This little northwest mist we just experienced reminds me that this is the time of year when all those little weed seeds that have been lying dormant in our soils suddenly get a notice from Mother Nature that it is time to wake up and start growing. There are 3 environmental signals that cause this […]

If you are looking for a shrub for your garden that is drought tolerant, blooms most of the summer, takes full sun, has fragrant flowers that attract pollinators and hummingbirds, is disease free, and is even deer resistant, look no further that the genus Abelia…

When I purchased Sunnyside Nursery in the fall of 1989, there was a large fig tree (actually a bush) growing in the back yard next to the old carriage house… Little did I know that a cutting from that very same fig would find its way back to the nursery almost 25 years later…

Due to the National Gardening Bureau declaring 2021 the Year of the Hardy Hibiscus, I find myself back once again visiting these reliable and late blooming perennial and shrubby plants. For color well into the end of summer, they are hard to beat. Let’s start with the perennial form first…

August can either be a month where the fruits of our labors and expressions of love come together into a glorious crescendo of all the wonderful colors of the rainbow, or it can be a time when we head out for vacations and ball games, and our yards become neglected barren patches of dried out […]

Now that the summer weather has arrived, it never fails that someone will ask me: “Can I still plant now or should I wait until the fall?” For the record, as a landscape contractor in the Sacramento Valley where it was routinely 85 to 105 degrees, I planted all summer long and never lost a […]

Summertime in the northwest is a great gardening time. There is lots of sunshine and warm soils to make plants grow, and as long as we remember to water, we can have some amazingly productive veggie gardens and luxurious landscapes (or at least some bodacious containers). Here are a few random comments to consider on […]

Summer watering is inevitable in the northwest if we want to keep our landscapes green and healthy…

There are few things that give me as much pleasure as being in my garden surrounded by a well fed and properly watered landscape. Plants that are well-cared-for not only…

Fuchsias! What does that name conger up for you? When I usually think of fuchsias, I visualize a beautiful hanging basket dripping with delicately formed blossoms of pinks, reds, purples and whites…