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 […]
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 […]
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 […]