We have house guests!  Actually, we have Eucryphia guests.  For weeks a hummingbird has been my constant companion in the back garden, flitting around, torturing the long-suffering cat and acting very comfortable in our presence.  We must have passed muster because about a week ago we noticed this nest built on a limb of our Eucryphia.  She was considerate enough to build her 1 1/2 inch nest right outside our bedroom window.

Delicately constructed of spiderwebs, leaves and moss, the tiny “nursery” is a marvel in and of itself.  The nest will actually stretch and expand as the young birds grow.  Wikipedia tells me that hummers lay 2 white eggs about the size of a jelly bean- the smallest of all bird eggs.  Incubation is roughly 18-19 days and the baby birds are born completely naked.  Over the next 3 weeks or so the young birds put on feathers and mature.  “Mom” will leave the nest for only a few minutes each hour to forage a mix of insects and nectar for her young, gradually building to more and more time away as the birds mature and their feeding needs increase.  Hummingbirds are single mothers, taking care of nesting, incubation feeding and fledging all on their own.

My husband is fascinated with the entire process and keeps me appraised of the day’s events when I can’t be home myself.  Truth be told, it’s pretty fun to see his enthusiasm.  This is a guy who only likes to weed because he gets to play with a propane torch and generally considers cleaning the garage with the door open to be akin to working in the garden.  I might have known this tiny process would capture his interest as he’s an amazing father; clearly free of hummingbirds in his gene pool.

Me…?  Well, I like hummingbirds.  But not in a puffy-paint sweatshirt,  matching stationary, decal, light-catcher, knicknacky sort of way.  The following is an entry about hummingbirds from my first book, Hortus Miscellaneous:

One of the most beloved birds, the hummingbird is romanticized and fawned over by gardeners and nongardeners alike.  In fact these birds are greedy, highly competitive, power mongering, territorial fascists keenly intent on identifying a territory and protecting it from all incursions, human or otherwise, at any cost.

I’m not unconvinced my little friend wouldn’t peck my eyes out if she thought I was getting too close to her brood!  So I’ll just mind my own business and the garden and quietly watch the show from safely on the other side of the glass indoors.

Plants to attract hummingbirds: Beardtongue, bee balm, butterfly bush, catmint, clove pink, columbine, coral bells, cypress vine, daylily, desert candle, flag iris, flowering tobacco, foxglove, fuchsia, hollyhock, honeysuckle vine, larkspur, lily, lovelia, lupine, monkey flower, petunia, pincushion flower, red-hot poker, scarlet runner bean, scarlet sage, soapwort, summer phlox, trumpet creeper vine, verbena, weigela.  (Note:  Whenever possible select varieties whose blooms appear in shades of red and orange.)

Related posts

• Weeds: Some of nature’s most prolific opportunists (0)
• Lots of lemons (4)
• The green green grass of summer (0)

1. Make use of semi-shaded areas unsuitable for tomatoes or root vegetables by growing leafy vegetables like lettuce, chard, mustard, or endive.
2. Make room for herbs which contribute a broad range of flavors and variety in a relatively limited growing area.
3. Avoid sprawling varieties. You can plant 6 rows of carrots, beets, or onions in the same square footage occupied by one row of squash vines; choose compact, “bush” varieties of melons, squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins.
4. Consider planting fast-maturing vegetables in the space between slower-maturing ones that will later spread; for instance, plant radishes or lettuce between vine plants like squash or pumpkin for a quick crop before the neighboring plants need the space.
5. Give preference to continuously bearing vegetables. You can continue to harvest chard throughout the growing season long after spinach has gone to seed with the onset of hot weather. Other continuously bearing crops are beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cucumber, eggplant, kale, peppers, squash and tomatoes.
6. Double cropping will give you the greatest productivity per square foot when you plant another crop as soon as you’ve harvested the previous one keeping your garden in constant production. Double cropping is most effective with a long growing season, but in most places peas, lettuce, radishes, beets, and carrots mature quickly enough that you have time for a second crop if you plant as soon as the first is harvested.
7. Harvest daily to maximize your garden’s production. Many plants such as beans, broccoli, chard, cucumbers and summer squash will stop producing if the plants aren’t kept picked.
8. Encourage your garden to grow up rather than out by taking advantage of vertical growing space; train vines on supports to free the space at their feet for other crops.
9. Plant tall crops such as corn or sunflowers on the north end of the garden so they don’t shade other plants.
10. Practice deep watering which will encourage roots to go down rather than spreading sideways allowing you to space plants closer together.

