It’s April and tomatoes are here! We know you’re ready to get them planted since it’s sunny (wait… now it’s cold and raining…. wait! It’s sunny again! Wait…) ;) but your tomato plants won’t grow into incredibly prolific tomato producers if you don’t protect them until the night temperatures remain consistently above 50 degrees. Most of us at Swansons swear by protection tools so we can plant our warm-season vegetables earlier and encourage larger, stronger plants and better harvests. Here’s what we use and how to use them.
You and your rose soul-mates have found each other. Now what? How do you keep them happy and thriving in our maritime Pacific Northwest climate? Roses are not completely carefree, but with a few basic care guidelines, you can grow them successfully and enjoy their beauty for years to come.
For many of us, the choice of which tomatoes to grow can be daunting. We've boiled down the tomato decision process into a few helpful questions and our suggestions: a secret (tomato) sauce, if you will, of how to make the right choice for your individual tomato needs. At the end of this post are a handy infographic and a link to our tomato variety list.
The most recognizable “spring” flowers - tulips, lilacs, azaleas - have finished blooming or are beginning to fade and a host of new flowering plants are ready to take the baton for the race into summer. Here are some of our favorite late-spring flowers; some even keep blooming all summer long. Best of all, these flowers attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds!
In this post, I’m repotting a very rootbound Marble Queen Pothos plant. I’ll walk you through all the steps for a successful repotting. These steps are essentially the same for all types of indoor and outdoor plants, so you can take these tips and use them for any potted plant.
Not every plant is destined to be a Garden Superstar. Every stable needs a thoroughbred but also a team of workhorses. Every musical needs a few divas, but also a solid chorus line. Every killer app development team... okay, you get the idea. Every garden needs a few (or many) plants that might not shout for attention but do their job quietly and dependably. Here are a few of my favorites:
Not many gardeners have a neutral opinion when it comes to moss. Either we love the impossibly green fairyland it evokes on our forest walks and aged garden or we hate the layer of slippery moisture it lays over our roof or patio, and the way it crowd out our showpiece lawn. Both camps recount legends of the virtues or evils of moss.
For a tough spot, sometimes you just need a tough but easy-going plant. But that doesn't mean you have to settle for unattractive or boring. Try these beautiful, high-performing plants for year-round interest and worry-free care. They are some of my personal favorites, put to the test in my Northwest garden.
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