The Best BOMBs: Blue Orchard Mason Bees!
By Katie Vincent, Garden Hotline Educator
Honeybees may be cute, popular and extra fuzzy, but the real proboscis behind most of our region’s fruit crops is a completely different arthropod: the blue orchard mason bee (Osmia lignaria). Why Choose Mason Bees? Native to North America, mason bees get their common name from their habit of patching up naturally occurring holes with […]
Winter Tree Pruning
Sue Hartman, Garden Hotline Educator
Winter is a perfect time to prune many trees in the Pacific NW. In the Seattle area, dormancy begins in late November or December when plant growth becomes temporarily inactive. This enables a tree to survive freezing temperatures. Dormancy usually lasts until mid-February, depending on Mother Nature. During this time, the bare branches of a […]
Deciduous Tree I.D. in the Winter
Falaah Jones, Garden Hotline Educator Have you ever wondered what that beautiful deciduous tree is in your neighborhood? Even without leaves, flowers and fruit to help you, winter’s a great time to identify trees. The tree’s bark, buds and twigs and the sad remaining leaves provide great clues. Kick around the litter at the bottom […]
Celebrate the return of our cool season flowers!
Sue Hartman, Garden Hotline Educator ‘Tis the season for pansies, violas, calendula, and sweet alyssum. The weather is changing, the rains are returning and the nights are cooling off. This means those delightful spring bloomers that thrive in this kind of weather are also returning to our gardens. They will all easily self-sow and Calendula […]
Berry Bonanza!
Tips for Organic Berry Growing in the Pacific Northwest.
Sue Hartman, Garden Hotline Educator Our region is a prime area for growing and enjoying delicious and nutritious berries. They are available as U-Pick produce at many local farms and flood our farmers markets each summer with their colorful bounty. They are also very easy to grow and harvest if you pay attention to their […]
Planning New Garden Features
Winter is a good time to think about adding new features to your garden spaces. Consider bringing new life into the garden, in the form of chickens or bees. Both will help you have a more productive garden as they eat the bad bugs, manufacture soil enriching compost for your soil and pollinate your fruiting plants over the summer.
Planting for Habitat
Laura Matter, Garden Hotline Coordinator Brighten your dark of winter outlook by envisioning the addition of colorful, diverse and productive habitat plantings to your garden for next season. Including certain plants that will attract parasitoid wasps, ladybeetles, bees, songbirds and even bats can help you to manage pest problems in the growing season and make […]