Excerpted from my latest book,

Growing Your Own Vegetables, an Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide

by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner

Related posts

• No related posts.

They're bigger than they look

Finally, my long promised roundup review.

What an adventure!  We arrive in Wolf Point, MT. after 24 hours on the Empire Builder, that’s a long train ride.    Gear loaded into trucks, vans and cars, we head out even further into the beautifully stark plains to our final destination.  Culbertson, MT. is a tiny little town in the far NE corner of Montana; population 600 - except for the weekend we arrived and took it to 660!  We’re here to “help” with spring branding at the Helmer Ranch.

Go here to see my roadtrip slide show for trip highlights.

In reality, pictures can’t begin to capture the experience.  The dust, the cows lowing for their calves; the calves bleating in  confusion and chaos.  Smoke, fire, shouting, strength, brute force and animal strength.  There was nothing citified about the day.  I’d like to think we held our own.  I got to inoculate and even do a little branding; there’s an art to it.  My husband and son got down in the dirt and up close with the 150# animals, helping to rope, wrestle and bind the calves for branding.  Believe me - I had the easy part.

I can’t even imagine how 40-some city folk, ranging in age from 10 to 70 must appear to these practiced, real-life cowboys.  I know we kept them amused even though I’m sure we added considerably to an already demanding task.  It was a fascinating look, however brief, into the life of a relatively small family ranch and the daily challenges they face.

We ended the day with a brief but meaningful memorial service for Big Dave before laying his ashes beneath his headstone in the family cemetery.  On a scrubby hill overlooking the corral, 50 or so of us gathered in the gusting wind, under darkening skies to once again celebrate the man who taught us so much about being a family and a friend.

We got rained out on the second day but we were assured that the crops needed the water more than the remaining 200 calves needed branding.  I’m sure that was a polite way of saying they could handle the matter much more efficiently once we were back on the train and safely out of the picture.

It was a rich experience I won’t ever forget.  Many, many  thanks for the generousity and hospitality of the Helmers and other fine folks of Culbertson, MT.  Yipee ki Ay!

Related posts

• Never enough “Thyme” in the garden… (4)

It’s officially summer.  Long days and warm weather have us all on hose-patrol.  Here are some savvy tips for today’s eco-conscious lawn-lover from an article I wrote for Angie’s List Magazine.  We may have passed our spring window for lawn renovation, but it’s not too late.  In many parts of the country, the Northwest included, fall is actually the preferred time to improve your sward.

The whiff of freshly mown grass is a pungent reminder of languid days and childhood abandon.  For many the lawn is the very essence of summer; room for kids and animals to romp and a cushy setting for picnics.  But in an age of environmental awareness, changing climate patterns, and a population boom here in the Northwest that places further strain on natural resources, can we responsibly afford this nostalgic pleasure?  The answer is yes with natural lawn care practices.

“Right plant, right place” is especially important when determining where to site a lawn.  Turf requires a mostly sunny, well-drained, level area.  Coincidentally, these are also ideal conditions for romping and picnicking so pick an area that will meet your recreational needs as well as the cultural requirements for a healthy lawn.  A smaller yet well-sited lawn will be easier to maintain and provide the greatest return for your efforts.

Eliminate grass beneath trees, on slopes, and soggy or difficult to access areas.  Instead, establish low growing groundcovers or a gravel or woodchip mulch for a more satisfying and beautiful result.  The Northwest native beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) is a handsome, low maintenance, evergreen plant that adapts to a wide range of conditions.

Early spring or fall is the time to aerate worn areas where soil is compacted to improve drainage and promote healthy roots.  Overseed with a seed mix appropriate to your growing region (see sidebar) to establish thick turf and choke out weeds.  Rake in 1/4 to 1/2 inch of compost to cover the seed and improve the soil.

In late spring, apply natural lawn food that will slowly break down over the coming months to provide a steady supply of nutrients.  High octane fertilizers not only provide an unhealthy and potentially scorching blast of chemicals, but in rainy spring weather most of their water soluble components are washed away before reaching turf roots.  The result is toxic runoff that contaminates groundwater and local streams, harming fish and wildlife.

