Garden Shop Online Blog

Winter Design

The very best time to see the true design of your garden is in the dead of winter. The bones, the hardscapes and the focus of your garden can best be seen in winter. If trees, shrubs, and the “hardscapes” (fountains? trellises? backdrops? chotchkies?) look pretty good in winter then you have the basis for a garden that only needs to be filled in with annuals and perennials. Winter is when the design of your garden reveals itself. Take a few pictures from different perspectives. It helps.

Read All About It

Garden literature…not always a big sell because most of the time it lacks pictures. But garden lit can lift your spirits when “el” or “la” nina/o is howling outside the front door. Some of the best and funniest garden literature is by Englishman Beverley Nichols. Start with “Down the Garden Path” and work your way through all eight volumes.  His take on gardening in the English countryside. Written in the early 1900’s Nichols gives new meaning to “dry English humor”.

Lazy Herb Home Fragrance

An herb scented garden in summer is aromatherapy at its best. If rosemary is still going strong, cut a few sprigs, put it on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the oven at 250 degrees. Turn the oven off, open the door oven door and the fragrance fills the house with a wonderful summer “herby” smell. Double bonus…it smells like you’ve been baking.

Too Late? Too Early?

You can still put bulbs in the ground if you “forgot” to do it earlier. (THERE’S a job for an enterprising gardener with good knees!) But, the later in winter spring bulbs are planted, the shorter the stems. A reminder about daffodils. Squirrels and deer don’t like them.

Speaking of deer…there is a new Timber Press book, “50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants: The Prettiest Annuals, Perennial, Bulbs and Shrubs that Deer Don’t Eat”. 224 pages, $19.95. You can get a jump on planning a garden the deer won’t enjoy. It gets expensive to serve up a “salad” of tulips, roses, daylilies, impatiens, hostas and entire vegetable gardens. The price of a book saves you the high price of “deer salad”.

Bad Advice

The worst advice I have heard in a very long time is, “I tell everyone to buy cheap tools, throw them away and buy new ones every year”.  There are so many things wrong with that statement! To begin with…what a waste! Not to mention, cheap tools make gardening an unhappy chore and not a pleasure.

Buy Good Tools

Gardeners don’t “need” a lot of tools but a small arsenal makes playing in the dirt that much more enjoyable. The heavier the tool, the more work is done by the tool and not the gardener. Lighter tools need heavier hands. Every gardener needs the basics: gloves, pruners, digging fork, digging spade, unbendable trowel, weeding hoe and a long and short handled rake.

If a gardener is on your gift list you can’t go wrong with the “basics”.

BONE-SIGH

Keeping containerized deciduous and evergreen plants small is the purpose of bonsai (Bone-Sigh). Root pruning is the way to keep them small and now is the time to root prune. In late fall when the daytime temperature is still above 55 degrees roots are still exploding in growth but the top of the plant is on vacation…it’s quiet and stress free….it is considered dormant. And that is the optimal time to root prune. Root pruning involves taking the plant out of the pot, “shaving” off some of the actively growing roots and repotting, often in the same pot. Since roots are still growing, this gives them time to settle in, get used to the new soil and ready to store and feed the top part of the plant in spring.

HYOO-KARUH

The past few years have seen an explosion of colorful Heuchera (hyoo-karuh). Not too long ago, they were known as common Coral Bells and came in green with tiny red panicled flower spikes…period. However, now the leaf color and texture run the gamut from chartreuse, golden, maroon, black and orange to striped, ruffled and crawling Today’s new breed of Heuchera are grown for their leaf color and texture with not too much attention paid to the flowers. As a matter of fact, many gardeners cut off the wispy flower spikes because they detract from the beautiful foliage. Now, the hybridizers have decided to focus more on the flowers. Beautiful foliage and now outstanding flowers make the Heucheras even more appealing. Heuchera ‘Milan’ is one of the varieties that focuses on flowers. H. ‘Milan’ is dark burgundy with substantial bubble gum pink double flowers strong enough to stand up to the foliage and pretty enough to use as a cut flower. Be on the lookout for these newbies.

