If you've been following the camellia dilemma from News Tribune reporter Stacey Mulick, we have an update for you. Here is what Stacey has to say:

Based on all your wonderful and insightful advice, I moved my as-yet-to-bloom camellia this weekend.

I had the plant in an all-shade spot. Readers said it needed to have some sun but not too much. I struggled for a while with where to move the camellia. My backyard flower beds get mostly full sun. That option was out. The flower bed in the front of my house is pretty much set.

But I found a spot in the front of the house on the corner of my flower bed. The spot gets some morning sun and late afternoon sun but is otherwise in the shade. I took out a rhodie – one of three plants remaining from when we first moved into our house almost five years ago – and put the camellia there instead. That rhodie has never really thrived (I think it was practically the same size as it was five years ago and I’ve not done much to encourage it over the seasons) and I’ve been eyeing it for removal anyway.

I made sure the camellia was not planted too deep, clipped off some diseased leaves and gave it a healthy boost of fertilizer rich with nitrogen and phosphorus. I plan to give the camellia lots of TLC and cross my fingers that it does much, much better in this spot than the rhodie.

I’ll report back on how it’s doing.

Here it is in its new location:

Here is a fantastic sounding opportunity for fledgling botanical artists... summer classes with botanical artist Louise Smith. And what better setting for painting lessons than the Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park.

Here is background on the classes, which start June 19, from, Nancy Johnson, Metro Parks Communications Manager

Internationally recognized botanical artist Louise Smith will teach watercolor and drawing at the W. W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park this summer. Classes begin June 18 (drawing) and June 19 (painting).

Louise comes to botanical art with a life-long love of plants nurtured during childhood botanizing forays in the high Sierras. She believes that art functions as a non-verbal language that translates something of the artist's interior world and it is this that allows communication across culture, subject matter, and through time.

Louise is the founding President of the Northwest Botanical Artists, a chapter of the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Classes run June 19 through August 14, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. the fee is $180.

Register here
Louise Smith's website here

White is a common flower color for shrubs. And why shouldn't it be? It goes with everything. Well, black goes with everything but there's not a lot of black flowers out there.

These two shrubs are a couple of my favorites and they are in bloom now.

This viburnum (Shasta, I think) is a perfect example of what I love about this group. While viburnums come in a variety of different looks the one characteristic I really admire is the way that some hold their blossoms above their branches. This is a plant that says, "Look at my flowers. Are they not beautiful?"

There a several kinds of choisyas out there as well but this is my favorite: Aztec Pearl. There's a home in the North End that has a hedge row of these and it's quite stunning right now. I only have one and I love it. This is an evergreen plant that says, "Forget about my leaves. It's flowers all the time, baby!" (At least for a few weeks a year.)

I was out shooting photos in my jungle, uh, garden today and I noticed some interesting (but unintentional) combinations.

I'm growing this ornamental kiwi vine with its pink and white leaves between an old rhody and my chimney. The whole pink, white, red thing works. Who knew you could work off a chimney?

I love lavender. I love euphorbias. And both love my garden. This Spanish lavender and this euphorbia both have seeded themselves in my garden. It makes me a little nervous but I wouldn't call them invasive. This time of year purple and chartreuse really work well together.

I've had three white lupines growing for a couple of years now. When I found this new one growing in a path I just didn't have the heart to yank it. I'm glad I didn't now. I wasn't expecting pink. Gotta love those Mendelian genetics at work.

Wright Park’s glass palace turns 100 years old this year, and the staff istaking those themes (100 and glass) to the fourth annual Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show on June 6-8.

Mary Anderson, manager of the venerable W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory, said this year’s garden, “Celebrating 100 Years in Bloom,” will celebrate the diversity of tropical and subtropical zones, creating a retreat that echoes the beauty and the tranquility of the conservatory.

Tropics in Tacoma? Well, it is kind of a fantasy garden, Anderson said. But, then aren’t all display gardens? Still, she says you could incorporate the plants in a summer garden if they lived as houseplants during the cold months or, “If you had your own greenhouse.”

A century plant will be the centerpiece of the garden. “That’s going to be the homage to the 100 years,” Anderson said.

