Next Saturday (July 12) in the News Tribune's Home&Garden section, we'll delve into the shady (haha) terrain of hostas. We even break a few myths about hostas (hint: shade loving vs. shade tolerant? We address it).

I'm curious, where do you get your hostas? Are there any nurseries around here that seem to carry a good selection?

We feature the Naylor Creek Nursery in our story this Saturday. They seem to be the go-to hosta people in the region, if not the entire Northwest. I saw firsthand the lure of Naylor Creek hostas at the Point Defiance Flower and Garden Show plant market. Gardeners lined up 10 deep to buy hostas at the Naylor Creek booth. In the garden world, that's akin to achieving rock star status.

So, faithful readers, tell us about your recent hosta purchases. Where did you buy yours? What did you buy? Do you have any questions about growing hostas? Post a comment here, or just e-mail me at sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com.

And don't forget to check out the July 12 Home&Garden section, especially if you're a newbie to hostas. You'll like what you read.

Vashon Islander Elsa Croonquist called the newsroom Thursday to let us know that the sixth annual Vashon Lavender Farm Tour is coming up, July 19 and 20, and wouldn't we like to write about lavender?

You bet, Elsa. I am just discovering the nuances of lavender. I'm becoming lav-obsessed. I spent some time at the Ambergardens booth at the Tacoma Farmers Market Thursday with my nose buried in different pots of it, trying to decide which variety to buy. (Read this post for what lavenders were at last week's Ambergarden booth.)

My first adventure in growing lavender: blue cushion. This Thursday at market day, I'd like to buy a royal velvet and silver frost. What next? Any suggestions? Maybe I'll do an entire garden bed with just different varieties of lavender. On second thought, maybe not. The aroma might be a bit ... confusing. I do rather like the idea of planting the lavender in proximity to the seating areas in my back yard. It's a wonderful thing, to stumble across a cloud of lavender.

I started doing some research and here are a few interesting links I found. I think this link is a good place to start, it has all kinds of details about growing and selection. And, this link to a WSU fact sheet on lavender also is a nice source of information for our climate.

So what's next for me and the lav? Watch for an article about lavender in the Home&Garden section on July 19. I don't know what I'll write yet, but I'll come up with something. Or my fellow garden blogger Craig Sailor will tell me what to write. He's good at that.

Note: Here is a link to the big Sequim lavender festival, which is the same weekend as the Vashon lavender festival (I smell a Get Growing blog field trip to both).

Yesterday afternoon in the newsroom, there was much talk among the gardening fanatics about the nuisance of moles. I could easily segue into an entire topic on just raccoons alone (yes, they are back... yes, they ate my cherries AGAIN. I swear I will never bake another cherry pie from that tree...but I digress).

So Managing Editor Karen Peterson was telling me about her mole problem. Then crime reporter diva slash green thumb girl Stacey Mulick chimed in on how frustrated she is with the little monsters.

Stacey and I had a shared moment where we were just in complete unison that moles... are evil little beasts.

For Karen, her mole dilemma is very focused on the ugly hills in her yard. For Stacey, the moles (she thinks) have destroyed her tulips. For me it's the evil raccoons. But that's another post, entirely.

We started talking control methods. Short of blowing them with dynamite (yes, we did go there, in conversation at least), it seems nothing works.

Stacey and Karen have both tried something similar to these things (for the lazy folks who don't want to click on the link, it's a spike that makes a beeping and/or weird little sonic noise, allegedly to scare away the moles). Have you tried them? Did they work for you? Stacey and Karen gave these beeping stake thingees big thumbs down. In fact, Karen told me that the moles seemed to take the spikes as a personal challenge and she could see the mole pathways straight to the spikes. Those are some aggressive and unruly moles.

Tell us, wise readers, what have you done to control moles? Get rid of them successfully? Is dynamite the clear solution? Post a comment here, let us know.

I was out in the garden yesterday and took note of two different combinations that work for different reasons.

The one above is a pleasant little scene in a shady spot near my back door. At first by chance and now by design it uses a complimentary color scheme of gray and chartreuse colored foliage. I have a Japanese maple, hostas, a tiarella and other plants there including some towering gray foliaged meadow rues. The big hosta itself is both gray and chartreuse colored.

Meanwhile, in a sunny part of the garden a black foliaged Sambucus is mixing it up with a yellow colored ninebark. The contrast is striking and eye catching.

