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Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 06:16:12 pm
 This is my evergreen barberry (with a ceanothus in the background and a few sprigs of rosa glauca mixed in.) It's going crazy right now with arching branches of neon orange blossoms. It's the most intensely flowered barberry I've ever seen. Well, I have seen another just as stunning: at the fabled Heronswood Nursery in Kingston where I bought mine as a small twig. Started by plant explorer Dan Hinkley and his partner Robert Jones the small nursery soon grew both in size and world-wide reputation. But Hinkley and Jones sold Heronswood to Burpee a few years ago with much controversy. Now, the pair have a new home and stunning garden in Indianola. TNT reporter Debbie Cafazzo and I visited Dan last week and the busy author, lecturer and world traveler graciously gave us a tour of the garden and talked about life post-Heronswood. You can read the story and see my photos in this Saturdays Home&Garden section in the The News Tribune. Oh, the barberry...Dan (who has one growing in Indianola) told us last week that he collected the seeds for this bush on the same Chilean island that Charles Darwin collected seeds from. I think I'll name mine "Charlie."
Categories: Gardening News, Flowers
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 04:16:27 pm
I am always talking with reporter Stacey Mulick, the star diva of our Crime & Breaking News Team, about various garden things. If her boss would let me, I'd poach her off the C&BN team and make her a full time SoundLifer and garden writer. As if that will ever happen, but a garden editor can dream, can't she? This week, we've been talking repeatedly about our tulips. Until this week, mine were stilted and short (no sun!!) and hers have been MIA thanks to a few crazy critters in her yard. So she poses the following as a question-slash-gripe for all of you, our faithful Get Growing readers:
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 08:00:00 am
Out at the Willapa garden last weekend I worked on our wind-damaged greenhouse a bit and then decided to build my mom a bean pole frame. The one she's been using for years was super flimsy and would fall over once the beans got too big.  The top of a cedar tree blew out in the Dec. 1 storm, landing squarely on a fence surrounding some pear trees. After replacing the fence and bucking up the top I set aside some limbs. That's what we do at Willapa: never let good cedar go to waste. For generations my family has been using cedar limbs and saplings to mark our oyster land. All wood rots eventually but cedar lasts longer than most. Cedar is such an amazing wood. First peoples used them (and still do) for canoes, clothing, housing, masks, chests and hundreds of other purposes. These limbs were very curving as they are want to be so I made two tripods and then inserted an extra long one across the two tripods. It's all secured with super strong twine. Mom will plant pole beans at the base of each leg and let them twine up and across the horizontal pole. I'll let you know whether this one falls over or not. Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 09:35:00 pm
This is my Viburnum burkwoodii. I can't say it's my favorite shrub but this time of year it really shines. And smells. It smells great, actually - perfuming the spring air with a sweet scent.  My 10 year old plant is about 10 feet tall and eight feet wide. It has a very airy habit and is semi deciduous. This is the time of year when 3 inch balls of white flowers fill the air with scent and (best of all) it never needs pruning (assuming you plant it in a place to grow to its full dimensions.) If you have the space, I recommend it.
Categories: Flowers
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 04:40:05 pm
 I was inspired to shoot these photos of my next door neighbor's rhubarb patch by today's story on the tangy vegetable in the TNT food section. My neighbor was just telling me last weekend about the glories of a rhubarb pie he made recently. It must have slipped his mind to offer me a piece. I'm a fan of the red stalked plant not just for the great pies it makes but the look of the plant itself. Some nurseries offer ornamental varieties for your garden. But I think the standard culinary variety offers not only a food source but a big leafy presence in an ornamental landscape. I was just evaluating my garden last weekend and noticed it's heavy on small leaved plants and lacking large leaves. Rhubarb, here I come... 