Shaggy Chic lawn

Mow to maintain actively growing grass at 2 - 2 ½ inches.  Save a step and leave the clippings where they fall to quickly break down returning valuable nutrients to the soil.  In the heat of summer mow to 3 - 3 ½ inches - think of it as “shaggy chic” - to slightly shade and cool the roots.

Without water most turf will turn brown.  The lawn isn’t dead, but foot traffic and other wear can harm turf during this summer dormancy.  To remain in active growth - that is, green - grass requires one inch of water a week, either from rain or irrigation.  Carefully monitor the weather and only supplement water as necessary.  Early morning or late afternoon watering will diminish evaporation; avoid wetting pavement or creating unhealthy and wasteful soggy conditions.   When the weather cools and the rains return in the fall, dormant grass will bounce back to a healthy robust lively green.

Green gardeners are scaling back the size of their lawn

Regional turf seed blends

West of the Cascades choose a blend of mostly tall fescues and perennial rye.  With cautious irrigation these cool-season grasses thrive in cool, yet dry summer conditions and maintain growth and good color throughout the cold, rainy season as well.

Hot, arid summers and harsh winter conditions east of the Cascades and into Idaho require turf blends that incorporate the tougher Kentucky bluegrass.  Many eastside gardeners are experimenting with warm season lawns; lush and green during the summer with less mowing and little irrigation, and going dormant - that is light tan - with cold weather. Buffalo and zoysia are both slow growing, warm season grasses that tolerate drought, heat and cold.

Related posts

• Lots of lemons (4)
• Weeds: Some of nature’s most prolific opportunists (0)
• Tag…you’re it! (8)

Hear that whistling sound?  Like the wind through a desolate canyon or an empty alleyway, smashing litter and loose papers up against dirty brick walls.  Huh?  Well the desolation is my hard drive, the litter is the debris of a crazy week and the papers…well actually I’m always surrounded by papers.

My stripped bare, shiny clean laptop is cured of it’s horrible virus.  NOTE: I do NOT want to hear even one more reference to how the almighty MAC never gets infected!  While it may be true, I fail to see how that will benefit my present circumstances in the least.  harumpf!

After suffering the indignity, condescension and eye-rolling of my neighborhood tech geeks, I think my documents and images are safely back in their proper folders.  My email, address book and browser have been restored; I even got back all my bookmarks and browsing history.  It’s true I’m still shy several programs that will actually allow me to access said bookmarks…I miss Bloglines, all my PDFs, and I’m sure much more I don’t even know about yet.

I am hardly a wizard but I’m no Luddite either.  I’ve been driving for 34 years; I’m a good driver, too.  OK, I did get a speeding ticket this past week but that was the first time I’d even been pulled over in 30 years…I’m telling you, it was that kind of week.   I’m no closer to understanding the internal workings of a combustion engine than I was in 1975.  My point is, I’ve been a willing participant in the computer age since they became a domestic appliance.  Granted, for my purposes it’s sort of an elaborate typewriter with a sophisticated correction key and dynamite file drawers; I’m not mapping genomes or calculating market derivatives.  So shoot me if my eyes roll back in my head when someone half my age treats me like an idiot for not understanding their techno-gobbledy-gook!

Clearly I’m still not fit for public correspondence.  Anyway, I’m supposed to be preparing for the huge party we’re throwing today in honor of my son’s graduation from high school.  70# of baby back ribs have been grilled (thank you Uncle!) and 5 giant coolers of beverages are stocked.  We’ve got 25# of potato salad and a slab of cake the size of Oregon, 3 tents, 4 tables, 28 folding chairs…  Did I mention that after 29 days of glorious weather it’s raining?!!?

Yeah, it’s just been that kind of week.

Related posts

• No related posts.

A crazy busy week after our Montana roundup.  So much to tell… and show.  But life circumstances have a way of inserting themselves into the process.  In the midst of hectic catchup and mislaid plans the garden proved to be a wonderful retreat this past week.  Perfect for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Relax and enjoy…I’m not even going to offer my usual running commentary.  Sometime we just need to be fed by the sheer abundance and beauty of it all without cluttering the matter with names, cultivation tips and who-ha.  Just let the garden support you…

Related posts

• Snow - again?! (5)
• It’s a Garden Party… (1)
• It’s a chilly tax day but the garden is warming (2)

buying some time...