Doris Page of Tacoma needs our help, fellow gardeners. She's got a garden bed in search of an identity. It's got a camellia, and really not much else, as you can see here.

Says Doris about her bed:

There is a sprinkler in the back of the Camilla. The area faces east and gets morning sun. It is shaded in the afternoons. I had everything removed and want to start with low maintenance perennials or anything else readers might suggest.

So readers, help Doris with her tragic mess of a yard. What would you do if this garden bed was your blank palette? Thoughts? Comment here or e-mail your advice to sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com. (Submissions may be published in any form).

Fellow Get Growing blogger Craig Sailor and I just sailed back to the News Tribune office after a trip to the Tacoma Farmers Market in search of eggplant starts for Craig and herb starts for me.

It looked as if the veggie starts are starting to cycle out, but there were plenty of herbs.

Attention bargain shoppers: Steve White, co-owner of Morgan Creek farms with wife Donna, had tomato starts (green zebras and a few others) "take 'em please" priced at $2 each.

I bought a tarragon start from Cheryl The Pig Lady's booth (she said business has been good). Then, I popped over to the Ambergardens booth and bought a blue cushion lavender from Laura Pittman-Hewitt.

The Ambergarden booth is the one to hit if you are in search of lavender. Pittman-Hewitt had several varieties: Jean Davis, munstead, gross, silver frost, Spanish and ladden blue today. Her favorite? Royal velvet. "It's the darkest lavender there is. It dries to a nice dark purple. And it's great for cooking," she said.

I am sitting here eating lunch (granola from Marlene's Market, and a peach) sniffing my blue cushion lavender. I suddenly feel better, more calm. Maybe.

Some photos Craigenator shot at the market:

The lavender at the Ambergarden booth.

Steve White, of Morgan Creek farm

This story makes Stacey Mulick's camelia bloom dilemma seem sort of insignificant, really.

How would it feel to have a plant that didn't bloom, in say, 10 years? Hmmm. I think pretty frustrating.

But it is a palm tree. The Northwest climate is not necessarily a great place to grow palm trees (but some varieties do OK in our cool climate... the variety at the South Hill Palm Farm in Puyallup comes to mind).

Larry and Sharon Collett of Tacoma planted their palm tree 10 years ago. Never before had they seen it bloom. But this year, blooms. Yellow ones. Here, take a look at the pictures below.

This got us talking in the SoundLife pod today. How many tropical (or seemingly tropical) plants can we grow here in the Northwest? How many of them grow well? Could someone do an entire yard of tropical plants? Anyone up for a fun little garden dare? Reporter Bill Hutchens and I immediately hatched a plan to write a story in August about tropicals that grow (sorta) well here. Have any suggestions? Comment here or send Bill an e-mail at bill.hutchens@thenewstribune.com. And if you missed Bill's great story about growing hops from Saturday's Home&Garden section, clicky click click here.

Here, the palm tree bloom pics. Enjoy.

I like to grow veggies. I'm kinda sorta good at it. Some years I have so many zucchinis I throw them on my neighbor's porch and run (they're on to me, though).

Yet sometimes things go terribly wrong. Last year, it was my brandywine tomatoes that seemed as if they were doing just fine, but then they blew into blossom end rot within what seemed like 10 seconds. Then there was the year my Atlantic Giant pumpkin that was supposed to grow to 400 pounds was a whopping 10 (give or take a pound or two). Ugh.

So along comes a new book from Storey Publishing that I'll keep around for reference during the veggie growing season. "The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book" at first glance has "keep it handy" written all over it.

Begin snarky editors note: The book is subtitled "solutions to every problem you'll ever face," which made Craig Sailor and I do a giant jaded eye roll. Seriously? Every problem? We will stop consulting our magic 8 ball immediately. This book has all our answers! (end snarky editors note).

By the way, if I had this book last summer, I would have known that my blossom-end rot was probably the result of a combination of chilly weather and a calcium deficiency. The giant pumpkin that never was? Well, the book really doesn't say anything about that. Sigh. I guess it doesn't have all the answers, despite its subtitle. On a less snarky/skeptical note, the book has great advice for practical problems that many veggie gardeners struggle with. I like, also, that the book is divided into crop-by-crop sections. It's super easy to navigate and a very quick read. Kudos for that.

Book cover here (see, look at the subtitle and smirk):

The photos below are an example of a yard with potential, yet so overwhelming in its overgrown state, it seems impossible to even figure out what to do first. Or at least that's how it would feel if I was living in the middle of it.

