Late spring is such a beautiful time of year. Everything is freshly leafed out. Flowers brighten even the dullest of shrubs. Even on grey, rainy Seattle spring days the beauty of spring is refreshing and almost jarringly alive. Digging into the soil awakens scurrying beetles and various milli- and centipedes. Fat worms and young tiny […]
D. Overstreet of Fort Sam Houston, TX asks:
“My shrub leaves are yellow. What can I do to help my tree survive?”
Well, this is a common problem without a simple answer. Yellowing, often referred to as chlorosis, is caused by leaves lacking chlorophyll, which gives them their green color and allows them to create food for […]
Earlier this year, I had the special opportunity to meet Nori Burnett and get a personal tour of her moss garden in Richmond, Virginia. Over 30 years ago she began the process of incorporating moss into her garden in place of lawn. She had tried to establish lawns, but in her woodland setting it was […]
One of my clients who lives in a woodland setting recently wrote in to ask:
”What are the names of the dogwoods you mentioned (when we last met). (The nursery) had a lot, but it was hard to tell if they were the ones you mentioned.”
Response:
Two nice twig dogwoods for you to consider are:
Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’: Yellow […]
This winter I’m acutely aware of plants that are providing winter interest through berries, blooms, fragrance, colorful foliage and interesting texture. Many clients keep talking about how boring their gardens are when everything is “dead”. I remind them that most isn’t truly dead but instead is growing actively underground. This provides them some relief that […]
As I walked from my driveway into my back door, I received a two-fold reward for my efforts in building winter interest into my garden.
First, I heard the distinctive chirp of a hummingbird. I couldn’t find him with my eyes, but was in my garden. I have lured him with my plantings and my lack […]
Over the last year I’ve noticed a significant number of Douglas Fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) declining rapidly in my neighborhood. They are showing signs of apical dieback, which rapidly progresses from the tip of the tree downward. All of the trees that I am noticing are
On private property so I can’t easily access the roots, […]
Today I attended a lecture with internationally renowned plant pathologist Olaf Ribeiro. And, boy did I learn a lot. Mainly I learned that my strong belief in continuing education means that I attend lectures like this in order to learn how much I really don’t know.
Okay, so I do know a few things about plants […]
Yesterday I enjoyed my lunch on the patio. The number of warm sunny days is going to start declining with autumn starting up, so I relaxed and really enjoyed watching the insects busy at work in the garden. Honey bees were busy working away, harvesting pollen from a huge flowering Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. Enormous spiders […]
Recently I went out of town for a little under two weeks. When I returned, I noticed my Carex ‘Frosty Curls” had become a collector of dead leaves & garbage. Too, they had started taking over my front entry walk, which they edge. It was time to do a quick clean up!
‘Frosty Curls’ Carex is […]