Leaving Summer Behind
We are fortunate to live in an area where seasonal changes are so vivid and obvious. Though many of us dread the coming short daylight hours and rainy days we can take solace in the reality that these changes help our gardens thrive. The Coming Dark The longer nights can give us a chance for […]
Earth Day – Calling Us to Action
Keeping Us Invested
Earth Day is an annual day to pause and reflect about the state of our ecological well being, a day to get busy and do something that helps the planet, and a day that has a long history and that has survived for the past 54 years without losing momentum. That’s pretty remarkable and a […]
In the In Between
(Seasons, That Is)
Officially, we are in the latter half of “the big dark”, the period of gray skies, rain, and dark days that starts in October in the northwest. We are headed towards the spring equinox, where the days and nights share equal time in our 24 hour day and the earth’s axis tilts neither away nor […]
Mulching Your Garden Beds in the Fall
When we first get the hints of colder weather to come, we tend to withdraw into our homes for warmth and out of the garden. However, this is a great time of year to warm up by applying mulch to your garden beds! Not only do you get a good workout, but your garden soil […]
Embrace Beneficial Insect Allies in Your Garden
pollinators and predators, oh my!
The summer solstice is nigh and we are happily gardening these days with a little more warmth and sunshine than we encountered this past spring. Many plants have finished blooming and many others are just making an appearance. Along with all those fabulous flowers follows a plethora of amazing and beneficial garden allies in the […]
Spring is Almost Here!
Spring is “official” on Monday, March 20th this year. We all know though, that the Pacific Northwest often shares some spring like weather and early flowering plants during traditional winter months so it’s not unusual for us to be antsy to get into the garden. I’m certain many of us already have been at work […]
Winter Reading and Learning
The Garden Hotline staff share their favorite gardening books; also where to find great seeds.
Winter is here and this is a great time to sit down with those gardening books you always mean to read but are usually too busy with your hands in the soil to get to. We want to share our favorite books, ones that we make use of for our personal gardening goals and to […]
Rainy Season in the Northwest
keeping an eye on wet things
We live in a lush environment. Now that smoke and fire season is behind us we can lean into our wet and cold season. According to the Farmer’s Almanac we are to expect snow, cold, and lots of rain over the last half of November which will wind down into mild temps and rainy […]
The Slow Slide into Autumn
Best practices for winding up the summer garden in the northwest.
It’s been an interesting weather year. We had that long, cold, wet spring which delayed getting summer crops into the garden. Then like someone turned the sun lamp on we suddenly dove into a long, hot, dry summer which has challenged us all to keep our plants hydrated. Now the transition to autumn is here, […]
Long and Cold Spring
What about planting tomatoes?
If you are like the educators on the Garden Hotline, you already have tomato plants in hand, waiting to set them out. OR wait, maybe you already did! It seems like it should be time but this year our spring weather has been particularly cold and wet. If you have set these heat lovers out, […]