We’re off to wrangle cowboys…I mean calves… in Montana - REALLY!

Later today “the Tribe” will board the mighty Empire Builder and travel in comfort if not luxury across the Rockies up to the far…far, far, far…NE corner of Montana.  Wolf Point is our terminus.  We’ll gather our cars at “Way-out-West Rentals” and head even farther north and east to Culbertson, a tiny town.  Believe me they know we’re coming.

Before you start thinkin’ “City Slickers,” let me tell you, this is the real deal.  Dust, dirt, blood, noise, sh*t, and (at least where I’m concerned) chaos…OK, maybe we are city slickers.  It’s my second trip - on my first back in 2006 we got rained out.  Apparently you can’t get the irons hot enough to brand a wet hide.  Doesn’t everybody know that?

What does all this have to do with “thyme/time” in the garden?  Well Seattle is in the midst of a record breaking heat wave.  Today temps are expected to hit 88!  Granted, later in the summer we get a few desultory days of moderately high temperatures but by then the garden has hit its stride; roots are deep, fruit is set and I’m heavy into the lounging and lolling-in-the-shade part of the program.

In early June, those same fruiting plants are nothing but little seedlings.  They’ve only recently gotten used to temperatures above 55 - and that’s in the daytime!  Their roots are shallow and true confession?  Many are still in their 4″ nursery pots patiently awaiting their proper placement in the garden.

I never even considered “seedling sitters”!  Cat sitters, yes.  The neighbor girls are only too happy to spoil George and feed him like a glutton for the next 5 days.  But that same generosity and enthusiasm with a hose spells an even more certain death to young seedlings than drought.  What’s a gardener to do?

Well here are my secrets to cheating the weather and buying some time in a race against the heat.

• Keep roots cool and moist.  Mulch, any mulch…rocks, compost, beach glass…anything that will slow surface evaporation and keep the soil at an even temperature is a good thing.  I’ve even started mulching with Comfrey leaves but that’s another topic for a future post.
• I’ve spent hours watering at the end of a hose these past couple of days in an attempt to thoroughly wet the soil at least 12-18″ deep.  Our temperatures have been typically cool but I noticed in today’s paper that we haven’t had rain since May 15th!  My sandy soil dries out quickly…did I mention mulch?
• Those plants still in 4″ pots got potted up into larger sizes this morning and soaked in a bucket of water.  That super-saturated (yet well-drained) new soil around the smaller root balls will hopefully act as a reservoir for thirsty roots for the rest of the week.  (see photo at top) I also placed these newly potted plants in partial shade and grouped them together to rise the surrounding humidity.
• While I did get most of my tiny seedlings in the ground last weekend, I’ve spent this week giving the rest away.  No sense letting the poor darlings die when someone else can enjoy them.  I look generous but actually I’m just assuaging my gardener’s guilt.

This morning as I watered one last time I shot some pictures.  No doubt I’ll miss some blooms while I’m gone so I decided to enjoy and document the buds, the potential and the portent of my garden on the cusp of….?  Only time will tell if my various machinations and maneuvers will save my young plants.

Wise men (& women) say…”Be here now”  I’m trying to grasp, enjoy and celebrate what I have in the garden today, not what I might miss or lose.  Easy to say now.

Now that the garden is tucked in it’s time to pack!

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

Keep movin’, movin’, movin’,
Though they’re disapprovin’,
Keep them doggies movin’ Rawhide!
Don’t try to understand ‘em,
Just rope and throw and grab ‘em,
Soon we’ll be living high and wide.
Boy my heart’s calculatin’
My true love will be waitin’, be waiting at the end of my ride.

Move ‘em on, head ‘em up,
Head ‘em up, move ‘em out,
Move ‘em on, head ‘em out Rawhide!
Set ‘em out, ride ‘em in
Ride ‘em in, let ‘em out,
Cut ‘em out, ride ‘em in Rawhide.

Related posts

• Spring Pest Control - beat ‘em don’t eat ‘em (6)
• My own private Idaho (2)
• More Spring Pest Controls (0)

A "crate" idea for growing potatoes!