TALES OF TISSUE CULTURE

Pretty amazing that a small pear leaf can be turned into an orchard of pear trees but that’s what makes tissue culture so appealing. A perfect copy can be created with just a cell. If it is somehow changed in the lab and then “cloned”, you have Genetically Altered ornamental plants. Both Heuchera (for leaf color) and Hostas (for slug resistance) fall into the GA category, thus answering the question, “How can we have so many new varieties in such a short time?” Many of the new cultivars begin in the lab. Is this cheating Mother Nature?

SHORT FOR A REASON

Ever wonder why new plant varieties seem to be shorter? Popular taller perennials, in particular, have been given the “shrink to fit” treatment. The Queen of the Perennials, Delphinium, have gone from a statuesque 6 feet tall to a shadowy 2 feet tall. Contrary to popular belief it isn’t all because yards are smaller or we all live in condos. It’s because shorter plants fit easily on the plant trolleys you see being unloaded at nurseries.

Dirty Dan August-September

Shadow Gardening

Living in the South Sound usually means at least part of our gardens are somewhere in the shadows. The number one foliage choice for shadow gardening has to be hostas. But hostas need room… a lot of room. They need a good size lot, if not acreage, to be “shown off”. Leaves of popular Hosta ‘Great Expectations’ can reach 1 foot across and the full grown plant of H. ‘Sum and Substance’ can reach 6 feet across. Hostas are spectacular but nearly impossible to grow and display if you garden in an apartment, a condo or in containers.
Well, now you can grow and display hostas in a very small garden space because…they ‘shrunk’em’! The miniature hostas have arrived in a big way. If the plant-cuteness doesn’t get you, the names will…
Many gardeners have already discovered the tiny treasures of the Hosta “Mouse Series” with names like ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, ‘Holy Mouse Ears’, ‘Mouse Trap’,
‘Cat and Mouse’ and ‘Mighty Mouse’. You get the idea.
Bottom line…miniature hostas are small enough for a large collection in a very small space. How can you resist growing them when they have names like, ‘Peanut’, ‘Hush Puppie”, ‘Teeny Weeny Bikini’ and ‘Doll House’?

Hidden Labels

Nothing can spoil the look of a home garden like a sea of little “grave markers” plunked in front of every plant. And yet, it’s always nice to know what you planted by marking the plants whose names are likely to be forgotten. There is a simple solution. You know the plastic id tags meant to mark the plants from grower to home garden? Turn them upside down and let the tiny white tip barely show above the soil. Easy to find, the sun won’t destroy the plastic and whether your plant thrives or disappears, you’ll know what it is/was.

The Book of Little Hostas

Proof positive that miniature hostas are gaining in popularity. Timber Press released a new book about them. “The Book of Little Hostas” by Michael Shadrack and Kathy Guest Shadrack, is tightly packed with tempting pictures and solid information about the newest plant collector’s craze, miniature hostas. At present, there are more than 300 registered with the American Hosta Society.
“The Book of Little Hostas” defines and describes more than 200 miniature hostas in cultivation. According to the authors “little hostas” can be no taller than 12” and no wider than 24”. The true miniature hostas have individual leaves less than 6 square inches. It’s the leaves that are tiny, not the overall plant size. You can get a LOT of miniature hostas in a very small space, which makes collecting them a tempting obsession.
If you’re interested at all in the little hostas, the book is worth the price just to see the clever ways the tiny plants are grown and displayed. Timber Press, 208 pages, $27.95

Sidebar?

August is the time to kick back and enjoy the garden but if you’re overtaken by the guilt of kicking back…it’s time to

Plant Saffron Crocus, the most expensive spice in the world.

Order spring bulbs

The ever popular…Deadhead and weed

Plant garlic and winter vegetables for spring harvest

Water, water, water

Take cuttings of geraniums, deciduous shrubs, old roses, heather

Take pictures!

