One of the things that this association does is to promote certain perennials by declaring a ‘Perennial Plant of the Year’. These are not new introductions but rather tried and true varieties that are guaranteed to be easy to grow and disease and pest resistant. Back in 2005 they decided on a shade loving perennial known as Helleborus x hybridis. Over the past 14 years this perennial has grown in popularity to the point that there are now a plethora of varieties to choose from. They are the consummate winter interest plant for our northwest gardens and you can find them for sale this time of year in garden centers all over the Puget Sound region. Here’s a bit more info about this wonderful Genus…
As we head into the peak spring season and the temperatures continue to rise, more and more of our landscapes are popping with spring color. Another shrub all gardens should contain is a deciduous Azalea. Us gardeners have plenty of evergreen options to help with our Azalea and Rhododendron addictions, but a deciduous Azalea specimen offers…