I’m quite pleased with this year’s potato caper…at least, to this point.  I’ve been here before only to have my hopes for an abundant harvest disappointingly dashed when I unearth a measly 6 potatoes that are only marginally bigger than when I planted them several months previously.  But what is gardening but a continuing series of experiments, trials and optimistic enterprises?

I don’t really have a great deal of room in my tiny urban backyard farm; one could reasonably ask why I’m giving over valuable real estate to a crop that can be cheaply purchased at the local grocer.  Truth be told, my neighborhood farmer’s market offers an amazing harvest of more varieties than I ever hope to cultivate at this address!  I can only attribute my potato persistence to pure (pigheaded) pride.  If Joe-Schmo can grow potatoes in a garbage can I should be able to produce a few measly tubers in a plot of real dirt!!!

Danger sign:  gardening  is not, in fact, a competitive sport; no one get points for producing.  You do however, get delicious, succulent, healthful and vibrant produce the freshness of which will never be matched by even the most local of farmers markets.  It’s simple…I want homegrown potatoes!

I’ve selected and duly chitted my spuds (read here).  I planted said “chitted” tubers with their bulging eyes and waited…and watched and waited.  The cold wet weather finally abated and “Holy French Fry” the plants went nuts!!!

Here’s a potato passage from the Starchy Roots chapter of Growing Your Own Vegetables, my newest book:

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are easily grown in the home garden. Technically the potato is a member of the Nightshade family, along with tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, but it appears in this chapter because potatoes are grown for their edible tubers or “roots”; indeed, all other parts of a potato plant are toxic.

Potato varieties include yellow, rose, blue skin/white flesh, blue skin/blue flesh, white, russet, red, black, purple, red skin/red flesh, red skin/gold flesh, color-splashed (multicolored), scab-resistant, best keeper, heirloom, and more.  You can also choose from varieties that mature in early, mid-, and late season, and between quicker- and slower-maturing varieties. 75 to 130 days to maturity.

Planting: Potatoes grow best in fairly cool weather with long days. They are impervious to light frosts and may be planted very early in the spring, 3 to 4 weeks before the expected last frost. Successive plantings may be made every few weeks until early summer for a continuous harvest. In warmth and humidity potatoes are subject to rot; southern gardeners should either choose a variety that is heat resistant or plant in winter for a spring harvest before the hot days arrive.

Potatoes prefer an acid soil, so do not apply lime to the planting area. Prepare a well-dug soil with lots of organic matter and plant seed potatoes 3 to 6 inches deep every 6 to 8 inches in rows 2 1/2 feetapart. Plant with the eye pointing up; sprouts will be up in 3 to 4 weeks. Keep beds well watered and free of weeds.

Straw bed planting is a method that simplifies planting and harvest but somewhat reduces your yield. Place seed potatoes on top of the soil, top with a foot of straw mulch, and water well.  Make sure the developing potatoes are kept well covered with straw throughout the growing season. At harvest time, rake back the straw and pick your crop.

Harvesting: You can harvest baby potatoes before the main crop by gently digging near the surface under the soil or straw mulch to unearth the small tubers. Resettle the soil around the plant to allow the remaining tubers to keep growing. About 3 months after planting the potato plants will begin to yellow and whither. At this point the potatoes have stopped growing and are ready to dig. In hot weather they keep better in the ground; just dig as needed.  After the weather cools the entire crop can be dug up, plant by plant, carefully sifting the roots and soil to get all the tubers.  Cure the potatoes for storage by spreading them out in a warm dry place out of the sun for a week or two to allow small surface cuts to heal and the skins to thicken. Note: Don’t leave potatoes lying in the sunlight. They will develop a greenish tinge that not only tastes bad but is poisonous as well.

The next vocabulary term in our potato lexicon is “hilling”.  Tubers form along the stems of maturing potato plants.  As mentioned above if the spuds are exposed to light they will assume a green cast which indicates the presence of a toxin…this is bad.  While the plants revel in the sun, the developing tubers prefer the dark.  Which is where things get interesting.

