General Gardening
Ben Smith
Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary ...

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…

Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary Topic
Summer Gardening
Ben Smith
The Secrets Of Proper Summer Watering

Summer watering is inevitable in the northwest if we want to keep our landscapes green and healthy…

The Secrets Of Proper Summer Watering

Pollinator Gardening

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Not Your Grandma’s Butterfly Bushes

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Not Your Grandma’s Butterfly Bushes

As we inch towards the onset of summer, with the solstice on the horizon, June is another month full of garden temptations and color for our landscapes.  It is also pollinator month, and I urge everyone to do all that they can for our local pollinating friends.  We all need to welcome…

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A Touch of the Tropics, The Sequel

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A Touch of the Tropics, The Sequel

We began our travels down the road to annuals last week, so I am not making any U-turns just yet as this week we will continue to talk color and tropical plants.  The vast majority of our landscapes are filled with…

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Stylish Sedums and Succulents

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Stylish Sedums and Succulents

Hardy Sedums come to us from across the globe and have adapted perfectly to almost all arid, and even higher elevation, locales.  Modern Succulents, of all kinds, have been bred into a massive array of...

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More Summer Blooming Shrubs

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More Summer Blooming Shrubs

As we pass the midpoint of summer and head towards fall, numerous plants continue to shine in our local gardens.  Two standouts in particular are looking great, adding bright flowers, nice foliage and ornamental berries to the landscape...

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Healthy Hardy Fuchsias

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Healthy Hardy Fuchsias

The Fuchsia flower is somewhat unique in the world of gardening, sporting a pronounced corolla and often contrasting sepal color, all in a pendent-type flower.  Over the eons, these are plants that have evolved right alongside their pollinating partners, the hummingbirds.  They provide rich nectar for our winged friends, but also…

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Captivating Coneflowers

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Captivating Coneflowers

Now that we are in the heat of the summer, perennials like Coneflowers are blooming and providing important benefits to our pollinators.  Personally, I have a number of these cultivars planted in my own landscape and truly enjoy their…

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Perennials for Pollinators - Episode III

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Perennials for Pollinators - Episode III

As our journey in the garden progresses into summer, I will continue with even more perennials for pollinators, one last time.  This is episode three after all, and everything seems to work best in the form of a trilogy, right?  In hindsight perhaps I should have…

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Perennials for Pollinators - Episode II

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Perennials for Pollinators - Episode II

As we near the end of June, the summer season has begun and I am hoping that the sun is here to stay.  I, as I’m sure many of you, have always chuckled at the notion that summer in Western Washington starts after July 4th  - some years this rings more true than others.  It has been…

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The Golfing Gardener

Trevor Cameron

Featured
Wonderful Weigelia
Wonderful Weigelia

The kingdom of plants is filled with many desirable shrubs, including many old-fashioned forms and newer hybrids.  Gardeners (including me) love many of the numerous old school selections while also embracing newer more modern forms.  One of these plants, Weigelia florida, has been a proven performer in local gardens for decades, providing showy spring flowers, excellent…

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