In addition to the three zones of plants – succulents and desert plants; lush foliage and jungle plants; flowering plants – the garden will display art glass from the Hilltop Artists in Residence. Glass from the program has been gracing the conservatory for the past several months but the ones at the show will be all new. Anderson also let me in on some interesting news: Later this year, a piece by Dale Chihuly, who founded the Hilltop program, will be installed in the conservatory.

I asked Anderson what she and the other employees and volunteers who will put in long hours on this display garden will get out of it: “It’s the love of the whole gardening experience. And anything that can help the conservatory is a good thing.” As for show attendees Anderson hopes the reaction will be, “kind of just ‘Wow!’ ”

I just got back from several days in the concrete jungle: New York City. I heart NY but it sure felt great to look down from the plane and see the green Pacific Northwest.

Of course, I didn't realize that the greenery I was gazing upon from the 757 had doubled in size while I was gone.

I know there were high temps here while I was gone. I didn't think they would have such an effect on my ornamental garden.

My Chilean fire tree is on fire like I've never seen it and this lupine...well, I didn't even know I had a pink lupine.

Everything else grew, sprouted and bloomed as if a crop duster loaded with fertilizer had hovered over my place for an hour.

There were, however, some downsides: Many of my veggies just up and disappeared including pumpkins and carrots. Time to resow.

Also, as my neighbors no doubt can attest, the weedlot that is my front yard is now waist high. Time to fire up the week whacker...

We are a few weeks away from our garden advice story by Sue Goetz, of The Creative Gardener in Gig Harbor. She'll offer advice to readers who have sent in photos of their garden disasters.

This photo comes from Carl and Judy in Graham. Their blah backyard is a perfect blank canvas, isn't it?

The question: What would you do?

Me? I'd get rid of some of that lawn and replace with garden beds of varying heights and widths and sculpt some garden pathways. But that's just me.

Here are what Carl and Judy have to say:

We have this very large back yard that we are not sure what to do with. We are hoping to remove the deck and rebuild larger or to go with a patio, maybe pavers or cement. Please help because we have no clue as to where to start.
Thank you so much Carl & Judy, Graham, Wa.

This blog post comes from Stacey Mulick, from our Crime and Breaking news team. Read on:

Where are the flowers?

More than two years ago, I planted this camellia outside my front window. It's in a spot that it appears to like - in the shade and where the ground is pretty moist.

I've seen new leaf growth the past two seasons and there are new leaf buds on it now.

But here's the problem - the plant has yet to flower. And I am beginning to wonder if it will. Last year, I thought maybe the plant was still in shock or still too young to produce blooms. That got me through last growing season.

But I have yet to see any blooms this growing season as well. The plant still looks pretty healthy and I haven't noticed any disease on the leaves. So what's the deal?

I'm going to stick with it and think optimistically. Maybe it's still too young.

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail us at gardenphotos@thenewstribune.com or post your comments here.

I saw all kinds of lush plants at about a half dozen farm and nursery booths at the Tacoma Farmers market today (today was opening day for the market). If you're just getting your garden started, be sure to stop by the market next Thursday, or at other farmers markets this week (click here for a list on our website). The farmers and nursery plant growers will have plenty of starts for sale. With the weather warming, it seems a good time to get started on gardening. Doesn't it? I'm trying to convince myself, obviously.

I wandered up to the Morgan Creek Farm booth and found Donna White, who co-owns the Vaughn farm with husband Steve. We blogged a lot about their booth last year. They are great garden advisers and can give you all kinds of tips for growing tomatoes (they also sell at the Gig Harbor Farmers Market). They specialize in heirloom varieties. Today, Donna gave some great advice to a retired couple who hadn't grown tomatoes since their children were young. She told them to strip off the bottom few rows of leaves from the plant and bury the plant deep. The deeper you plant the tomatoes, the more robust the vine. A good piece of advice. She told me the same nugget last year and I used it. I also planted one of my tomatoes sideways last year, advice that came from the Whites. I always appreciate how willing they are to dispense with growing advice.

