The quince plant. For the last few 60º weeks I’ve been watching the news about all the snow on the East Coast and can’t believe how lucky we’ve been to avoid another winter like 2008. I was worried during that low 20º week in early last December, but we skirted right around the whole bad weather thing. Yippee! I’ve been wandering around my garden amazed at how much stuff is coming up early due to the warm weather. My hostas are halfway up and the daffodils are right in their way. My Paeonia... more

It’s finally February. With any luck, the bad weather is over and we can move right on into gardening season. I’ve always thought of February, President’s Day specifically, to be the official start of the gardening season and the Yard, Garden and Patio Show (YGPS). This year the show is scheduled for February 12, 13, and 14 at the Oregon Convention Center and President’s Day is on the 15th. There’s so much to do in one weekend. One thing’s for sure: there is no time to dawdle, so let’s... more

OK. It’s cold out. I’m sitting here, inside my cozy little brick house and there is a nice frost out on a sunny late fall morning. I finally turned on the furnace and lit the fireplace. When I go out, I will wear a beret and a scarf. I will probably make a pot of soup for dinner. I love this time of year. Hens and Chickens Now that there is a bit of a chill in the air, I bet you think that the gardening season is over. Au contraire! There is so much you can do during the winter months, it is... more

I drive around a lot. Needless to say, I find myself looking at a lot of yards while I am out and about. And there it is: the ever present lawn. I know, I know; your neighbor has it, their neighbor has it. What else is there? It is hard to imagine that there is another way of landscaping your yard, but I promise there is. I call it the “Lose the Lawn” plan. I think that most people accept the status quo of what a garden should look like because they don’t know anything else is out there. I... more

Have you ever noticed how the sound of running water gets your attention? I have a water feature in my front yard that you can hear from the street and I’ve noticed how people walking by actually stop and say, “Do you hear that?” It is so soothing and inviting. When I bought my house it had a huge pond in the front, complete with a waterfall — except for the fact that it didn’t work nor was it likely to in the near future. We spent years trying to get it working and no matter what we did,... more

I love to entertain. I love to entertain outdoors even more. How lucky we are that we live in the perfect place to fully enjoy at least two, if not three seasons of entertaining in the great outdoors. It can be as easy as having some friends over for coffee and pastries in the morning, to a simple Sunday brunch, a casual weekend Bar-B-Que, or even a low-key bridal shower. Or perhaps an afternoon of outdoor games, like croquet or badminton. There is no shortage of reasons to get a bunch of people... more

Even though we’ve had a cool and wet spring, I’ve managed to get out in the garden and get going. I’m having fun pulling treasures out of my greenhouse and finding summer homes for them. I need a few new containers to accommodate my plants’ new sizes, which brings me to my topic this issue: container gardening. I’m a junkie for container gardening and as there’s a courtyard outside my kitchen, I have the perfect spot. But you don’t need a courtyard to have a fabulous collection... more

Lawns provide many benefits — both aesthetic and practical — but they also require a lot of water. In fact, lawns use two to three times more water than do other plants in the landscape. Improper lawn watering can waste up to 50% of the water coming out of your sprinkler through evaporation, runoff, over-spraying, and over-watering. How can you make sure you’re watering your lawn the right amount and not wasting a valuable resource? Use a couple of watering gauges and the “weekly watering... more