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 am not sure what happened to “Fall”. It seems like in September we went from summer to winter in a matter of just a few days. The current cool and rainy days feel more like November than September and I can only wonder what the month of October will be like. I am hoping for a few more balmy, sunny days with some spectacular fall color. Whatever we get, it is important to…
I would never have dreamt that I would be talking about such a “dry” subject (pun intended of course) as watering in the middle of October, but here we are, dealing with one of the longest stretches of no rain that I can remember in the 30 plus years that I have lived in the Pacific Northwest. Not only is it dry, but it is also…
Common names for plants can often create confusion, especially among botanical nerds like myself. The main reason we like to rattle off multi-syllabic Latin names is that there is never any question as to what plant we are talking about. In the case of common names however, many different plants can share similar common names depending on what part of the country one comes from… My point here is that while common names can be misleading, in the case of heaths and heathers, nobody really cares! Not even the nursery professionals.
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
The winter solstice is upon us, and I am sure everyone is looking forward to a bit more light each day, eventually steering us towards the great annual awakening of spring. To most gardeners, the idea of year ‘round interest is top of mind, as patrons I speak to year after year look to add specimens into their landscapes that provide that “WOW” factor all year long, including…