“She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined.” ~ Erin Hanson January is not just about resolutions. It is the beginning of a new year, new plants and new joy. Not sure the growing season has begun? Look at […]
Debbie Teashon
A garden writer, author, garden speaker, and award-winning photographer, Debbie Teashon's career spans many decades. Her speaking engagements include the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, Tacoma Home & Garden Show, and at garden clubs across the Northwest. She's been a guest on Garden Time television show in Oregon, and radio programs such as Gardening with Ciscoe on 97.3 FM KIRO radio, and Poppy Tucker's Louisiana Eats on NPR. Online since 1998, Teashon's web site Rainy Side Gardeners (rainyside.com) focuses on regional gardening west of the Cascades. Her articles and photographs appear in local, national, and international magazines, and newspapers. Gardening most of her adult life, she is always on the hunt for new varieties of plant material, or creating new container designs using beautiful pottery or repurposed items.
Posted inGarden
Conifers — Anchors of the Garden
Everyone who lives in Washington knows the official nickname “The Evergreen State” comes from an abundance of evergreen fir, spruce, cedar and pine trees that grow within its borders. Another nickname, “The Green Tree State,” also comes from a plenitude of shrubs and trees with broad-leaf and coniferous, all-season, green foliage. Our state motto, “Alki,” […]
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Hydrangeas for Every Garden
The best reason to grow hydrangeas in our region is that they bloom outside the spring season. After the magnificent, large rhododendron shrubs finish, most gardeners want to continue the flower extravaganza into summer and fall. Hydrangeas are one of the most popular shrubs to choose for this reason. When you think about hydrangeas, your […]
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Trees of Merit
Nothing enhances home and garden quite like well-grown trees. They provide an anchor for the landscape and shelter for birds. Trees outlive their owners and see generations of people pass under their boughs. Gardens come and go, yet a tree remains as a legacy to the ones who planted them. With so many trees to […]
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Beyond the Bearded Iris
Thou are the iris, fair among the fairest Who, armed with golden rod And winged with the celestial azure, bearest The message of some god… ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfelllow When mentioning an iris, the most common image conjured up in mind is the pass-along plant commonly called the bearded iris. Many of its cultivars came […]
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Dream Big — with New Plant Introductions
With the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival canceled for 2021, and with a few months left of rainy, cold winter to face, what’s a passionate gardener to do? Get out your paper and sharpen your pencils because it’s time to dream big. This year’s new plant introductions will paint your garden in exciting flowers and […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Love the Tweedle out of ‘Oh, La La!’
Garden books are often dry and read more like an encyclopedia. Yet not so with Ciscoe Morris’ book, “Oh, La La!: Homegrown Stories, Helpful Tips, and Garden Wisdom.” Well known for the tales he peppers into his garden talks, Morris has a talent for storytelling. He takes his readers on a pleasurable journey through the […]
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A Plantsman’s Garden
In a hidden place in Kingston, there lurks a plantsman’s 5-acre garden. Walk through this special place, and you almost believe you are on a tropical island. Your eyes follow the lines of a trunk up into the canopy of fronds from the windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei). Farther into the garden are tall towers of […]
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Garden of the Rising Sun
A home with a view is a much-sought-after property to purchase. However, trees grow, homes spring up, and a once-grand vista sometimes diminishes or disappears. For Susan and John Erickson, this would not do. Fortunately, an empty lot between their home and a panorama of the entrance to Port Ludlow Bay kept their view intact. […]