Sharpen garden tools, especially pruners

Divide and share bearded irises and overgrown perennials

DECONSTRUCTING LAVENDER

At last count more than 40 varieties of lavender are available in local nurseries and probably twice that will be available at the Sequim Lavender Festival, July 15-17 (www.lavemderfestival.com).  It boggles the mind. Here’s the easy breakdown. There are four main types: English Lavender (L. angustifolia), French Lavender, (L. dentata),  Spanish Lavender (L Stoechas) and French Hybrids (L. x intermedia).

English lavender has the strongest fragrance

French lavender has grayer leaves with saw-like edges.

Spanish lavender is the one with the flower topknot

French Hybrids are a mix of French and English and are bred for commercial use for hardiness and fragrance. These are the best for crafting.

As an added bonus…deer don’t seem to find it appetizing.

DESIRING PEONIES

Be on the lookout for Itoh Peonies, a cross between tree peonies and grandma’s peonies. Tree peonies are woody stemmed, tall and sparse but with gigantic flowers. Grandma’s peonies (herbaceous) are mostly pink, foliage-full with slim stems that bend with the weight of the blousy flowers and always need to be staked. Itoh peonies are the best of both. Stems are stronger; foliage is full and flowers cross over into oranges, coppers and sunset pinks. They bloom longer (up to a month) and can have as many as 50 flowers each season. Expensive but worth it.

DEMYSTIFYING BOTANICAL NAMES

Word Geeks take note…”The Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms” by David J. Borror, PhD, is a reference book for all the scientific communities including horticulture.  The word breakdown encompasses mostly Greek and Latin word roots to help demystify those long botanical names. For instance, the common Forget-Me-Not’s botanical name is Myositis. Myosot means mouse and otis means ear…the person or group that found and named the common Forget-Me-Not evidently thought the flower looked like mouse ears. Pretty simple. The world of botanical names is simplified when you know the origins and back-stories.

VEGGIE PEOPLE

Organic veggie heaven is the only way to describe the urban garden of Diane Downie and Paul Shelley. With the resurgence of home vegetable gardening, the renewed interest in farmer’s markets and the current “Eat food, mostly plants” mantra popularized by food activist Michael Pollan, Diane and Paul have become the go-to couple for organic vegetable gardening advice.  Thirty plus years of growing, harvesting, preserving and sharing organic vegetables for friends and local food banks leaves no doubt…Diane and Paul are experts.

Their 1/3 acre property, surrounded with an 8 foot deer fence is located on a windy high spot in Lakewood and is filled with more than fifty (that’s right, fifty!) redwood  (they last longer) raised beds overflowing with broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, squash, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, lettuce, basil, cucumbers and peas. They also grow corn and green beans but they grow those in Puyallup on a shared plot. They even grow Saffron (three tiny orange stamens per crocus-like flower) and Meyer lemons (they harvest about 50 of these).

Diane is a retired math teacher from Pierce College and Paul is a Boeing engineer so you can bet they’re organized. Their basement is lined with seed starting paraphernalia, drying racks and plenty of bins filled with carefully labeled produce, ready to be preserved or shared.

How do they do it? What advice do they offer?

Diane’s rule: “ Start with proven varieties of things you like to eat”.  Paul’s rule: “Don’t step on the soil” because..

The best vegetables come from the best soil. Diane and Paul are adamant about adding at least 1/3 chicken manure to their garden beds every year. They consider this step their “secret weapon”. They insist on finding dry, aged manure that has been stored undercover. This prevents nutrients from leaching out. Their raised beds are in constant use and rotation so they are not particular about when they add the manure. They add it when it’s convenient for them. According to Paul, “It’s nasty but boy, does it work!”

During the height of the growing season they spend at least 25 hours a week in their vegetable garden.All of the vegetables are grown from seed. It’s not only more economical but seeds are a way to try varieties you might not be able to find as plants in a nursery.