The yard belongs to Dena Reaugh of North Tacoma. Here's what she wrote:

Well, here I sit with a yard that is so far gone I haven't any clue as to how or where to start... I've been here about 10 years or so. The yard was in pretty bad shape when I moved in, and It just hasn't gotten any better. I feel bad for my little girl, because she's just itching to be able to go outside and play, but I don't have any where for her to do it. I mean, look at the pictures. Would you let your child play in a yard like this? Me neither! My yard is divided into two sections. There's a flat area near the house that has an old cracked cement patio and a spot where there was some extremely patchy crab grass growing. (Last summer I covered it with cardboard because I just wanted it all DEAD!) I also have an even larger sloped area that used to consist almost entirely of Himalayan blackberry. Now it's just mainly that same patchy grass.

We sometimes report on the gardening setbacks of our crime reporter diva slash green thumb girl Stacey Mulick. Today, she reports a success. Read on fair readers:

Success!

For the first time in three years, I have fuchsia blooms in my hanging flower baskets. And I am completely overjoyed.

I don’t know if it was the Black Gold potting mix, the TLC that produced the blooms or the mild spring.

The previous two years, I’ve planted my own hanging flower baskets. My hope each time was to replicate the gorgeous hanging baskets – with their cascading foliage and abundant flowers - that are sold in the stores. (I thought I could save some money if I recycled my hanging baskets and planted starts of fuchsias, geraniums, etc.)

I haven’t delivered to that level, yet. Heck, I haven’t even gotten close.

This year, I told myself this would be my last attempt.

To be honest, my first try this spring failed miserably. I planted my starts and had my two hanging baskets outside when we had those days of late-winter, early-spring frost. The weather killed all but one of the starts I planted. (In hindsight, I should have brought them into the garage. When I went to buy more starts, a store clerk said she had puts her baskets inside her garage near a heater during the foul weather and they were growing terrifically.)

You see the results of the second attempt. I’ve got fuchsia blooms on several starts in both flower baskets. The other flowers in the baskets also are in bloom. I still don’t know if my baskets will look like the more impressive, store-bought baskets but I am happy with the results so far.

Success!

Tresa Nelson of Puyallup sent us pictures of her backyard with an amazing hillside. I'm sure there is a lot that could be done with a slope like this. But where to start? Geesh. I have no clue. I'd probably just close my curtains and pretend everything is fine (la-la-la, hands over eyes).

Wrote Nelson:

Our backyard ends with this hill -- I have tried terracing it -- planting it with rhodies, then planting it with fruit trees. It always looks terrible. I don't have the time to keep it weeded, so this is how it looks most of the time. I would love some ideas!!!

Ok wise garden readers, it is your turn to weigh in. Take a look at the pictures and comment here (or email me at sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com).

Barbara and Jay Sumerlin of Spanaway have a yard with... well, let's just say "issues." (The phrase "tragic mess" comes to mind, but our trademark lawyers say we shouldn't overuse our soon-to-be legally binding phrase to describe yard drama).

The Sumerlin yard is in transition. They just tore out an above-ground swimming pool. They've got a retaining wall that is more weeds than plants. Their dog, a Great Dane, needs a place to play.

If it were my yard? I'd ditch most of the lawn and replace with planting areas that have dog-friendly rugged perennials that could withstand brushing and exploring from a big ol' dog like a Great Dane. I'd also leave a small strip of lawn for the dog to play. In the raised beds, I'd plant ornamental grasses and a few phormium. I can also see heather and lavender in the raised beds (then I'd call garden designer Sue Goetz and ask her what else I should plant). I would design a small herb garden in one section of the raised bed. You always should grow something you can eat in your yard, right?

So here are pictures of the Sumerlin yard. Tell us, oh-so-wise readers, what would you do if this was your mess?

I was at the University of Washington-Seattle this week and stumbled upon a series of gardens on campus, not far from Pacific Street.

The plants were all labeled, many were from Asia, some were common but I couldn't make sense of why they were grouped together. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to it.

Then finally I found someone working in the garden. He told me I was in the biology department's Medicinal Herb Garden. It, apparently, is one of the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere with over 1,000 species represented.

None of the signs explain what the various plants are used for. That makes sense. There might be a whole bunch of people in the gardens every day trying to medicate themselves if there were.

