The West Seattle Garden Tour celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. The gardens were lovely, and the views were spectacular, but what really inspired me were the small touches accessible to gardeners at all levels. Here are my top 5 takeaways from the tour. I hope they might inspire you in your own garden.
Do you know about Swansons’ Swan Dollars? This fabulous tradition is our way of saying “thank you” for shopping with us in the spring. Each April, May, and June, you collect Swan Dollars on every purchase you make. In July, it’s time to gather them all up and visit Swansons to redeem them. You can use Swan Dollars (from any year!) to save up to 50% on your purchase throughout July, even on sale items. Here are some of the things we’re using our Swan Dollars to buy this year. We hope it inspires you to come in and treat yourself!
Many shrubs bloom in spring, and there are lots of choices for gorgeous fall foliage, but it can be harder to find the right stand-out shrub to highlight your garden in the summer months, especially if you are trying to complement colorful summer perennial or annual flowers. Here are a few of our favorites for summer flowers or interesting summer foliage.
When the weather is hot and dry, it's important to protect your plants and keep them healthy. Even established plants, like street trees, suffer from a dry summer, so get out there and water! Here are 7 water-wise tips to keep your plants hydrated and make watering your garden easy and effective.
Nothing can conjure up a memory like a certain fragrance. Whether we want to reproduce the scents of our childhood gardens, or simply create a new sensory experience, there are many fragrant plants to enjoy. We all know that roses and lilies smell amazing, but here is a collection of annuals, perennials, and shrubs you may not be as familiar with and which will bring unique and evocative fragrances to your garden throughout the year.
If we’re lucky, October days are crisp and sunny with just enough rainfall to keep everything green and thriving. No matter whether it’s drizzly or sunny, fall color is at its peak this month. Although most of the summer annuals have stopped blooming, fall flowers and stunning foliage take their place and keep color and interest in the garden. Here are a few of our favorites for the fall.
Often, one of my first orders of business when designing a garden is to embellish the immediate surroundings of the house. Carefully selecting plants to enhance the view just outside of our windows can go a long way toward staving off the winter blues, and if those plants offer a bit of fragrance as we scurry back and forth while gathering provisions, so much the better. Here are a few options to brighten the dreary Northwest wintertide.
Nothing can conjure up a memory like a certain fragrance. Whether we want to reproduce the scents of our childhood gardens, or simply create a new sensory experience, there are many fragrant plants to enjoy. We all know that roses and lilies smell amazing, but here is a collection of annuals, perennials, and shrubs you may not be as familiar with and which will bring unique and evocative fragrances to your garden throughout the year.
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!
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