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

What's New For 2023

What's New For 2023

If you are anything like me then you are probably feeling sick and tired of this cold, wet weather.  I hate to say it, but I have had zero motivation to get out in the yard and do all the things that need doing.  The only real solution is to distract myself with seed and plant catalogs and dream about all the new exciting introductions that I will simply have to find a home for once it warms up and dries out.  Join me in exploring some of the following goodies that I will be looking for this month and beyond…

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Making ‘Sense’ Of ‘Scents’

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Making ‘Sense’ Of ‘Scents’

As a garden center owner for over three decades, I have seen all types of gardeners come in to shop for plants, and without exception, regardless of their level of skill, there is one common habit they all exhibit.  Show them a pretty flower and they will immediately plunge their schnozzola right into the heart of it to see if it has fragrance - we have all done it, myself included…

It's Show Time!

It's Show Time!

This week marks the beginning of the 33rd annual Northwest Flower and Garden Festival which will run February 15th to the 19th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle (it should be the 34th but Covid shut it down in 2021).  This is a world class production that is sure to get you in the mood for the upcoming gardening season.  Every year I come away with some new ideas, a few new plant purchases, and an overall renewed excitement for gardening.  If you have yet to partake in this event, then you really should consider going this year…

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Recess Is Over, It’s Time For Action

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Recess Is Over, It’s Time For Action

After this last hard freeze, I am hoping that the worst is behind us and we can confidently get out into the garden and whip things back into shape.  While I realize February is still technically winter, it is also the beginning of spring for north westerners, and there is much to do before the actual spring season arrives.  Here are some timely tasks to consider…

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What Exactly Is A "Tree"?

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What Exactly Is A "Tree"?

What is the image that comes to your mind when I say the word ‘tree’?  Is it one of our towering conifers like a Doug Fir or Western Red Cedar, or maybe our native Big Leaf Maple?  Or perhaps your thoughts go to the mighty Oak or Weeping Willow or Sycamore.  These are all large specimens that have the classic morphology of what most of us think of as a tree.  But, can a ‘tree’ also be…

Fruit Tree Season Is Upon Us - Choose Wisely

Fruit Tree Season Is Upon Us - Choose Wisely

In this last full week of January, when I can truthfully declare that our vacation from gardening is just about over, all around us nature is once again waking up and it is time to prepare for another gardening season.  In my world, what always announces that event is the arrival of bare root fruit trees in the garden center…

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Is There A Rose In Your Future?

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Is There A Rose In Your Future?

While it may be still and quiet in our gardens, it is anything but in the garden center this time of year.  All over Puget Sound, nurseries are receiving their once-a-year deliveries of bare root roses, and diligently pruning and potting them up for you to…

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Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

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Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

Here at Sunnyside Nursery, we have been teaching classes for years.  This is not unique to our garden center.  No matter where you live in the Puget Sound region, you should be able to find a garden center nearby that offers gardening classes, many of them…

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Slow Down And Enjoy The “Quiet Time” In The Garden

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Slow Down And Enjoy The “Quiet Time” In The Garden

First off, Happy New Year and congratulations on surviving all that 2022 threw at us.  Despite a soggy spring, long dry summer, and a killer freeze in December, I consider the year a success.  I made considerable progress in my new garden, planting a ton of new plants and…

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A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

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A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

I know a few of you might find it incredibly hard to believe, but I actually spend a considerable amount of time researching my columns rather than just making s#%t up.  In truth, it is probably a combination of both.  We live in the information age where knowledge is all around us, literally at our finger tips.  The challenge of course is…

Latest post from Trevor Cameron,  “The Golfing Gardener”:

Featured
Crape Myrtles In Washington

Speaking as a self-proclaimed “plantaholic” who likes just about all things with foliage, fronds, or needles, one plant I started to salivate over in the 1990’s was Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.).  For us in northern latitudes, these mythical plants were uncommon and were perceived as…

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