Categories: Vegetables
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 02:21:47 pm
I'm wearing a bright purple vintage shirt around the office today. I trot it out every now and then just to hear the many derisive comments from the more staid members of the newsroom. Keeping with the purple theme I kept my eye out for purple blossoms on the way to work today. Turns out there a lot of purple themed flowers out there (magenta, lavendar, etc.) but not a whole lot of true, deep purple. I don't know what variety of azalea this is but it has to be the most pure purple I've seen. It's living on Proctor Street.  Another purple favorite this time of year is rock cress. It comes in a variety of purple shades. This photo turned a bit blue but trust me: it's purple. And a bonus: rock cress is native to our Cascade range. When the summer wildflowers start to bloom in Mt. Rainier National Park rock cress is everywhere.  I'll sign off not with purple but with blue. True deep blue is another rarity in the plant world. Lithodora is just that. The color of crayon blue. Deep and unashamed of its blueness. It's a great evergreen groundcover. And oh so blue. 
Categories: Flowers
Friday, April 25th, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 05:04:41 pm
Craig and I spent Thursday afternoon eating lunch and wandering around the Olympia Farmers Market. It was pretty cold and our lunches blew off our picnic table, but we somehow managed to get back to the newsroom without frostbite. Man, it was a brrrrr kind of cold. Wandering around the market, we noticed how many plant vendors were there, although there would have been even more, we're guessing, if the weather would start showing some springlike tendencies (ugh). One of our longest stops was at the Lynch Creek Farm booth to admire/gush/drool over the wide selection of dahlia tubers.  The next stop was to admire the lavender -- about a dozen different varieties -- at the Spring Creek Farm booth. Craig bought a few different culinary herbs, including sorrel, thyme, oregano, cilantro and bergamot.  I'm planning on heading back to the market this weekend before I head to the fun and kitschy Hazard Factory event. On my list of stuff to buy is a sweet bay tree from the Spring Creek Farm booth. It will be a nice vertical addition to my corner garden.
Categories: Field trip!
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 06:42:17 pm
When I left for work this morning I took my tomato and pumpkin seedlings on their first outdoor field trip. And then like a bad parent I left them there. I hope they don't go play in the street. At least they won't raid the fridge anymore. It's all part of my hardening off plan. When I get home tonight I'll bring them in before the night kills them off. This weekend I'll probably plant them. Foolish, you say? We'll see...  The photo shows my bathroom greenhouse which has been quite successful. In addition to Momotaro tomatoes I'm growing three types of pumpkins: small sugar (Territorial Seed Co.), French cinderella (Ed Hume) and Wyatt's Wonder (Territorial). Wyatt's is reported to reach 200 lbs. Not exactly Puyallup Fair material but definitely worthy of the Freak of Nature garden.
Categories: Tomatoes, Vegetables
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 06:00:01 am
I never get tired of using that headline. This mushroom themed post is about the benefits of mushrooms in the garden. "Mushroom Maynia!"
Categories: Gardening events
Monday, April 21st, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 05:36:32 pm
So much for my wishing of spring to return. I just looked up from my desk to see snow falling outside the newsroom. This was the scene outside our building underneath our coral bark Japanese maple a few minutes ago.  When will end, you ask? All I can offer is the latest forecast from the National Weather Service:
Categories: Gardening News
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 11:14:20 am
Like most of you I watched with amazement Saturday morning as snow fell in Tacoma and many other Puget Sound areas. I've had it with this weather. By sheer force of will I tried to wish away the cold by sowing the first seeds of my garden yesterday. OK, I didn't go crazy and start planting corn and sunflowers. But I did sow onions, lettuce, carrots and raddichio. I admit I had pangs of nervousness this morning but then I remembered: they're just seeds. And by the time the really warm weather hits later in the week they should be starting to stir. I've added some decomposted manure and other organic amendments to my raised beds and mixed up the old soil thoroughly. I haven't paid any attention to crop rotation or what could be living in the soil so it'll be a little bit of an experiment. The raised bed has already attracted one admirer: this robin was busy looking for worms this morning.  It just better stay away from my seeds.