If you're up at UW during the growing season you might want to check it out. Consult this map to find the string of gardens. Here are some photos and finds I made there:

I've never seen or heard of this plant but its name, Fremontodendron californicum, suggests it's native to California and was named for or by the 1800's explorer Captain John Fremont. It's common name is Fremontia or flannel bush. It was a low shrub with sparse branches and had grey-green, maple-like leaves and apricot colored blossoms. I definitely want one of these for my garden.

I named this hops plant "Cousin It." It made me want to have a beer.

I don't know what purpose other than "pretty" this peony has but I'd have it in my garden.

This is the biggest hedge of tea (Camellia sinensis) that I've seen since I was in Japan.

We are all about garden inspiration here right now. After our Fix My Yard section ran last week with garden designer Sue Goetz offering readers advice on how to fix up their yards, we had a few more people send us photos of their plain yards. Do you have advice? Post your comments here, or email them to sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com.

Today's tragic mess of a yard (we are going to trademark that phrase, Craig Sailor and I have been using it so much)... is a Pierce County yard withlittle inspiration, a dog and a lot of dirt. Here's what Des Rodgers had to say about the place:

Please find attached ... photos of the yard at my friend's house in Meridian Campus off of Marvin Road. ... the neighbors at back can look straight into the living area. It's approximately 12 feet from the edge of balcony to fence. And the ground is very clay like.

Here is a pic of the yard

:

The Freak of Nature veggie garden is looking like I sowed it after one too many cocktails.

A row of onions takes a twisty turn into an odd patch of arugula. A cluster of beets has befriended a little lost carrot.

This is the Spring of our Discontent. Every vegetable gardener I know has a literal and figurative raincloud over their head.

I haven't fared any better. But if the weather isn't enough I have this guy to contend with.

He and his gang of feline friends have been having a field day in my raised beds. Every day I come home from work to find mounds and holes where there should be level soil. They are the ones responsible for my serpentine rows, bare ground and vegetable clusters needing crowd control.

Here's what's left of what should be a whole row of lettuce:

Of course, some seeds (edamame for sure) just never made an appearance. Can't blame kitty for that.

Last weekend I resowed seeds and transplanted basil and lettuce into the raised beds. Here's the pathetic attempt I've made to keep the cats out:

I so need some hog wire. And sun.

Lakewold Gardens

Lakewold Gardens is extending its summer hours “after repeated requests.” During the Lakewood non-profit’s “Summer Nights” program - which starts tonight - the garden will stay open until 8 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of June, July and August.

The garden, which is opened Wednesday through Sunday at 10 a.m., normally closes at 4 p.m. Admission is $5 adults/ $3 senior/military and free for children 12 and under.

Bonus: their garden shop is offering a 20 percent discount on books and plants during Summer Nights (4 p.m. - 8 p.m.)

After this winter-like weather we’ve been having I called down there Tuesday to make sure there was still something to see. The rhodies are still blooming like crazy, I was told, and the wisteria covered terrace at the Wagner House is in purple glory.

Lakewold Gardens encourages picnickers but remains alcohol free.

Lakewold Gardens
12317 Gravelly Lake Drive SW
253-584-4106

I was out working Sunday near my ceanothus bush, aka California lilac, when I heard a buzz that sounded like a roar.

Dozens of bumble bees and other insects were making a racket gathering nectar. I feared there was going to be a noise complaint soon when a neighbor walked by and said to his wife, "Holy #@!&, did you hear that?"

Here's the sad thing: there wasn't one single honey bee among all those winged insects.

If you haven't heard about the mysterious die-off of the honey bee happening all over the world read this msn story.

Scientists are at a loss to explain the disappearance but lately a virus has been suspected. There have been all sorts of weird theories, none of which I'll give credence to here.

I raised bees as a kid when I was in 4-H and if you can develop a fondness for an insect I have it for bees. But more importantly, bees are a crucial pollinator for crops worldwide.

We can only hope the honey bee will recover. In the meantime, my ceanothus doesn't seem to be lacking winged fans. The photo at left shows my variegated shrubby dogwood invading the ceanothus' personal space.

If you're an omnihort like me (I just made that up - it means you're into every kind of plant) you don't have an allegiance to any one plant.

I'll never forget the time a friend of mine told me he was the president of the African violets club of Seattle. I said, "congrats!" while thinking, "They have a club for that?"

On the other hand how many of us have had that moment of joy when we discover a group exists for a particular passion of ours that we thought no one else shared?

