Gardenig in state Washington. Tips & Guides

Margot Navarre is sharing her earliest blooms with us today. She gardens in Bellevue, Washington, and we’ve visited her garden before; check out Summer in Margot’s Garden if you want to see what it looks like in the height of summer. But right now, Margot is celebrating a favorite group of plants: snowdrops.

We love a good before-and-after on the GPOD. Getting to see what a gardener started with really shows the work, talent, and time that goes into creating every garden we feature on the GPOD. So today we’re going to share some of our favorite glow-ups.

Nate Lewis and Melissa Barker knew that Oyster Bay Farm was for them. “It ticked all the boxes,” says Lewis. Situated in Olympia, Washington along the shores of Puget Sound, the fertile land and waterfront views make the farm an ideal spot. 

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The record existed until 1976 when Bob Ford of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, USA exhibited a 451 pound specimen at the U.S. Pumpkin Contest in Churchville, PA. Yearly International Competition was revived again in 1979 when Canadian Howard Dill of Windsor, Nova Scotia won his first of four consecutive international pumpkinship titles at the Cornell Contest in Pennsylvania. Mr. Dill’s first world record of 459 pounds came in 1980 which he supassed in 1981 by harvesting a 493.5 pound pumpkin.

A few weeks ago, frequent GPOD contributor Cherry Ong took us along on her visit to Bellevue Botanical Garden in Bellevue, Washington (GPOD on the Road: Bellevue Botanical Garden) but she sent too many photos to share that day, so we’re going back today to see some more of the beautiful images of this inspiring public garden.

As working from home is the new normal, it’s totally worth it if you look at these Green Home Office Desk Ideas with Plants carefully to copy one of the best.

Friend of the GPOD Cherry Ong is taking us along today to visit Bellevue Botanical Garden in Bellevue, Washington.

SpaceX resupply mission CRS-25 has just launched to the International Space Station, carrying soil samples into space.

With copper-colored wings and an emerald head, the Japanese beetle is pretty, but devastating.

How to Grow and Care for Braeburn Apple Trees Malus x domestica ‘Braeburn’

WHO VISITED: We met Twitter friends like @GardenGuyKenn (all the way from Michigan) and other blog-commenters like Bobster (all the way from Rhode Island) and Leslie (from Connecticut) and Ailsa and Patti, from Ottawa, Ontario.We met Joyce from Iowa and Michelle from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania (31 miles from Wilkes-Barre, apparently) and Sandra from Clarks Summit (also Pennsylvania, 8 miles from Scranton) and Julie from Reston, Virginia, and Stephanie from Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Stephanie from Seattle (both Stephanies, both from prime garden country…a coincidence?). Someone signed in as being from Scotland, but can that be so? And all of you, thank you, whether from a mile down the road or a country or ocean away…or whether you just visited our virtual tour yesterday.Some of t

And though most leaves are green—why are some not green at all, or at certain times of year?The new book, “How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do” answers those questions and more. (Enter to win a copy at the bottom of the page.)Its author, Linda Chalker Scott, joined me on the public radio show and podcast to explain. Linda is an Extension Urban Horticulturist with Washington State University, a

UNLIKE MANY VEGETABLE CROPS we grow to eat—which are typically picked young and tender, and therefore grown for a shorter time—the same plant cultivated for a seed harvest must be grown to a much older age, requiring much more water, fertilizer, and chemical controls against pests and diseases.Seed crops are coddled, and regulations on chemical usage when raising them is also looser than on growing the same vegetable for the food market.Besides the pollution and waste of resources this results in, it fails to do something else really important: It yields seed strains that “expect “ this kind of pampering—not ones that are well-adapted to organic growing conditions in our home gardens, where we (hopefully!) don’t rush in with a chemical at every turn of events, or prop things up on synthetics instead of diligent care for our soil.Read More:

She is an Extension Urban Horticulturist with Washington State University, and an associate professor of horticulture and landscape architecture there—and joined me this week on the radio podcast to talk (and debunk) popular garden myths.You know, like whether you should dig a really big hole for trees and shrubs and amend the soil before backfilling. Or whether gravel in the bottom of a container helps drainage, or bone meal is a must (or a bust) for bulbs. Or whether landscape fabrics are really the miracle they claim to be—that has so many people using them as “weed block.”Linda has been

John, whose dramatic and delicious purple ‘Dragon’ carrot is bright orange inside, was reassuring as ever. First, don’t feel bad, he said. “Carrots are one of the harder vegetables to grow,” confirms John (with flowering carrots in an OSA photo, above), and for a few reasons:They’re such small plants when they first sprout (the seed isn’t too big, either; I like to use pelleted, shown below, and there are now pelleted ones that meet organic certification requirements).To get really good quality you need “unchecked growth”—no obstacles either literal (like rocky or otherwise tough soil) or meteorological (extremes of heat, cold or especially dryness). “Succulence and flavor wi

Today, I’m operating on the idea that growing a few poppies for their fleeting ornamental use in the garden, or to enjoy the dried seedpods in an arrangement—or to sprinkle their delicious poppyseeds into a baked good, for that matter—isn’t in any way violating anything. It’s simply gardening.Seed catalogs sell them, and gardeners grow them.A Washington State University factsheet on “Culinary Poppy” offers commercial growers some smart-sounding guidelines (and I quote):Exactly.Papaver somniferum (which is an annual species) simply plant themselves in my garden, and in fact if you aren’t careful you’ll have a trail of seedlings come spring marking the path you took to the compost heap during fall cleanup. I find them easy to grow once they get started; simply thin the little blue-gray seedlings as they emerge to give the plants some elbow room.As for that first packet from the seed catalog to get things going, there’s the question whether to sow it in later

SOME SPECIES MIGRATE to warmer wintering grounds, and oh, how deftly they do fly—whether on their way south, or on the hunt for supper, or perhaps to meet up with that someone special, and mate in mid-air. But I’m not talking about some feathered creature with a mere single set of wings; I’m talking about dragonflies—as I did in a radio segment and podcast with a leading American expert on the subject, zoologist, Princeton Field Guide author and photographer Dennis Paulson. Share in the four-winged wonder.

Before we get started, the BirdNote backstory: In 2002, the then-executive director of Seattle Audubon heard a short public-radio show called StarDate. “We could do that with birds,” she thought. In 2005 the idea became a two-minute daily public-radio show. I recently asked BirdNote to help answer the recent questions you’d asked me.Parts of Ellen’s answers below are in 2-minute audio clips to stream (all in the green links–or you can read the transcripts at those links if you prefer):what birds like to nest inQ. Though we think of a basket- or cup-shaped twiggy thing as a nest, different birds see different spaces as the ideal “nest.” Tell

“We would be sad if people shied away from such an iconic garden vegetable,” says Brian, who with Crystine Goldberg farms organic seed, including for beets, in Bellingham, Washington–seed they sell in their online and print Uprising catalog. “What is more beautiful than a bunch of voluptuous bright red beetroots in a harvest basket en route from the garden to the kitchen?”All too often, our only experience with beets means the usual suspects—ubiquitous varieties like ‘Detroit Dark Red’ or ‘Early Wonder,’ or produce sold without their greens and even pre-packaged or canned. Brian confesses he doesn’t have much experience with those, and for a good reason: There are better beets to be had, and grown.my beet-growing q&a with brian campbellQ. When can I

“They’re our biggest unpaid staff workers,” says Brian. “They’re the pollinators that we depend on, so we really pay attention.”We discussed why building up your pollinator palette of extra-early bloomers in particular is important; which families of plants have the most impact, and how certain flowering things like Alyssum and Phacelia may help attract aphid-fighting helpers–and even a bigger role for cilantro!Read along as you listen to the Feb. 4, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of po

You know me: I like to know my weeds—rather than just have a fit about some infestation or other, to actually find out what they are, and where they are native to, and what their role for better or worse is in the bigger picture is (other than to irritate me).I don’t know which liverwort I have, but it is what’s called a thallose species—made up of flattened tissue that looks almost rubbery to me. You might think at first they were some kind of moss or algae, and in fact like those other Bryophytes the liverworts have no vascular system, and they repro