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 09:21:44 pm
Steve Lorton was a longtime staff member of venerable Sunset magazine. Now the magazine's Ambassador, he represents them at garden shows and other events. He led an informative media tour that Sue and I took at the Northwest Flower and Garden show in February. Steve will be talking about "My Life in Other's People's Gardens" Saturday, May 10 at Lakewold Gardens. The event, from 1-4 p.m., is free to members of the Northwest Perennial Alliance and $5 for all others. It's also the final day of MayFest which Lakewold calls "a celebration of spring with a festival of events including exhibits, demonstrations and more."
Categories: Gardening events
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 04:03:58 pm
This just in.... a workshop series beginning tomorrow for those wanting to ditch that nasty shelf of garden chemicals out in the garage (my retired chemical shelf now holds a bag of mulch and home-brewed compost tea). You'll find me milling about at the composting clinic on April 30. I'm even toying with writing a story about home composting. Maybe. It depends on whether I can talk fellow GG blogger Craig Sailor into doing some of my work for me. Details for the greeners:
Categories: Gardening events
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 09:08:49 am
I’ve always had a fondness for shrubs. They are the workhorses of the garden. Planted in the right spot they require less care than perennials or trees do. They reliably leaf out, bloom and display fall colors. And they ask for little in return. And nothing beats native shrubs. They are perfectly suited for our climate, are not invasive and they give you that good “green” feeling when you plant them (wildlife depend on them). Two shrubs are currently going nuts in my garden and all over western Washington. They are the Mahonias (Oregon grape) and the Ribes (current).  I have three types of Mahonias. With evergreen holly-like leaves and brilliant yellow blossoms they make quite a sight. Aquifolium is the tall variety, nervosa is the waist-high variety (pictured above) and repens is the dwarf. They are all native. There are many other Mahonias on the market from other parts of the world. Some are spectacular. But choose wisely. They can be invasive.  Ribes sanguineum, the redflower current, is tremendously beautiful this time of year. (See the photo above) The deciduous plant can reach 12 feet tall. Our native variety is actually a dark pink but there are stunning white and lighter pink blossomed varieties on the market as well as a pink blossomed/chartreuse leafed version. The latter I have in my garden in a shady spot where light foliage isn’t washed out in the sun. Here’s a picture…  If you’re driving on I-5 in Lacey anytime soon you can see what a mass of native shrubs looks like. The Washington Department of Transportation has surrounded the Marvin Road/I-5 interchange with Mahonias and Ribes. It’s something to see right now. Just don’t take your eyes off the road too long.
Categories: Flowers
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 05:50:43 pm
I drove through Olympia this weekend and was admiring all the flowering trees there. Then, I had a self-realization: I'm bad when it comes to knowing trees. Sure, I know a strawberry tree from a strawberry plant and a redbud from a rosebud but there are a whole lot of trees that just look like plums and maples to me. My ID rate goes way up when it comes to Northwest natives. But, there's a book out there that shows me I still have a lot to learn.  Stephen Arno and illustrator Ramona Hammerly show how to distinguish one tree from another in their guide to identifying and appreciating Northwest trees. Arno, a forest ecologist, will talk about his recently updated book - "Northwest Trees: Identifying and understanding the region's native trees" - in a free book talk, slideshow and signing 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 at the Wheelock Library (3722 North 26th Street in the heart of the Proctor District). Books will be available for purchase at the event. For additional information contact the Tacoma Public Library at 253-591-5666. The guide provides an easy to use illustrated identification key based on the most reliable and non-technical features of each species, and features the latest knowledge on the ecology and human history associated with all (over 250 species) of Northwest trees. Each tree featured has a story about its history and use and Hammerly's detailed black-and-white drawings of needles, cones, leaves, twigs, and fruits.