If you're in to a particular type of flowering plant chances are there's a booth with like-minded volunteers waiting for you today at the show.

I was sucked in to the booth of the American Rhododendron Society, Tacoma Chapter, by their eye-popping display of rhody blossoms.

The blossom in the foreground of this photo I shot there is a cultivar called "Pt. Defiance" because the original bush grows in the park. Its descendants are sold in the trade with that name. Any Tacoman can feel proud over that.

Now, I'm just waiting for the Horsetail Hoarders of Hoquiam, The Dandelion Dames of Des Moines and the Bindweed Boys of Buckley to visit my garden.

They can have all the free plants they want.

A new booth is at the Pt. Defiance Flower and Garden Show this year.

Grow Local Tacoma is a coalition of the City of Tacoma, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, Tagro, the Pierce Conservation District, and Exit133.

Formed just last year the group is dedicated to building community through community gardening.

At the booth this year you can make an edible plant container to take home. (The plants are edible, not the plastic container.) Volunteers like Will Leslie, left in the picture below, were helping show goers like Dorothea Richard of Tacoma fill pots with a variety of vegetable starts in Tagro potting soil.

Richard said she lives in a high rise condo but that wasn't going to stop her from being a vegetable gardener.

Looks like Grow Local Tacoma is accomplishing its mission.

I was dazzled today by the flower boxes on display at the show.

"Feather Your Nest" (above) by Jen Zimmerman won a gold ribbon. If I was a bird I definitely would move in here.

"For Every Time, There is a Season..." by Gaye Hampton-Smith (above) won best in show.

"Four Seasons" by Barbara Lee and Caroline Lee won a silver.

"The Incredible Edible Garden" by Cheri Worsham won a gold. Yes, that's a hanging colander.

While wandering through what is normally Pt. Defiance Park this weekend it's easy to forget that a lot of the wonderful gardens exist there year round.

Begonias grow underneath a trellis at Pt. Defiance Park.

The Metro Parks staff obviously have worked their hands off getting the gardens in top shape. The pride in their work shows.

If you're at the show this weekend check out the permanent gardens as well as the display gardens. You won't be sorry.

I just got back from the Pt. Defiance Flower and Garden show. The weather was a vast improvement over yesterday even if it does feel like June-uary.

I really enjoyed myself today. I came home with some tomato starts, a copper leafed ninebark and an ornamental rhubarb.

As I was in line to get a hot dog (the line at the crepes booth was too long) I overheard a woman tell another: "This is the best garden show I've ever been to." Her friend agreed, both saying it was better than the behemoth that is the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle.

I leaned in to eavesdrop further. They both said they enjoyed the fact that the PDF&G show is outdoors and spacious.

After I thought about it I had to agree. This year's display garden design winner is as good as anything you'll see in Seattle and I really enjoy the outdoors in Tacoma rather than being confined indoors with the crowds in Seattle. I'm not ready to say the PDF&G show beats the NWF&G show but I'd say they are giving them a run for the money.

Two vendors are offering unique and striking metalwork at the show this weekend.

Douglas Walker of Black Creek, British Columbia makes sculpture fountains (above) using a variety of metal objects. The centerpieces are brass musical instruments. The creations, with their many moving parts, were drawing quite a crowd today.

I would love to have one of them in my house but at over $3,000 for the largest pieces they are out of my price range. He does, however, have smaller and less pricier versions.

Brett Cleveland of Bellingham also had a crowd pleasing display of his metal work. His minimalist style was a nice complement to Walker’s kinetic assemblages.

Cleveland’s abstract style suggests grasses, flowers and other organic subjects. I could definitely see these in my garden.

The gardeners were lining up 10 deep at the Naylor Creek Nursery booth a bit ago. The nursery specializes in hostas, and, yes, that's really obvious from the booth. There are hundreds of hostas of all sizes and varieties, including some really gorgeous variegated ones that would look stunning in my back yard right next to my heuchera. I will be returning to purchase some, for sure.

One woman had e-mailed her order ahead and picked up and paid for her plants in about two minutes. Why didn't I think of that? I'm sure the reason why she did so is that Naylor Creek Farm is located in Chimacum and is not open for retail business most of the year. Like a few of the other plant vendors, this may be the only chance gardeners get, beyond mail order, to talk with owners of small, specialized nurseries, and pick up rare finds. That's really what gardeners here are after – things they can't get anywhere else. And this show delivers. A cursory look at the plant booths shows there are some serious bargains to be found, too.

