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…
First off, let me apologize for using the word “winter” in the title as I sincerely hope that our actual “winter” is still many weeks away. Having said that, as we head towards the holiday season, it is an ideal time for gardeners to look forward just a bit. Frost will be coming soon, and Mother Nature will require...
Over my lifetime as a horticulturist, I have found myself enamored with different genera of plants to the point that I have gone out of my way to collect as many variations of the same genus, simply because I thought they were “really cool”. The genus “Bergenia” is a typical example and for me it all started when I was quite young…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
When considering shrubs for the yard, keep the many flavors of Spiraea in mind. In the Pacific Northwest, these deciduous gems are easy to grow, super hardy and low maintenance in almost any landscape. Now that spring has officially sprung, these shrubs are…