Case in point, each year they grow about 60 different varieties of tomatoes, some are reliable old favorites like Sungold, Goliath and the grape size one called Sugary but a majority are heirloom varieties they grow out of curiosity. Their secret for getting them to ripen? Tomato plants are planted a foot apart and grown straight up on 8 foot fencing which exposes more of the vines to our “iffy” sunny days. The harvested tomatoes are roasted and frozen or dehydrated.

Vertical gardening is the common theme throughout their garden and the main reason it is unlike other vegetable garden. There is no wasted space. “Sugar Snap” pea vines reach to the roofline and sweet Tristar strawberries grow at their base. Squash and cucumbers form harvestable walls.

Sidewalks are lined with 6 different varieties of basil, including their favorite, Spicy Saber. Lettuces line up in front of eggplant and both hot and sweet pepper plants.

A crop of their favorite Pakman broccoli comes out and in goes a heavily seeded crop of  rainbow colored carrots. They use floating row covers (sold at most nurseries) on the carrots. Row covers protect carrots from carrot rust fly, a particularly annoying insect whose larvae create those ruinous tiny tunnels.

Their vegetables are in constant rotation. They have harvestable vegetables every day, year round. When they aren’t planting or harvesting, they are preparing vegetables to fill their 4 freezers. When they’re not in the garden they’re thinking about the garden and its possibilities.

Both Diane and Paul admit, “We have always looked for opportunities to grow things”. Lucky for all of us.

“Lakewold: A Magnificent Northwest Garden”

The newly released book about the South Sound’s Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood reveals the garden’s heart and soul in essay form by those who have been most closely associated with it. Lakewold Gardens was the private estate of Eulalie Wagner and has been a public garden since 1989. According to the book, more than ten thousand people from around the world visit Lakewold each year.  “Lakewold: A Magnificent Northwest Garden” explains why.

Editor Ron Fields and producer Judy Wagner pulled together family, garden staff and respected horticultural experts (Foreword by Dan Hinkley) to share their first hand histories and backstories, beginning with the purchase of the property on Gravelly Lake in 1918 and its evolution from private estate to public garden.

Of course, the pictures are what “catch you”. Both archival and modern photographs are included. The book is a well-organized seasonal overview of Lakewold.  If you haven’t visited Lakewold Gardens yet this will get you there.

Distributed through University of Washington Press. 120 pages, $50

What times WHAT??

I suppose I COULD figure out how much soil, mulch or fertilizer I need for a garden section but…why?  Sixth grade math retrieval can take too long.  It’s easier to go to  www.kelloggarden.com and click on their lawn and flowerbed soil calculator. It takes about 3 seconds.  The calculator is especially helpful for raised beds.

Garden Tool Conundrum

Is it worth spending more money on stainless steel garden tools? Mud slides off stainless steel so it definitely pays to shell out extra for digging forks, shovels and spades. Buy a good one and you only have to buy one, not one a year. Tools like weeders that are used more often can be made of high carbon steel. Carbon steel holds its edge longer and is easier to sharpen. Pruning saws? Replaceable blade saws are the way to go.

Easiest? Fastest? Prettiest?

When first grade teachers want to show their kids the miracle of the seed, they choose nasturtiums. Nasturtiums are just about perfect. They come up fast; they grow like crazy and cover a large area in no time. They’re bright and cheery in all the colors of  fire…the yellows, oranges and reds. You can get them to climb or crawl or spill. You can cut them, bring them inside and turn a small bowl into a work of art. As long as they are grown without pesticides you can eat them. The flowers add color and a peppery/sweet to salads and pasta and even desserts. Those first grade teachers know stuff.

Why Heirloom Seeds?

Besides nostalgia, planting heirloom seeds serves a real purpose. Heirloom seeds come from plants whose progeny have been around for at least 50 years. They are open-pollinated (not manipulated by man).  Heirloom vegetables, flowers and herbs are a direct line to garden history; a history that didn’t commonly include  chemical pesticides.  Horticultural survival of the fittest. Heirloom seeds are purebred like poodles and golden retrievers. You MOSTLY know what you’re going to get even though they might vary a little in behavior.