Our garden writer Jean Parietti will be writing about hostas in July. If you're a fan, be sure to watch our Saturday Home&Garden section for the story.

The Naylor Creek booth is located just near the entrance of the plant vendor market.

It's an hour before Marianne Binetti's talk about container gardening, but she is answering questions from gardeners.

A woman just asked how to get rid of dreaded horsetail weeds. Binetti's answer? Don't pull them! It will just stimulate the plant to grow even more. Binetti suggests cutting the horsetail back to the ground, over and over and over until the weed dies a slow death. The trick is to just keep cutting them back, she said, eventually they will go away. Just don't stimulate the roots. They like that.

So how do you get rid of morning glory? "Everyone knows the way to get rid of morning glories is to just move to a new house," said Binetti. Ouch.

I just popped by to lust over the fuchsia plants at the Magellanica Gardens booth in the plant vendor market. Owner Jackie Laverne just showed me the most interesting climbing fuchsias plant, which has a clinging type habit (no grabbers, you need to twist the vines).

She said there is a climbing fuchsia at the Bellevue Botanical Garden and people believe it is a fuchsia tree because the vines have completely taken over the tree. I smell a Get Growing field trip to check it out.

Jackie just told me there will be a big fuchsia show in Tacoma Sept. 11 to 14. Click here for details. A few weeks before the show, our garden writer Jean Parietti will take a trip to Magellanica Gardens to write a preview story. Watch for it.

It's Craig and I'm here using Sue's computer while she's checking out the gardens. She grabbed her wallet so I'm thinking she's not going to return empty handed.

Here are some photos of the fantastic display gardens.

The garden above is "Moderna Exotique" by Father Nature Landscapes of Tacoma. It's designed by Andrew McCurry and definitely lives up to its name with a tremendous amount of sculpture.

This is the perfect garden for right now (and I mean Right Now - it's raining quite steadily). "Summer Sizzle" by Olympic Landscape and Irrigation of Fife is full of hot summer colors in both plants and materials. I could spend all day here.

I've seen Mark Harp of The Pond Store in Sumner build a pond and I'm sure it didn't take him long to make this beauty (it would take me weeks.)

"Summer Chocolate" by Pamela Richards of Seattle was a study in motion. These pots seem to be moving and the fabric in the background definitely was.

So the rain has stopped, finally, and the sun did come out, briefly, a few minutes ago. There is hope, yes there is hope.This is prime time to get down here. It's not very crowded and the plant selection everywhere is fat and happy. I keep seeing plant porters stroll by with their wagons full of purchased plants, though, so that means the plant vendors are doing brisk business. Craig Sailor just got here, then he was off. He's taking pictures of the Grand Display Gardens.

Nancy Johnson, communications manager of Metro Parks, stopped by the booth to offer coffee to warm me up. I had to politely decline (too much coffee already today, I'm afraid). I asked Nancy what she was looking forward at the show and she said she loves to container garden and will be looking for container inspiration. She's in luck, over by the lodge, there are container garden displays aplenty. I intend to go take off in a few minutes and explore them.... as soon as I stop shivering.... watch for more roving reporter posts from Craig and I in the next hour....

Sue Goetz, who coordinated the Grand Garden Displays at the Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show, handed me a sheet of the display winners a few moments ago (the winners were announced at 9 a.m.)

And the best in show winners are.....

School Display Gardens: Franklin Pierce High School for "Retreat for Two," designed by the Landscape and Turf Students.

Window Box Exhibits: Gayle Hampton-Smith for "For Every Time There is a Season...," sponsored by the Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show Board of Directors.

Container Gardens: Arletta Gardens & Boutique for their display of "Divine Design," which was designed by Wendy Morin.

Grand Display Gardens: Father Nature Landscapes for "Moderna Exotique," designed by Andrew McCurry. Here is a picture of his display:

It's here - Tacoma's (and the region's) largest flower and garden show. We'll be blogging live from the event until our bosses call us and tell us to get back in the newsroom (Craig Sailor and I have three sections to put out today). So, we're all yours and reporting live (woot!) from the show until about 1 p.m.

So far here's what's happened (beyond me sitting down at the News Tribune booth next to the Franciscan Garden Stage; I have a sweet view of the rose garden, by the way):

** It's raining. Well, drizzling really. In that nice Northwest kind of way. Bring an umbrella. Or wear a hat. Hats seem to be the preferred option here.

