Colorful spring containers celebrate the start of the gardening season and creating them is fun and easy if you know which plants to choose. Look for these great gems to create a new spring container or refresh an existing pot.
Who isn't captivated with the lush blooms of the peony? We still get excited when peonies begin arriving! Alex LaVilla, our perennials buyer, has a few planting and care tips to help you be sure your peony is as happy and productive as it can be.
Early-blooming plants help brighten the gray, rainy days and remind us that warmer days are on the way. Here are a few of our favorites for the period we call “early spring” (February-late March). Some even bloom earlier in winter and well into April!
No matter whether this is your first-ever vegetable garden or just the first time planting this year, if you take a little time to prepare before you plant, everything will go more smoothly and you’ll be more successful. Here are a few simple things to consider when starting a vegetable garden this spring.
One of the first activities I want to do outside in early spring is to plant my early spring vegetable garden. There’s nothing like the smooth, clean surface of prepped garden beds, the soil still pristine and just waiting to nurture rows of bright green spring vegetables, carefully planted in perfect rows. It’s like a fresh school notebook - full of promise. But what to plant? Here are a few of my favorite vegetables to plant in spring, with tips on when and how to plant them.
What a glorious and beautiful time of year. The leaves are turning vibrant colors and this year the tomatoes were still ripening well into October! Besides the traditional autumnal activities like decorating with corn stalks and gourds, carving pumpkins and exploring hay mazes, with the shorter days comes a gentle slowing down of the garden and time to think about how to handle the abundance of produce that this long, hot summer has provided.
There are countless reasons to garden, but one of the most compelling is to leave our mark on the world. Anyone who has ever carved their name into the top of a school desk or wielded a Sharpie against the wall of a bathroom stall knows the thrill of leaving your stamp in reality. There is something deliciously hubristic about it, some fundamental affirmation of the immortality of the soul. It's like spitting in Death's eye - even if you were eventually busted by your teacher because you carved your last name, too.
After winding down NW Blue Ridge Drive for what seems like forever, I pull up in front of my assigned meeting place with Amy Pennington, cook, writer, blogger, TV personality and edible gardener extraordinaire. I follow the sounds of laughter-filled chatter up the stairs and into the back garden, where I am met with a spectacular view: beautiful ornamental landscaping blending harmoniously with an edible garden of raised beds at the height of the property, with sweeping views of Puget Sound and the Olympics. It is a tapestry of blues and greys on this overcast morning.
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