OREGON GARDEN SELECTED AS DISPLAY GARDEN FOR NATIONAL AMERICAN GARDEN AWARD COMPETITION

One of Only 23 Chosen Gardens Nationwide, The Oregon Garden Will Display Seven New Flower Varieties that the Public May Visit and Vote on in May

Silverton, OR— The Oregon Garden is one of 23 public gardens nationwide to be selected as a display garden for the prestigious American Garden Award competition.

Each of the 23 participating gardens will display seven new flower varieties that some of the world’s most prominent breeders have selected to compete in this program.

Beginning May 13, the public is invited to view the flowers at The Oregon Garden and to vote on their favorites through August 31. The first, second and third-place winners will be announced in early September. Meanwhile, the seven new flower varieties will be available for purchase throughout the summer at a number of Oregon nurseries and independent garden retailers.

“We are honored to be selected as a display garden by such a prestigious organization,” said Heather Desmarteau-Fast, horticulture manager for The Oregon Garden. “This is a great opportunity for the public to vote and influence what plants will be available in stores and nurseries.”

Desmarteau-Fast adds that The Oregon Garden is in good company as the other display gardens chosen across the country include respected sites such as the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Denver Botanic Gardens and the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

The seven varieties entered in this year’s competition are: Dahlia ‘Dahlinova Hypnotica Lavender’; Dianthus ‘Kahori’; Ornamental Pepper ‘Uchu’; Petunia ‘Easy Wave™ Neon Rose’; Petunia milliflora ‘Picobella Rose Star’; Scaevola ‘Surdiva® Light Blue’; and ‘SunPatiens® Variegated Spreading White’.

The American Garden Award program is administered by All-America Selections (AAS), a national organization focused on promoting new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America. While most AAS trials are judged by horticultural professionals, the American Garden Award program gets the public involved so that they can share which plants they feel have the most appealing garden characteristics.

The Oregon Garden offers more than 80 acres that showcase the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest with more than 20 individual themed gardens and related attractions. The mission of The Oregon Garden is to welcome and inspire all visitors with an appreciation for the extraordinary ecology of the Pacific Northwest, and to provide a meaningful educational experience for gardeners of all skill levels and ages. The Oregon Garden offers memberships that help support new improvements and visitor programs. Visit www.OregonGarden.org or call (503) 874-8100 for more information.

THE FOOLER

The pale pink/white sporadic flowering street trees that you see all over the South Sound right now are the earliest (or depending on your point of view, the latest) blooming ornamental cherry trees. They are Prunus x subhirtella ‘autumnalis’. At some point back in the 1980’s the “autumnalis” must have been touted by every nurseryman, garden writer and master gardener class  because….the trees are EVERYWHERE! They fool you into thinking Spring is here…HA!

They shoot out a few blooms in autumn too…thus the name.

AMSONIA HUBRICHTII…GESUNDHEIT!

I’ve always wondered if growers get a “heads up” when the “Plants of the Year” are announced. Well, unless they’re on the committee, the growers read about it just like you and me. This year’s “Perennial Plant of the Year” is Amsonia hubrichtii. I questioned one of our local growers, Nils Sundquist, from Sundquist Nurseries, Pouslsbo.  Nils tell me he follows the announcements like the rest of us. Also, as a good local grower, he has grown it and can pass on this advice, “t does fine here in azalea culture (bright w/ decent soil, not dry).  It is fairly slug free.  It breaks dormancy late.  It’s polite, which is to say it doesn’t bulk up quickly but comes on steadily in the way that an azalea or heather does.  It is attractive in flower and for fall foliage.”  Now we know.

NAKED ROOTS

Otherwise known as “bare root”…there are some plants you can purchase now that are so incredibly inexpensive, it’s hard to believe they’ll actually grow. They look like dead twigs with dried up roots but they’re only sleeping. They’re true survivors. Roses, berries and fruit trees are the most common and most available but you can also get unusual deciduous shrubs, trees and perennials.