Elsewhere at the market, I saw all kinds of great garden plants, including sedums and heuchera and the man who sells the magnolia trees is back again (I keep meaning to stop by his booth, maybe next week).

Check back here next Thursday for a more detailed report of nursery starts and other plants at the market.

So what was selling fastest at Cheryl Ouellette's booth Thursday at opening day of the farmers market?

"Pumpkins," she said with a laugh and a perplexed look. What? You mean tomatoes? No. Pumpkins. Why? "I have no idea, but I never guessed that would happen," she said.

Just then, Judy Leyden wandered by, overhearing Cheryl, and asked if she had any more pumpkin starts. Leyden had been up and down the market looking for them at the half dozen other booths with nursery starts.

"My granddaughter wants to grow them," she said. So why is Tacoma so pumpkin obsessed today? Cheryl was without answer, but Judy had a thought.

"My explanation is there are a lot of very indulgent grandmothers in town," she said before heading to a neighboring booth in search of a plant for her granddaughter, 5-year-old Kailyn Durves, of Gig Harbor.

Cheryl, whose nickname is The Pig Lady, seemed to be doing better business later Thursday afternoon with her other starts, which included tomatoes and herbs.

Her secret ingredient for her nursery starts? "Poop cocktail," she said, laughing. Not surprising, her answer, considering she is a farmer and known for her tasty pork (thus the "Pig Lady" nickname).

Hers is a compost two years in the making.

She starts with cow, sheep, pig, goat, chicken, duck and turkey waste. Next, she ages it in a barn for months. Then it's on to the cooking process, kept at 130 degrees for 15 days. Then it's off to the garden. "When it's full of worms, we know it's ready," she said. Don't ask her how much the compost cost. She didn't want to guess, considering how many hours she spends tending it. But her starts did seem pretty green and giganto, so probably worth it.

Volunteers Millie Russell and Terri Dufault had great advice for the novice tomato gardener looking for answers to tomato questions. They were manning the WSU master gardener booth at the Tacoma Farmers market Thursday. The gardener wanted to know what the easiest tomatoes would be to grow. And, by the way? How do you grow them?

They recommended sungold, a small, yellow and very sweet cherry tomato that is easy to grow (if I can grow them, anyone can. Seriously).

"Look for the ones that have the shortest (days to) maturity," said Dufault. Those are the ones that will yield tomatoes the earliest. She added, "People I see who have the best luck grow their tomatoes on the south side of the house right up against the foundation." The warmth radiating from the house keeps the tomatoes at a temperature they like.

Russell had some less conventional advice. "People grow them in rubber tires, that black rubber absorbs the heat. They grow better."

The curious tomato woman thanked the volunteers and wandered back into the crowd.

The Master Gardeners clinic volunteers were seeing a steady stream of questions from gardeners wandering through the market. The big questions of the day? "The cold weather problem," said Dufault. The gardeners want to know when the sun will return, and what to do in the meantime?

And, the pair said, gardeners have been asking what to do with plants with spots. The likely culprit? Probably fungus from the too damp weather, the women said, but they can't do a proper id unless you bring a sample. Are you the one with the mystery problem? Bring a clipping from your problem plant next Thursday to the Master Gardener booth. They might be able to help.

I am standing near the Ambergarden booth, on the Pantages side of the market, staring at the tomato starts for sale ($4 each). Laura Pittman-Hewitt just told me that the momotaros, a trendy newish Japanese tomato start, is selling the fastest today. "They're the green zebras of 2008," she just told me.

She has more than a dozen varieties for sale, including the green zebras I bought from her last year which I grew on a trellis (quite unsuccessfully, but they were pretty. I only got four tomatoes from the crop). What other tomato starts does she have? Siberia, black zebra, taxi and santiam, and many more...

It's beautiful out, the sun finally did make an appearance. The market is bustling.

It's here - the opening day of the Tacoma Farmers Market. Last year's opening day yielded all kinds of great nursery starts. I bought some stellar brandywine and sungold tomatoes and a rosemary start last year on opening day.

What will you buy at the market today...if you are lucky enough to go, that is.

(pssst, leave your office and go..your boss will never notice you're gone... and allegedly it's going to be sunny, despite the current gray cloud cover I'm seeing outside the News Tribune office. Sunny? Yes, I am not making that up...check our weather page....)