** Sue Goetz, who is this year's coordinator of the Grand Garden Displays just stopped by to give me the list of garden display winners (I'll post them in a moment, watch for it...). She was her usual Sue self, full of cheer -- and she gave me tips of what to check out. She knows I'm obsessed with chocolate colored plants and told me where to go to find them. I'll report more when I see them, maybe even post a pic or two.

** The gravel walkways are very easy to navigate and (for right now), are mud free. Yay! But wear sturdy shoes (ladies, leave the stilettos at home, seriously).

** Peter Gulsrud, one of the chairmen of the show, is in charge of the plant vendor area (and a master gardner). He just stopped by the booth to say hello. I was curious about which plants he's obsessed with right now. He says he'll be roaming around the plant vendor area checking out the hostas, dwarf conifers, bamboos and bonsai starts. So what are you looking for? Post a comment here in the next few hours and we'll go scout for you.

Our newsroom gardening fanatic slash crime reporter Stacey Mulick has another dilemma in her yard: a draping Japanese maple. She asks this week, how to prune without turning the tree into a disaster? Here's what Stacey has to say:


I love my Japanese laceleaf maple.

When we moved into our house five years ago, we didn’t have a laceleaf. We had some of the standard fare planted in flower beds of houses in housing developments – laurels, rhodies and euonymus.

I wanted a laceleaf maple instead. I removed several plants and straightened out the leg of my front flower bed, then planted my little gem. The tree has done real well over the past four years.

But looking at it, I wonder if it’s about time to prune. I’ve not done any pruning yet and don’t really know how to go about it. The Western Garden Book suggests pruning in late summer, early fall but doesn’t offer any suggestions about how to go about it or where to start.

I’ll take any advice I can get.

The Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show is just a few days away (Friday through Sunday at Point Defiance Park), and serious garden lusting is upon us. I’m wondering, what displays or attractions are you most looking forward to seeing?

For me, last year, the garden displays are where I headed first. I appreciated that the displays were interesting and many simply gorgeous, but also they really offered practical inspiration for a home garden setting.

My biggest peeve of other large garden shows –namely, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, held in Seattle every February at the convention center – is that the display gardens are just so outrageously designed, and so over the top, that they lack the reality and inspiration for home gardeners in search of solid garden design ideas.

Don’t get me wrong, outrageous garden displays are very fun to gaze at and who doesn’t like a fancy fog misting machine, but who among us really plans on adding a fog misting machine to our gardens (except for maybe the fabulous Craig Sailor, my fellow garden blogger)? Yeah, I thought so. No fog machine in my future. But I'd love to see how to group my heuchera with my carex and make it look stunning enough to draw some serious neighbor envy.

So, readers, tell us what you're looking forward to checking out at the show? What do you want to gaze at? Did the garden displays move you last year? Tell us. Comment here or e-mail me at sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com.

I was staking up posts and stringing rope the other day over my mom's blueberry patch. We'll put some netting over the whole thing before the berries ripen. If we don't, the birds will have a feast and we'll be left with empty pie tins.

Here's the dilemma readers. Some of mom's plants aren't producing so well anymore. I know some people cut their blueberries down to the ground to rejuvenate them. What I'd like to know from you folks is: have you tried this? Does it work? When should we do it? Here's a photo of one of her older bushes.

I'm on fire.

OK...it's my Chilean fire tree that's on fire. I've had two growing for several years (one in Tacoma, the other at Willapa Bay) and they've had good years and so-so ones but this is the best ever.

This evergreen tree (Embothrium coccineum) is lighting up my garden right now. A word of warning: Both of my trees seem to have poor root systems. Both are listing after storms.

This delicate horizontal stem belongs to a solomon's seal. This perennial snakes out from a mass of shrubs and plants in my shade garden every spring with its delicate branches of leaves and blossoms.

Finally, I bring you these onion flavored pom poms:

Yes, flavored. Whether you grow them for food or for flowers no garden should be without chives. Most folks think of chives as those small segments of green tubes on their baked potatoes. But the flowers are just as edible and zingy.

You can harvest the buds or tear apart the flowers and sprinkle them on a salad. I like to pick a nice little bouquet of them for my nieces and then devour the whole thing just before I hand it over. I have some mighty onion breath after that but they never get tired of that routine. Anything for a laugh.