Many companies ship extra-early, based on rough frost-date estimates for each area that may not be exactly what’s going on at your place, but is that really when I want the starts to arrive? I asked for advice from Alley Swiss of Filaree Farm, a longtime certified-organic farmer in Okanogan, Washington, whose main crops—garlic, shallots and potatoes—are favorites in my garden, too.(You might recall the popular garlic-growing Q&A Alley and I did together, and our later garlic-growing piece in my column in “The New York Times.” I’ve learned a lot from our ongoing conversations–including that it’s OK to wait a little while for the seed potatoes to arrive.)how to grow potatoes, with alley swissQ. When is the right time to plant—is there a cue in nature to remind us, or a

In between his daunting chore list—Alley harvests more than 20,000 pounds of Allium sativum a season, representing a staggering 100-plus varieties from around the world—he made time to answer all my garlic-growing questions, from the best varieties for various regions, tastes from hot to mild, and more.my q&a with alley swissQ. In my Zone 5B Northeastern location, I have done very well with hardneck varieties [detail above, and growing in my raised beds, top photo]. As a seller of garlic to customers all over the U.S., can you suggest the best variety choices for different regions?A.  Many people don’t know that they can grow garlic where they live. At Filaree Farm, we have he

I absorbed at least a rudimentary command of the official language of plants, and my only regret is that I didn’t learn even more. Now, thanks to the fun I’ve been having dipping over and again into the new book called “The Gardener’s Botanical: An Encyclopedia of Latin Plant Names,” I’m further sharpening my skills, because botanical Latin opens up a world for gardeners willing to try learning some of it.What can a gardener learn from studying botanical Latin? Ross Bayton, a former editor of the BBC’s “Gardeners World Magazine” created the “The Gardener’s Botanical,” and when we spoke recently, he answered that question and more. (Photo of Ross, below, from the Heronswood garden

Besides wanting to know what’s next there at a place that’s been known for a long time for its influence on American gardeners, Patrick has a personal passion I’m very curious about. It’s what he calls “natural community gardening,” as in taking our cues from habitats or plant communities in nature to guide how we design and care for our gardens.Patrick came to Heronswood last fall from Clemson University in South Carolina, where he ran the South Carolina Botanical Garden and was a professor in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. He

If you live in a temperate zone, chances are that you have encountered powdery mildew in your garden.Powdery mildew is a worldwide menace, with hundreds of specie

Tiny microorganisms in the soil play a vital role in the plant’s overall development. If you too want to make the best use of them, follow these Tips to Increase Soil Bacteria in the Garden!

It’s that time of year. Along with the singing birds and croaking frogs, there’s the sound of chainsaws and stump grinders as some people remove trees from their properties.

When I think of a plant hunter—as in, someone who goes to places like South Africa, Vietnam, China, and Nepal to find rare species and bring them back to the United States—I imagine a swashbuckling Indiana Jones type running through the mountains complete with hat and whip. And to hear famed plant collector, horticulturist, and botanist Daniel Hinkley tell it, there is a bit of daredevilry to the job. “I’ve had hard treks, bad knees, bee stings, and leeches hanging from my neck,” he says. “But if I am lucky, plant collecting offers me a bit of seed, and the resulting plant possesses all of the memories associated with it.”

In addition to ordering online directly from us, all 4 colors of the Freyr trellis and our compostable trellis clips can be found at the following Seattle-area, locally owned garden centers:

It recently came into news and attracted the attention of environmentalists and biologists. According to the Fox News–“In brief, the sap prevents your skin from protecting itself from sunlight, which leads to a very bad sunburn.”

Every time you prepare a pot for planting, you add a layer of gravel in the bottom for drainage! But is it essential or not required at all? Why You Should Not Add Gravels to Pots? Or should you? Let’s find out!

Milk plays a vital role in the development of the human body and the same applies to plants! This might sound weird, but trust us, there are many important Milk Powder Uses in the Garden. Let’s have a look at them all!