Share the joy24 Like any activity with a long history, gardening has its share of traditions. Some of these are sound practices, while others should have been thrown on the compost heap long ago. Seed-starting is one gardening project that seems especially steeped in lore. And with good reason—the whole process of turning a dead-looking speck of dust into a vibrant,… Read more →
Share the joy189 2 If you’ve noticed that there don’t seem to be as many monarch butterflies around in the summer as there used to be, it’s not your imagination. Largely due to habitat loss, the monarch population has dwindled. I’ve learned that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready crops are likely the biggest culprit, causing me to question my earlier, overly rosy opinion on GM crops. These… Read more →
Share the joy14 2 If I had to pick a favorite flower, I think it would be the daffodil. Does that make me a narcissist? Narcissus is a fascinating genus of plants. You wouldn’t think that daffodils would be so diverse. After all, they only come in a limited palette of yellow, orange, and white, and the form that makes a… Read more →
Share the joy17 Have you ever wondered why the number of asthma and allergy sufferers has skyrocketed in recent years? Thomas Ogren thinks he knows the biggest reason for the spike, and he explains what we can do about it in his new book, The Allergy-Fighting Garden: Stop Asthma and Allergies with Smart Landscaping (Ten Speed Press). [Disclosure: I did… Read more →
Share the joy38 6 Until this winter, I only knew Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata) as a handsome but dinky conifer I’d seen at garden centers selling for what could feed a family of four for a month. Then I learned in Phyllis Reynolds’ Trees of Greater Portland (Macrophyllum Press, 2013) that Portland is home to several mature specimens and that I… Read more →
Share the joy4 Birders sometimes use the term “LGB.” It stands for “Little Gray Birds” and is a shorthand way to note sightings of birds that are too unremarkable in plumage to ID. In the Pacific Northwest, we gardeners might adopt a similar lumping acronym: “BGC.” To the untrained eye, the bounty of evergreen trees here with soft sprays of foliage,… Read more →
Share the joy5 Are you opposed to GMOs, but secretly wish you knew more about the details to better back up your case? Are you OK with GMOs, but don’t know how to refute anti-GMO arguments? Are you undecided? GMOs Get Personal At different times in my life, I’ve held all three of these points of view. The issue got personal… Read more →
Share the joy16 9 A Wishing Tree! That’s so Portland. This humble horsechestnut on the corner of NE 7th and Morris in Portland is the bearer of hundreds of wishes tacked to its trunk by passersby. I visited the Wishing Tree last week after reading about it online. Our local KGW did a story on it earlier this year, as did The… Read more →
Share the joy33 Winter forces us to look closer for beauty in the garden. No more cantaloupe-sized hydrangea flowers, no flamboyant dahlias, no voluptuous tree peonies. We look to the details to find beauty in unexpected places. My neighbor has an English holly that hangs over the fence in the corner of our backyard. The leaves it drops are thick and… Read more →
Share the joy40 1 Planting a paperbark maple is one thing you must do to be considered a Serious Gardener. (The other two are gardening after dark by the light of your car headlights, and asking for manure for your birthday.) But novice gardeners can get in on the fun, too, because the choice paperbark maple (Acer griseum) is surprisingly easy… Read more →