Naked sleeping plants are inexpensive because nurseries don’t have to spend time or extra money on containers and soil to “grow them on”. You can save from 20-70% on bare rooted plants.

Planting bare roots straight into your garden soil in February and March gets them established quicker than container grown plants put in the ground a few months later. Roots in containers have to fight through growers’ soil and THEN establish themselves into your soil.

Mailorder is better for more unusual varieties but give your local independent nurseries a call to see what they have available. They have the line on varieties that are better for the South Sound.

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, Feb. 23-27, is another good source. Vendors who sell bare root trees and shrubs also have bare root perennials of hosta, epimedium and arisaemas (Jack-in-the-pulpit). Take advantage.

GREEN THOUGHTS

“Green Thoughts” by Eleanor Perenyi was originally published in 1981. So, the fact that it was reprinted by Modern Library says a lot. Luckily, it was not updated, just reprinted. The only change is an introduction by food activitist/avid gardener, Michael Pollan.

It’s filled with essays that teach, tickle and touch. It’s perfect for this time of year. “Green Thoughts” is a sweet, quick read filled with plenty of old world charm. It slows you down and lets you enjoy some down time.

Are you ready for some…CHEESE BALLS??

When grocery stores begin stocking up on cheese balls and Chex mixes; the familiar square boxes of flowering Amaryllis bulbs can’t be far behind. But, don’t think of the giant flowering Amaryllis as just another Christmas cliché. Think of Amaryllis-in-a-Box as the easiest, least expensive and most amazing flowering houseplant you’ll ever grow. For about five dollars and five minutes, you can have a winter bloom that looks like it belongs in the tropics. Impressive.

Time Out!

Give yourself a holiday “time out”. Take a walk through Tacoma’s Wright Park Conservatory in December to get a dose of red poinsettias and fragrant paperwhites; then come right back in January for an early dose of spring when the conservatory is filled with miniature daffodils, tulips and cyclamen.  The 1908 Victorian glass house is always filled with unusual tropical greenhouse plants but it’s the outstanding flower displays that keep visitors coming back. www.metroparks.org

Best Gardening Gifts for You and Yours (mostly you)

Every gardener needs reliable tools and a few instructional and inspirational garden books. Good to give…good to get…here are the basics.

Tool-wise: Felco #2 Pruners, Bunny Brand Hori Hori Knife, Burgon and Ball Hand Rake, Japanese Nejiri Gama Hoe, Lawn Claws, Spear and Jackson Spade and Digging Fork and Atlas Grip Gloves.

Bookwise: “Sunset Western Garden Book”, “Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning”, “Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades” (Solomon), “Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast” (Pojar), and anything by Dan Hinkley, Ann Lovejoy, Penelope Hobhouse or Christopher Lloyd.

Green Cuisine

South Sound gardeners are NOT fair weather gardeners. If we were, we’d never get anything accomplished. However, from the current weather predictions it sounds like even the most dedicated Northwest gardeners will have too much rain and snow to slog through this winter to get an off-season gardening ‘fix’. Vegan Community to the rescue!

“Microgreens” (sprouts to the rest of us) can be grown on a windowsill and harvested in only ten days. Easy as 1,2,3…4.  The best containers for this mini gardening job are the clear plastic boxes you get in the produce aisle. Start a new box of  “greens” every few days to have tasty, spicy microgreens all winter to flavor salads and sandwiches. Growing microgreens isn’t exactly real gardening but it’s good “buffer gardening” until the real thing comes along again in the springtime.

Growing Microgreens on a Windowsill

1. Cut off the top of the plastic container and use as a drip tray. Fill with potting soil
2. Plant seeds of radish, mustard, arugula, cress, kale, lettuce and spinach either mixed or separated. (this is a great way to use up all of those half-planted packages of vegetable seeds you’ve squirreled away)
3. Put on windowsill, keep moist and wait about 10 days, then harvest with scissors.
4. Compost stems left in the container and replant.

Harvesting is kind of a pain but the gardening part is fun.