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 […]
Fall Gardening Tips and Resources
Don't stop gardening yet!
Fall is a great time to do some very important work in your garden. This is a prime season to improve your soil, get ahead of weeds and set up wildlife resources in the landscape. Give us a call to discuss personal priorities and let us help you get your garden set up for the […]
Waning into Winter
Garden planning and simple chores during the dark days of winter.
The Pacific Northwest is a special and unique place on the planet. We are blessed with thick coniferous forests in mountain ranges that store our water and keep it clean. We have shoreline galore, from Pacific ocean beaches to the Salish Sea borders. We host a river through our largest city with more creeks and […]
Cover Crops 101
Cover crops are plants grown primarily to improve and protect soil. Though they can be grown any time of year, they are most valuable at the end of a productive growing season. Fall-sown cover crops enrich and protect your soil in multiple ways. Preservation of soil structure – Protect against the physical impact of months […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]