Posts Tagged ‘spring’

Bird Brain Homemaking Tips

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

The birds have spring fever. Their chorus begins before the sun comes up. Their foraging lasts until twilight begins. The  males’ colors are brightening, and too, their dances and preening and battling for territory is heating up. Our airborne recyclers are collecting trash, pet hair, twigs, leaves, mud, and all sorts of other debris to create cozy little homes for their soon-to-hatch flocks.

A robin nesting in a Viburnum

A robin nesting in a Viburnum

In my day-t0-day working in multiple gardens, I hear tales of bird craziness. Yesterday, a client told me she had a “crazy bird” that kept trying to get through her windows to nest in a fake ficus tree in her living room. The bird would fly at the window and fail. Then, it would pop along the deck looking for entry at other window points. Despite the fantastic forest backdrop view we see from these windows, this bird was determined to live indoors. Sadly, the same client mentioned she had stopped decorating with seasonal hanging pots because one year a bird had built a nest in one of the pots. She hadn’t known about it and had managed to drown the babies when watering the plant. So goes survival of the fittest.

Wren Nest in Bike Helmet

Wren Nest in Bike Helmet

In my own garden, I have at least one pair of house wrens nesting smartly in a woven basket style birdhouse I hung on a climbing hydrangea. The nest is somewhat hidden and high off the ground in a spot that would be difficult for a cat to access. Too, the branches aren’t quite strong enough to support a hungry larger bird. In my neighbor’s Doublefile Viburnum, a robin is nesting. She’s well hidden, but I can spy her out my office window. So can Twinky the cat, but he never goes outdoors, so he’s no threat to her. Here’s an update with sitings of her eggs!

My favorite bird brained nesting story came this morning from my sister in Virginia. Her daughter’s bike helmet had been hanging outdoors, cup side up long enough for a house wren to make her nest and lay eggs in it. I guess my niece will be getting a new helmet for spring because they’re all very excited to see the eggs hatch. Hopefully, she’ll send more photos as the baby birds emerge. I know I’ll be watching!

Have your own crazy spring bird stories? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!

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Spring 2009 Plant Sales in Seattle

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Newest Sale Updates Included Below…just scroll down…

Seattlites are in a spring daze of summer weather this week. It won’t last, but go ahead and dream. Start your shopping lists. Mark your calenders. Pull your weeds. Test your soil. Amend your soil. And get ready. The best spring plant sales around are just, well, around the corner. Following are a few of the many not to miss:

Organic Buttercrunch Lettuce

Organic Buttercrunch Lettuce

Lake Washington Technical College Environmental Horticulture Spring Plant Sale

When: Friday, April 24th-Saturday, April 25th and Friday, May 1st-Saturday, May 2nd . 9am-3pm each day

Where: 11605 132nd Avenue NE Kirkland, WA 98034

My alma mater! Find a huge array of perennials, woody shrubs, annuals, hanging baskets all propagated and cared for by students for the benefit of the program itself. Plus, Northwest Nurseries will be offering wholesale prices on prime trees, shrubs and perennials. This is a not-to-miss event!

Tilth Edible Plant Sale

When: Saturday, May 2-Sunday May 3, 9am-3pm each day

Where: Meridian Park in the Wallingford Neighborhood

Want to check out some city chickens? Need some organically grown edible starts or herbs or perennials or interested in composting? Or, maybe you just want to spend a day outdoors with the family. This is a great spot for all of these choices — and more!

Florabundance! Seattle Arboretum Foundation Plant Sale

When: Saturday, April 25, 9am-5pm & Sunday, April 26, 10am-3pm

Where: 7400 Sandpoint Way NE Seattle, WA

Species cultivators, plant collectors, and fine specialty nurseries will be on hand. Consider joining the Seattle Arboretum, which will get you into the sale early on Friday, April 24th from 5:30-8pm.

Master Gardeners Plant & Book Sale

When: Saturday, May 2, 2009, 8am-5pm and Sunday, May 3, 2009, 10am-3pm

Where: UW Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) in Seattle, WA

Proceeds support the Master Gardener Foundation of King County which is a not-for-profit organization formed to raise the funds needed to operate all of the educational programs organized and staffed by the more than 650 volunteer Master Gardeners of King County. These programs include 34 plant problem clinics, 11 demonstration / outreach gardens, 17 youth garden sites, free public classes in a variety of locations, a speaker’s list, 11 portable classroom teaching kits for use in schools and community groups and a diagnostics center in Seattle.

Are you involved in a local plant sale (or even one outside Seattle) that you would like to see listed on gardenhelp.org? Please feel free to submit it here, and we’ll post details for others.

New Sales Added!

Early Bloomers Sale
When: Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Graham Visitors Center at the Arboretum

The charming, volunteer-run sale features plants propagated from specimens in the Arboretum collection, as well as others donated to us by area gardeners. Shoppers will find a great selection of early-blooming perennials such as epimediums and trilliums, as well a wonderful array of young shrubs, conifers, and small trees. For more information, call 206-325-4510.