Categories: Gardening events, Garden books
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 11:23:06 am
Is your yard a tragic mess? Disgusted with that utility box that dominates your side yard? Have a flower bed in serious need of rehab? Gig Harbor garden designer Sue Goetz is ready to help you work through your garden design dilemmas. She'll offer our readers advice on what how to fix all kinds of garden ugliness. All you have to do is send us photos of your garden disaster. We'll select a handful of yards and publish advice for shaping up your space (no actual labor though, that's what you get to do). E-mail your pictures to gardenphotos@thenewstribune.com or mail to Sue Kidd, Lifestyle Editor, The News Tribune, 1950 S. State. St., Tacoma WA 98405. When Goetz, owner of The Creative Gardener in Gig Harbor, worked on the project with us last summer, we called it Fix My Yard. We're planning on catching up with some of the people Goetz advised last year to see if they made any of her suggested improvements or did anything else with their garden spaces. Stay tuned for more details, our faithful readers.
Categories: Fix my yard!
• 2 comments
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 08:55:14 am
The Daffodil Parade is this Saturday. The annual event is in its 75th year. TNT photojournalist Joe Barrentine has produced a great video on the history of the event complete with lots of historial photos. http://www.thenewstribune.com/942/story/326761.html The whole thing got me thinking about the ubiquitous flower. A little confession: I don't grow any. Maybe it's because the little Narcissus is just too pretty - like a Greek youth who admires his reflection so much he drowns in it. My mother, a native Washingtonian, loves them. So, I planted a long row of many varieties along her driveway.  I have to admit there are some impressive varieties on the market these days with all sorts of color combinations and even doubles and triples. Here's one of my favorites. Instead of the typical yellow corona this one is a soft apricot. It's really quite nice - not that I'm planning on growing any of them soon. But give me a couple of years. 
Categories: Flowers
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 10:28:25 am
Public shaming almost never works when trying to get that neighbor with the super hideous weeds to take action. Nope. But wouldn't it feel satisfying to nominate your lazy neighbor for an ugliest yard award? Details:
To nominate, go here, or call 866-YARD-TIPS.
Categories: Gardening events, Weeds
Monday, March 31st, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 11:23:23 am
 These daffodils look worse for wear after yesterday's snowfall at Willapa Bay. I spent the weekend out at my parents' place in Pacific County. I had a big indoor painting project planned. Working indoors was a good idea, it turns out. I woke up yesterday to find two inches of snow on the ground, my mother's daffodils frozen in place and tulip leaves buried under the snow. Today, I called Lore Van Lierop, co-owner of Puyallup's Van Lierop Bulb Farm Van Lierop said tulips are "taking their time this year" due to the cold nights we've been having. But, they'll come up soon enough. I'll finish this post with a shot of my mother's greenhouse after Sunday's snowstorm. It's missing part of its roof from the December storm. That'll be my first outdoor project of the year. 
Categories: Ahhh, that's adorable
Friday, March 28th, 2008
Posted by Sue Kidd @ 02:11:16 pm
Hey gardeners. Are you watching this crazy snowfall outside today? Anyone go crazy and plant anything early this year? If so, are you regretting it? Tell us how your garden is faring during this unusual cold-warm-cold snap we've had the last few days. If this keeps up, I won't be digging that garden bed this weekend...
Categories: Dilemmas
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Get Growing
Craig Sailor is the Arts & Entertainment editor at The News Tribune. Last year he planted his first vegetable garden. Focusing on unusual varieties, “Freak of Nature” returns for 2008 with a new crop of uncommon vegetables and flowers. This year he’ll try yin yang beans, giant pumpkins, blue poppies and mutant sunflowers. He gardens at his North End Tacoma home and sneaks seeds in to his mother’s garden at Willapa Bay when she’s not looking. . More gardening blogs:
Greengirl"Starting seeds, dreading weeds."
You Grow Girl
Between Plow and Wood
Downtown Tomatoes Category
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