Once a year, for the past 29 years, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show has awakened visitors’ senses to the sights and sounds of spring, but the magic does not happen overnight. It’s a choreography that begins during the current show, and work on the next year begins soon after the show closes and is […]
Elena J. Williams
An American Rose Society Master Consulting Rosarian, Elena J. Williams grows 160 roses in Kitsap County. Sixty of those roses were moved from Minnesota ten years ago and are thriving better than they could have in the frozen tundra. Elena is retired from being a teacher librarian and she participates in Kitsap Rose Society and Tacoma Rose Society.
Posted inGardeners Corner
Better Garden Bounty with the Help of Mason Bees
I am not a mason bee expert but I recognize and benefit from their hard work during rainy weather. A few years ago, my strawberries were seedy and not uniformly plump and succulent, so I contacted my local Master Gardener for ideas about what was going on in my fruit garden. The diagnosis was “a […]
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Orchids as Houseplants
Once grown exclusively as a hobby of the wealthy, orchids are now available to every interested gardener. Perhaps you received one as a gift and wonder what to do after the bloom fades, or perhaps you’ve seen them for sale and want to buy one. They are not throwaway holiday plants if you understand how […]
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Sustainable Rose Growing
Sustainable growing means different things to different people. In organic gardening and farming, a sustainable growing system minimizes what enters and leaves the system, using only what is sustainable to the environment. Beyond that, sustainability is a local concept. For example, collecting water in rain barrels is considered sustainable in Western Washington but not in […]
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Start Your Winter-Blooming Garden
Color in the garden does not have to end when the skies turn gray and rainy. Some gardeners even like the challenge of having something blooming or showing color 12 months a year. Here are three very reliable plants that can get you started on that goal. Daphne Sometimes called winter daphne, this evergreen plant […]
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Clematis — the Perfect Companion Plant
Do you have a problem structure in your garden? Perhaps there is an ugly shed or very functional fence calling for a color pop on your property? Clematis could be the answer to your design needs. They are available in many colors and heights. This vine plant comes in over 100 readily available varieties, each […]
Posted inGardeners Corner
Time for Fall Garden Cleanup
Some gardeners ignore or forget a very important part of the garden year. But you should think of it as getting ready to plant again. With the decrease in daylight, our plants are slowing down and it is a good time to remove all spent annual and garden plants and consider planting a few garlic […]
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Time to Plant Your Fall and Winter Garden
Just when the summer drought begins and the early garden is being harvested, it is time to begin thinking about continuing the planting for harvest into fall and winter. If you wait too late in the year, new seedlings will not germinate but established plantings will continue their slow growth. Many gardeners in West Sound […]
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Planting Lilies for Continuous Bloom
Sometimes overlooked when planning the West Sound garden, lilies make great perennial accent points during their season of bloom. This area has a few commercial growing fields and sources for bulbs, but no plant clubs in the immediate area. Lilies are very popular in the Midwest due to their winter hardiness. In West Sound, the […]