I love this perennial but it’s a thug! It’s so invasive we had to dig it up and put it in a pot where it can’t escape. And we have to keep weeding it out of the garden. It’s very pretty though, and it brings a lot of pollinators into the garden, so it’s worth keeping in its pot.
Read more →We grew this Penstemon hybrid from seed last year. We’re looking forward to another banner year of flowers, vegetables, and fruit from our garden this year. It’s supposed to be sunny all week and we’re planning to get a lot of gardening done!
Read more →Last year’s bumper crop of red raspberries lingers in memory as we toil away pruning, weeding, and tying canes to the new support system we’re building. A lot of work but oh so worth it!
Read more →We found this big boy on one of our forest walks. It’s about 8 inches long and called a Pacific banana slug. One of several species of slugs native to the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Thankfully this guy normally stays out of our garden.
Read more →Another wonderful native plant found in gardens everywhere is Oregon grape, Mahonia aquifolium. Cultivated varieties of this native, sometimes called nativars, include ‘Compacta’, a somewhat dwarf compact variety. We found this one on our walk through the forest at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend.
Read more →Daffodils, Narcissus species and hybrids, are fantastic garden subjects because they’re beautiful (and fragrant), totally low maintenance, and best of all deer don’t eat them because they are poisonous. Our town is overrun by deer so it’s great to find something they won’t mow down.
Read more →Japanese flowering quince, Chaenomeles japonica, is in full flower right now in Western Washington. It’s a deciduous shrub that bears flowers in clusters on leafless spiny branches in very early spring.
Read more →The colors of Easter are sported by Rhododendron ‘PJM’ and yellow Narcissus as we spring ahead into daylight savings time today. Spring is in full sway here in the Pacific Northwest in mid March – our last light frost was a couple weeks ago.
Read more →One of our prettiest native shrubs, the red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), begins blooming in late February early March just in time for migrating rufus hummingbirds on their way north. Garden cultivars include ‘King Edward VII’ and ‘White Icicle’.
Read more →More summer flowers to look forward to. This is blackeyed Susan, Rudbekia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’, a strong perennial that blooms profusely every year from mid-summer through fall.
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