One of the greatest joys of a PNW garden in the colder months of the year is getting to observe winter bird species from the coziness of your own home. (Especially if you have a curious cat to birdwatch with you!) And, there are a LOT of things you can do as a gardener to… […]

As things quiet down and we settle in for the wet season ahead, we’re taking a little time to share a short list of the perfect fall plants to fill in an empty spot in the garden for fall and winter interest. We asked our staff straight up: What plants do we have this season… […]

Japanese maples are a diverse family of deciduous trees, adored for their beautiful foliage and graceful structure. There is huge variation in height, growth form, leaf shape, foliage coloring, and bark appearance, making Japanese maples a versatile option for any garden. Maples thrive in rich well-draining soil and in sun to part shade conditions, both… […]

  The best transplanting weather is cool and wet, but sometimes there are good reasons to plant during hot and dry weather. In the Pacific Northwest where we regularly experience drought from July well into September, knowing how to help plants cope in these conditions is an essential gardening skill. If you find yourself needing… […]

Many gardeners have heard that crop rotation is a good idea, but there’s a lot of confusion out there over how to make it happen. Especially when you’re working with a city-sized space or a container garden, a lot of advice you’ll find out there can sound impossible to follow. But, once you understand the… […]

What is Succession Planting? Simply put, succession planting means growing more than one crop, or growing several rounds of the same crop, in the same space within the same year. Does that sound a little intimidating? Don’t worry, it’s not as complex as you might think! If you want to make the most of your… […]

As the clouds part and the sun begins to peek through, we can’t help but look ahead to the bright blooms and lush greenery of summer. It can be so hard to hold back on planting more tender plants when early morning frosts, late snowfall, and rainy spring deluges may still wreak havoc on these… […]

It’s time to think about seeds! Here in the Pacific Northwest, many vegetable and summer flower seeds can be sown indoors starting in February to get a jump start on the season. The hardiest spring veggies can even be sown right into the ground by early March. As you begin to consult seed planting charts… […]

On the winter solstice, the northern hemisphere will be at its furthest tilt from the sun. We’ll mark our shortest day and longest night of 2021 here in the Pacific Northwest on December 21st . Then, our sunrises will creep earlier and our sunsets later. From the winter solstice on, the half of the planet… […]

When you think of a classic garden, you might picture an impressionist painting. But let’s try turning the clock just a little further back… or, you know, like 300,000,000 years back. While the trilobites of the Paleozoic era and the overgrown chickens of the Jurassic may be long gone, some of the plants that dominated… […]