I planted this vine outside my parents' house. My dad wasn't happy. "I didn't pay good money for this rock only to have you cover it up."

Oh well, if it wasn't for me softening up Dad's harsh details he'd be lost.

This vine is called (take a deep breath) Schizophragma hydrangeoides. It's similar to climbing hydrangea. I can tell you exactly how the two compare. I know this because I planted one on the other side of this stone wall.

My favorite: the Schizophragma. It's a more delicate vine that hugs the wall closer. It also clings to stone much better than the hydrangea which seems to like trees more than stone.

The leaves of the Shizophragma have a delicate pewter glow on them. Neither of the two vines have bloomed yet so I guess that'll be the final determinate. Both of these vines can exceed 30 feet high.

I bought this at Heronswood Nursery several years ago. When I was at Dan Hinkley's house the other day I noticed a mound of what appeared to be a climbing hydrangea. Sure enough, he said, he had planted it there with nothing to grow on. It looked like a giant salad and the visual effect was fantastic. For more photos of my trip through his garden check out this slide show.

I was busy over the weekend finishing the sowing of seeds for Freak of Nature 2008.

My two raised beds and a couple of auxiliary sites are now full of promise. Here's my list:

Sayamusume soy beans (Territorial Seeds)
Red shiso (Kitazawa Seed Co.)
Leek 'Giant Musselburgh' (Territorial Seeds)
Broccoli 'small miracle hybrid' (Territorial Seeds)
Radicchio 'Palla Rossa' (Territorial Seeds)
Carrot 'Red Samurai' (Territorial Seeds)
Carrot 'White Satin' (Territorial Seeds)
Red Beard onion (Kitazawa Seed Co.)
Nicoise lettuce (Territorial Seeds)
Super gourmet salad blend (Territorial Seeds)
Onion 'Italian Red Torpedo' (Ed Hume)
Beet 'Chioggia' (Territorial Seeds)
'Yin Yang' bush beans (Territorial Seeds)
Corn 'Bon Appetit Hybrid' (Territorial Seeds)
and two varieties of pumpkins from Territorial

Since I started sowing seeds a couple of weeks ago my beds have been visited by birds, cats and other unknown creatures. I have a feeling that some of my perfectly straight rows are going to come up rather freeform.

I also dumped a lot of last year's remains in the beds over winter. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see sunflowers and potatoes sprouting. Now, I'm just trying to decide whether I should pull them out or let nature do its thing. Stay tuned.

We've been receiving great response to our plea for pictures of yards that are a tragic mess (you know it if you have one).

We have Gig Harbor garden designer Sue Goetz on standby with all kinds of garden advice. We're sorting through the photos now and we're about to select a handful of yards that we'll hand off to Sue Goetz. She'll offer her advice for shaping up your space. (No actual labor though, that's what you get to do.) Watch for the story in early June.

There's still time to get photos of your tragic mess of a yard to us, but hurry and send them by Monday. 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.

Take a look at the yard here. It belongs to Dean and Susan Williams in Puyallup. Do you have any advice for this blank space in their yard? If this was your mess, what would you do? Email your words of garden wisdom to gardenphotos@thenewstribune.com.

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 Saturday's 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."

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:

I must admit I have tulip envy.

I drive around and see colorful clusters of red, yellow, pink and orange tulips. Then, I return to my house and see the scant few tulips that have survived in my yard. In previous years, I’ve planted dozens upon dozens of tulips in my flower beds.

Each spring, the numbers of tulips sprouting from the ground continue to be less and less. It’s hard not to get frustrated by the disappearing bulbs. I can now count on one hand the number of tulips blooming in my front AND back yard. (The only exception is the tulips in containers out back – they have come back.)

I’ve read that tulips are tasty snacks for many garden critters so I am thinking of giving up on tulips all together. My hyacinths continue to thrive and the rabbits didn’t munch the flowers off my spring crocuses this year. Victory!

Anyone else have tulip problems? I’d take suggestions about how to keep my tulips away from the critters.


-- Stacey Mulick

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.

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.