Fall in the Pacific Northwest
What's Happening In Your Garden?
We are definitely into fall season with some frosts already gracing our gardens in some locations and taking out the tender annuals like basil or impatiens. Underneath the soil though we are seeing a little different story. Our long spell of dry weather beginning with the heat in early June (record breaking) and continuing with […]
Heat Days in the Pacific Northwest
How to manage your garden through the dry and hot days
The Pacific Northwest summer has arrived! The sparkling sun on the Salish Sea waters, bright, beautiful flowers blooming in our gardens, zucchini and tomatoes ripening, what’s not to like? Increasingly our summer weather window has widened on each side of the few months we are used to feeling the heat, making June and September hotter […]
Sneaking Into Spring: Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest!
Are we there yet?
It has been a cool spring so far, with our weather transforming into true spring warmth slowly, marked by the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington Quad and the tulips in bloom up in Mount Vernon. Officially the last frost dates and low night temperatures for our area in the Puget Sound lowlands are […]
Northwest Winter Reflections
As we enter a new year and a new season we encourage you to take time to reflect on how your garden fared this year, start thinking about the coming season and get out, yes even in the winter, to see some public gardens where you can learn about some new plants, see some good […]
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 […]