Field grown spuds are “hilled” by hoeing soil from the adjacent pathway up over the growing stems.  In a sort of a race to continually bury the rapidly elongating stems, pubescent potatoes form in utter darkness, safely shielded from the rays of the sun.  “Straw bed planting” as described above is another approach.  Garbage cans represent another tack.  Google “Garbage Can Potatoes” and you’ll get an astounding 909,000 hits.  Go ahead - check it out.

Me?  I’ve got a “crate” idea of my own.  In full “urban Hillbilly Chic” mode, I cast about the garage for something I might employ to fashion a potato-growing chimney.  The only place to go in a small garden is up, so I needed something I could stack in tiers and gradually fill with mulch to keep the light off the developing potatoes.  I found just the thing in my stack of wooden crates accumulated from years of ordering bulk bulbs for my retail nursery.

I banged out the bottoms to create hollow frames and set to work.  Hopefully the following pictures do a better job than I at describing my thinking and process.

bottomless crates for growing potatoes

Stack crate to form a potato-producing chimney

Warm weather has finally arrived and the potato plants are growing like weeds.  Already I need to add another tier after having just added my second rung last week.  I’m experimenting with two different mulching materials: compost and shaved wood excelsior (packing material I scrounged at my local nursery from a pot delivery).  The theory is to keep the spuds in the dark; this is not nutritive growing medium.  I figure if straw works (see above) than why not other relatively inert organic materials.  You could also try dried leaves, salt hay, dried grasses, etc.

Hilled with wood shavings

Hilled with compost

Before I get too “me-so-clever” I suppose we should wait and see if this grand experiment works.  But I must admit, the annual challenge of McGyver machinations is at least part of the charm for me.  That and those delicious, moist, golden spuds roasted with rosemary in an unctious olive oil - yum!

Stay tuned!

Related posts

• Everyone is “Growing Your Own Vegetables” (1)
• CowPots and the good silver (5)
• Spring Pest Control - beat ‘em don’t eat ‘em (6)

my young gardener

Today is a momentous day.  My son, pictured above, graduates from high school this evening.  Or, as I like to say in my more callous moments “Stick a fork in him - he’s done!”  This is sheer whistling in the dark; in fact my heart is strangely heavy and I seem to have an irritant in my eyes that’s causing them to continually tear.  The pollen count is terrible right now.

I like to say he drove me to horticulture!  A wild child from birth, I could barely keep up with him, let alone keep him relatively safe indoors with stairs, chairs, counters and other high precipices to continually scale.  Yep, ground level was safest and so outdoors we went.  Rain or shine, we spent hours and hours in our yard.  While he was content to dig for the pure pleasure of it, I needed some motivation.  And so I began gardening in earnest.  I mean really, really earnest.

Even with the many pleasures of my rapidly growing garden, it wasn’t long before that special kind of crazy known only to stay-at-home moms with rambunctious children set in.  I longed for adult interaction, a break in wiping up sticky messes and the opportunity to dress in clean clothes; who am I kidding - to get dressed, period!

Our neighborhood nursery was looking to hire staff to water plants.  This is the sort of job generally allotted to high school students for minimum wage.   Lucky for me, the students were still in school.  This was in early 1992 and Seattle was just entering an extreme drought year - a death knell for a healthy nursery season.  Climatic misfortune was my saving grace and I found my professional home in horticulture.

I’ve spent the past 17 years working in a field that feeds my soul and satisfies my longing for interaction with people as well as with the ever-changing world around me.  While I’ve never made much more than that original minimum wage, I’m rich with life experiences, and precious friends I’ve met along the path.

Growing Gardeners was a club for kids that I first started way back when I was at the West Seattle Nursery with the enthusiastic support of owners Irene Stewart and Mark Smith, young parents themselves.  The club’s logo, designed by my husband, has always been meaningful to me as that is my son’s, no doubt muddy, hand print pictured.  With a monthly newsletter - my first writing gig - and of course, the ubiquitous “free prize”, we enticed children (and their parents) into regularly visiting the nursery; marketing genius!!!  We developed a wide variety of seasonal activities and projects which were designed to make that critical connection between earth and child that could so easily be lost in blurry days of preschool, Sesame Street, working parents and precious little outdoor time.  The following is from that first newsletter that went out in September of 1993 (I think):

Welcome to Growing Gardeners, West Seattle Nursery & Garden Center’s new club for kids, ages 4-12.  Our world is like one big garden and we’re all set to explore it!

