New article

New article up at the Examiner, on the Nicotiana Perfume Deep Purple:

New article up at the Examiner, on North American native plant goldenrod:

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A quick article at the Examiner: sale on garden books (and garden products) at Pinetree Seeds:

Today was the day of perennials. I finally got to start planting them. ‘Pink Petticoats’ evening primrose- although this species blooms in the day instead of the evening, and isn’t fragrant; ‘Pink Dreams’ nepetas, a catmint with light pink flowers instead of the usual purple ones (and sadly, no scent- I count on nepetas as one of my stinky deer deterrent plants); more ‘Cherry Brandy’ rudbeckias- I didn’t expect the ones from last year to make it through the winter so I started more of them. And amsonnia- I got some seedlings from a client’s garden while cleaning up last year and they look good; I’m looking forward to their blue blossoms next year. Don’t want to put the echinacea mix in until I see what colors they turn out to be, and the area for the hollyhocks isn’t cleaned up yet. So tomorrow it’s grooming miniroses and finding a home for the salvia argentea- I love those furry silver plants, but they do take up room. And need a non-boggy spot- hard to come by in our garden. And figure out what to do with a bunch of ‘Palisandra’ coleus I thought we’d sell at the market- lovely, almost black plants but damn there’s a lot of them. And then weed again… and then…

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on 'Summer Wine' ninebark:

Herb day

Finally got the last of the herbs planted. Seems kind of silly, to be doing that so late in the season, but I hope we’ve still got at least a month left before frost. They’re all on the protected side of the house and in large containers rather than in the ground, so they should pass through the first light frosts anyway. We’ve not been herb-less up to now; I’ve had some potted up on the porch for quite awhile and have been using them, but I had extra seedlings because I thought we’d be selling them at the market. No sense letting them go to waste; I like to freeze parsley and basil and haven’t had enough to do that in a couple of years. Now I should have tons. The new herb of the year is saltwort; had never even heard of it before finding it in the seed catalog this spring. I’ll try anything as long as it’s not mint or licorice tasting! It’s slow; not large enough to try yet. Looking forward to it. Lots of red shiso this year; for once I got good germination. I never seem to actually *use* it, but it’s so beautiful! So dark, and ruffley. A lovely, gothy foliage plant. Must try it in soup or stew this year. Didn’t like it in a salad, and we don’t make sushi or tempura- so far. That is what I got done today.

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on the easiest way to create a new garden bed!

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on lemon basil! http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/herbs-lemon-basil

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on flowers commonly brought into the house that are poisonous:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/cut-flowers-poison

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on cutting back pansies in summer for more bloom!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/cutting-pansies-back-summer

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on cosmos, that easiest of flowers!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/annual-cosmos

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New article up at the Examiner, on catnip:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/herbs-catnip

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on cherry worms:
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/cherry-worms