Broadview Garden Club Plant Sale

When: April 25th 10-2pm

Where: Broadview Thompson School on Greenwood and 130ish in Seattle.

Just in from Sue at Dunn Gardens: This may be a small sale, but it’s local and with some little treasures like Dunn Garden trillium and snowdrops. If you can”t get to the big ones, it’s fun and a good group. (If it can get up there, I tell you I’m grabbing some Trillium!)


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Robin’s View of Winter & Preview of Spring

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Today I woke up to more sprinklings of snow on the ground and flurries flying through the air. It was cold and grey and seemed like just another wintery Seattle day in January.

Robins Drinking & Bathing

Robins Drinking & Bathing

Then I caught sight of my namesake bird, the robin. Actually, a flock of them, gathering around an ice-water filled cauldron in my garden — the same cauldron that my great-grandparents used to wash clothes and cook. A flock of them was jumping through my beds scratching up layers of mulch looking for worms and grubs. And, they took turns hopping to the edge of the cauldron for a drink of fresh water, or in some cases a dip in an icy pool.

My mom always told me she named me Robin for the first bird of spring. (I was born a few days into spring, so her hope of naming me Spring didn’t quite fit. Though, I wouldn’t have minded the name at all!). Funny thing is robins really don’t seem to be the harbingers of spring, or at least not anymore. Maybe they’ve adapted or maybe they’ve really be hanging out in our gardens all winter and somehow we just didn’t notice. Granted, their red chests do turn a dull rusty-brown in winter, but to me, they remain distinctive — especially when they have a garden party feasting on fermented winter berries and then go falling down drunk from the tree branches, crashing to the soil, stunned in a drunken stupor.

Cauliflower Seed Germinating

Cauliflower Seed Germinating

So, if the robins weren’t my preview of spring, what in the world could be spring like on a snowy, icy day like today? Well, how about the first germinating seedlings in my 2009 vegetable garden? Yes, the cauliflower, kale and cabbage that I seeded just two days ago is already beginning to germinate. Yesterday, the seedling tray enjoyed bright, warm sunlight in a southfacing window. Today, the furnace continues to provide these babies with much-needed bottom heat, and there is some diffused wintery light filtering their way. It was a joy to see the seed casing breaking away, fuzzy rootlets pushing downward and just the hint of dicot leaves threatening to emerge. Spring, summer and fantastic homegrown food is not far into the future — even if it snowy and the robins are taking Polar Bear Club ice baths today.

Now if I can just keep my cat, Twinky, from trying to make the seedling trays into his own personal bed — stupid kitty keeps trying to lay on it and just slips off. I pray he doesn’t take the whole tray down on his next attempt. He has learned to hate the spray bottle. When I brought it over to mist the seedlings earlier today, he hightailed it out of sight. So, I’ve set the spray bottle next to the seedling tray as a warning. So far, today, so good. But, he’s bound to push my gardening buttons at some point soon.

Read more on the idea of robins as the first day of spring here.

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Seattle Area Spring Plant Sales

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

Looking for a list of 2009 Plant Sales? Check here!

Even though I keep waking up to frosty rooftops and occasionally watch snow mixed with rain falling from the sky as storms roll through, now is the time of year to watch for great plant sales. Nurseries begin sending out coupons, various garden club plant sale signs begin popping up on street corners, and the “regular” seasonal sale schedule reminders start showing up in the mail. Following are a few of my favorite spring sales. Consider hitting a few yourself!
plants_176_132_3.jpg

If you have a favorite plant sale in the greater Seattle area that isn’t listed here, please let me know here, and I will be glad to share it with our readers.

If you’re looking for the 2009 plant sale list, it will be posted soon. It may be sunny and warm in Seattle at the moment, but it isn’t quite time to put those baby starts out in the garden just yet. Please check in again soon, or fill out the gardenhelp form here to request notification of up-coming sales.

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Garden Coach on Spring Gardening Tips & Coaching Observations

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

The last week has been really busy for my garden coaching business. I’ve been all over the greater Seattle area, working hand-in-hand with clients to help them prepare their gardens for the active growing season. I’m returning to see many clients who started working with me last fall, and the progress in each of their gardens is quite measurable. Most have been working on garden renovation projects over the winter. A few highlights of client progress include:

  • Removing a few plants that were overgrown and becoming overcrowded; this provided more light and air to the remaining plants.
  • Cleaning out Japanese Maples to remove dead and to renovate old stump cuts
  • Weeding, weeding and more weeding
  • Improving soil by digging out weeds, rocks and then adding in composted materials like steer manure or mixed woody compost materials
  • Thinking and watching — planning for what to do next
  • Building raised planters and trellises on which berries and vegetables will grow this year

Those are just a few things that clients are doing. The great joy I get in seeing their progress is compounded when they tell me how excited they’ve been in anticipation of my return. So, yes, I love my job! Knowing that I’m empowering people and that the advice I’ve given them is encouraging them to do more and to feel good about it, well that gives me a charge. And, seeing that my clients are doing much, Much, MUCH better gardening work after spending time with me tells me I must be doing something right. So, if these clients are doing so well following their first session with me, why do I go back in the Spring?

