Many a lucky woman has been given the name Lily. Lilies represent innocence and purity, elegance and beauty. If you grow them in your own garden, you know why. The common Lilium hybrids are easy to grow, naturalize, are long-blooming and match just about any color palette. Another amazing thing about lilies is that they […]
Colleen Miko, CPH
A Certified Professional Horticulturist, freelance garden writer and speaker, Colleen Miko has over 20 years of experience in landscape design, having designed award-winning gardens for the Point Defiance and NW Flower & Garden shows. Her television debut as winning designer on the HGTV show “Landscaper’s Challenge” aired in 2007. Colleen is the horticulture educator for Washington State University Kitsap Extension, where she oversees the Master Gardener Program and Rain Garden Mentor Program.
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Make Your Very Own Unique Stepping Stones
Looking for a fabulous garden project to spur your creativity and add personality to your yard? Making stepping stones is an easy way to accomplish both. The following instructions will walk you through everything you need to know and all the materials needed to complete this fun project at home. Louise Martin of Port Orchard […]
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Exploring Plant Textures
Texture. It’s a word used to describe plants and how they look and feel to the touch. What plants do you think of when you hear the words silky, prickly, smooth, fuzzy, papery? Do you think of bark, leaves, stems or flowers? Nancy Hansen, owner of specialty nursery Glenwood Gardens, knows a thing or two […]
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Plants and Proprietors with Local Roots
A cool Northwestern day is the perfect time to duck into a greenhouse, replete with the warmth of solar energy coming through the walls, pleasantly humid as plants exhale pure oxygen, and fragrant with the earthy perfume of rich soil. Greenhouses can be comforting places where plants and people are insulated from the harsh weather […]
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Extending the Season With a Hoop House
Hoop houses are a simple tool to improve success with year-round vegetable gardening in the Pacific Northwest. Constructed of basic, inexpensive materials and with the potential for easy relocation, hoop houses are essentially mini-greenhouses that anyone can build and utilize. And like a greenhouse, a hoop house provides a protective, warmer environment for plants that […]
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Outdoor Living Manette Style
The buzz phrase in landscape design these days is outdoor living — creating garden “rooms” that effectively extend living space beyond the home. The Clarks have mastered this concept in the redesign of their yard, a project started a decade ago. This is a garden the whole family and community enjoys. Jean, Darin and their […]
Posted inFeatured, Food & Entertainment
Feel-Good Café in West Bremerton
At one time everyone in America could walk down to the neighborhood café and enjoy a relaxing meal, or just a cup o’ joe. In West Bremerton, thanks to Heidi and Lowell Yoxsimer, you can do this again. Stepping into Hi-Lo’s 15th Street Café does feel a bit like stepping back in time to a […]
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Seasonal Bouquets at The Bloedel Reserve — Floral Serendipity
Cathy Tyler has a sweet job. She’s the florist for the Bloedel Reserve and with the assistance of volunteers, creates fresh arrangements for the visitors center, tends the cutting gardens and checks the existing bouquets to make sure they are still looking new. The French-country-styled house that was the Bloedel family residence is now the […]
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How to Care for Your Garden’s Asset — Trees
Between the time when we rake the last of autumn’s confetti from our lawns and the day we first glimpse the bright petals on the bare branches of the cherry, most of us never give a single thought to trees. Meanwhile, arborists, professional maintenance crews and gardeners in the know are concentrating more on trees […]