What do birds do in the garden?…Why do leaves change color in the autumn?…How can you watch the weather?…Are there any good bugs out there?  You’ll discover the answers to these and other garden questions each month in the Growing Gardeners newsletter, available at the nursery.  Watch for fun workshops and classes, environmental tips, seasonal games and garden activities for you to do on your own and with friends.

All these years later, West Seattle Nursery is still going strong; no small feat in a challenging field.  And the Growing Gardeners Club is still alive and well “inspiring young people to garden with their families and friends.”  My involvement has long passed and the true credit goes to Linda Hornberg, Galen Guffy and the staff of the West Seattle Nursery.  Indeed, they have grown many many gardeners.  For more information about Growing Gardeners, including archived newsletter content, go to West Seattle Nursery and click on Growing Gardeners.

I’m armed with a handful of tissues and off to commencement ceremonies.  At 18, I can no longer keep my son safe in my garden.  In fact, as far as I can tell from his many exploits which usually involve mountains, boards and things with wheels - safety is not a huge priority for him.  His future as a gardener remains to be seen but he has grown into a fine young man.  His father and I, as well as his older sister could not be more proud of him.

Related posts

• Weeds: Some of nature’s most prolific opportunists (0)
• The green green grass of summer (0)
• Tag…you’re it! (8)

bold & dramatic planting

The weather is settling, most of the vegetable garden is planted and perennials are growing and budding at an alarming rate.  It’s time to turn to reworking my container plantings.  Last winter took a huge toll on all my mixed succulent plantings.  I’m embarrassed to say they’re still front and center on my porch for the whole world to take in their blackened corpses.  It’s like Mortia Adams gardens here!

The resilient, tough, drought-tolerant combinations were perfect for containers on my hot exposed deck the last couple of seasons.  No worries about dragging the watering can through the dining room every day.  The intricate compositions of burgundy, teal, gray and green foliage were absolutely fabulous with little help from me.  I was so smug…here’s what I blogged about them last year.  And then, Mother Nature caught up with me - again.

Maybe it’s the current economic climate as well as our terrestrial one that’s keeping me from pulling the trigger and replacing all my mushy darlings - tender succulent carefree maintenance doesn’t come cheap!  At any rate, I’m still in the mulling-it-over phase of my container do-over.  Maybe this article I wrote for the May issue of Angie’s List Magazine will inspire me:

Give containers an encore

Former actress, garden designer and container planting diva, Wendy Welch knows a thing or two about putting on a show.  As owner of Seattle’s A-rated Wendy Welch Garden Design, she’s spent the last 15 years creating container plantings for residential and commercial clients alike throughout the Northwest.  Her dramatic compositions are lasting, yet ever changing, and dazzlingly beautiful throughout the entire year. Welch shares her secrets for producing successful garden theatrer.

Welch works with a mix of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that are suitable for container cultivation.  Selecting first for structure, form and foliage - the three acts of garden design - she combines plants with similar growth rates so the composition remains balanced and pleasing.  Plants with strong architectural form and presence carry the show throughout the year.  Like a star player, they provide a focal point and anchor the planting.

Another tip Welch recommends is to consider the “winter picture” first when designing a container - what will it look like in January?  “Contrasting textures from fine leafed plants and grasses combined with bold foliage that outlasts seasonal bloom, keeps the composition appealing over a long period,” she says.  “Flowers are the finale and only make the cut if they can sustain a 10 week bloom period.”

Wendy has a cast of favorite plants for supporting roles.  Long-lived sculptural trailers like prostrate conifers and groundcover shrubs fill in empty space and dress the edge of a pot to provide a finished look.  “Even the most common plant can elevate an entire planting by making everything around them look even better,” she maintains.  “Don’t limit yourself to annuals; shop the entire nursery for color, form and texture.”

An emphatic advocate of sustainable garden practices, Welch recommends little to no extra fertilizing, non-peat based potting mixes and organic controls.  The result?  Her finished compositions have an average lifespan of five years; a nice long run.  After all, the show must go on!

All photos are courtesy of Wendy Welch Garden Design.

Related posts

• Weeds: Some of nature’s most prolific opportunists (0)
• The green green grass of summer (0)
• Tag…you’re it! (8)