Well, there’s the confirmation and affirmation that I provide. I review their work and help them understand next steps toward improving their work. Often they’re ready by the second or third lesson to begin expanding their pruning. Once they get the basics down, I can start teaching them how to break the basic rules in order to really manipulate the garden. In spring, we’re ready to talk fertilizers. Gardens are showing their weedy nature, so its time for weed ID lessons. Its time to plan vegetable gardens (are your snow peas planted yet?!). And, its time to look at spots that didn’t survive the winter or maybe are just ready for a bit more TLC.

As I work with each client, I customize the session based on the work they’ve achieved, the work the garden needs, and the time available to us. This week I did a lot of hydrangea pruning lessons. After I demonstrate the technique, I set the client to work on the remaining plants. And, I can’t just sit still. As they make their way through the plants themselves, I sit on my hands answering questions (often with questions of my own) until the client is clipping away with confidence. And, sitting on my hands often means I’m tackling the next shrub in line for a lesson, perhaps a tangled morass of Garrya or a ramshackle rhodie building my way to the next lesson and the next step for the client.

A few outstanding items that I find myself reiterating again & again. So listen up! This is important stuff!

  • Use good quality tools. Cheap ones don’t pay off in the long run. Pay a little more to get a better saw or a better set of shears. Your hands, shoulders, checkbook and plants will thank you in the long run!
  • Take care of your tools! Sterilize them so you don’t pass disease from limb to limb or from plant to plant. Keep them clean and sharp. If they’re nicked or dull, you may injure yourself or plants!
  • Don’t over do it. One small injury can set you back weeks and weeks. Set small, realistic goals. When you complete them, think twice before taking on another large task. Make sure you leave the garden happier at the end of the day than you started at the beginning.

So, next week is the first week I have set a schedule for specific articles, once a week, to be added to this site. While on vacation, I realized that I hadn’t been adding as much targeted, specific information on this site as I had originally planned. My scheduled articles are pretty well mapped out until June. However, I enjoy your specific requests and would be happy to provide articles based on reader requests.

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Garden Coach on Winter Becomes Spring — What a Difference Two Weeks Makes!

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Yesterday I returned to Seattle from Virginia. I’d spent two weeks visiting family after speaking at the Maymont Garden Show. During that time, I was amazed by the flip-flopping weather. We went from 75 one morning to frozen ground by evening. We went from clear blue skies one morning to wind and rain that made it feel like we were driving under ocean waves. And, I watched spring begin to appear. Bare branches gave way to yellow forsythia, red maple, white pear and pink plum blossoms. Ground broke open as new green shoots appeared, hellebores blossomed and daffodils unfurled. As I watched these daily changes, I knew Seattle would be bursting at the seams with color given the spring awakening I enjoyed in Virginia.

After being awake for nearly 21 hours, sleeping only about 4 before that long stint of wakefulness, I enjoyed walking Shiloh with Bob in the “spring forward” evening last night. Our neighborhood was bursting with color. Everything from white to pink showered over the Pieris shrubs. Candytuft covered rockeries in white spring snow. Pink plums were fluffing in the breeze. And all manner of bulb were popping up. Spring and winter camellias were in full bloom. Hellebores were stunning. My daphne (and others like it) were filling the air with their distinctive fragrance. Manzanita blossom buds were swelling. Flowering winter currant pink clusters are drooping open. Bergenia pink appeared out of nowhere. Rhodie buds are swelling and Azaleas are filled with blossoms. Winter bloomers like witch hazel and garrya are forming fruit as flowers fade. Corylopsis and Corylus are showing off yellow flowering chains. Pussy willows are pollenating fuzz everywhere. Viburnum buds are swelling with a bit of pink that will bring forth even more brilliant fragrance soon. And, all of this appeared in just two short weeks.

Of course the nasties are also starting to rear their ugly heads. Fields of shotweed are in full bloom. Dandelions are arrayed in fresh green growth with brilliant yellow blossoms. Dock seedlings are growing rapidly. And, I’m sure other issues I haven’t quite seen are short behind these.

As I write this, I think of the things that are next up to be done in my own garden. The weeds need to be managed, epimedium and sword fern old growth needs removing before new growth emerges, last ornamental grasses need trimming down, twig dogwoods need a final trimming, and it’s time to do a few perennial divisions.

A gardener’s garden is never done!

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