There are certain things we do for every new book. Sending out review copies to sales people and the media is one of these. But every so often we really want a book to make a splash and try to do something unique.

Tom Fischer is very special to us. He is our editor-in-chief, our resident foodie who eats at least once from every new food cart, and—as of today—one of our spring authors. His newest book, The Gardener’s Color Palette, releases today. And we obviously had to do something special for it.

Continue Reading »

Last year at this time, I had fond dreams of growing sweet peas that would climb up the railings of my front porch and fill the air with sweet scents. I would have a chair on the porch, of course, and sit there with a cup of hot lemon tea on warm spring mornings. Everything would be perfect.*

Continue Reading »

Sunday was one of those rare sunny winter days in Portland. Birds were chirping, the kids were riding their bikes in circles, and I decided to tackle some front yard clean up.

My house’s former owner had quite a green thumb—come spring my front yard will be a fun mix of vegetables, fruits, ornamental grasses, and perennials. On Sunday morning it was a soggy, overgrown, and under-pruned mess of fallen leaves and barren branches. I looked around and realized it was all up to me now. This yard is mine and I can either take up where the former owner left off or become that yard on the street that everyone whispers about.

So I began to clean up. I cut back perennials, trimmed the grasses, and raked the leaves. I cleaned out the unknown mess that had taken over one of the containers on my porch and made room for the succulents I plan on putting in it. I’m dedicating the next clear weekend day to recreating these this design found in Debra Lee Baldwin’s new book, Succulent Container Gardens.

In the end, I filled an entire compost bin with yard debris and I didn’t even step into the backyard, which is quickly becoming an unappealing jungle. But my front yard is no longer hiding in shame, and I’m actually excited to do some more work.

I’ve bought a house. A small bungalow built in 1926 that is the perfect size for me, my husband, and our future English Bulldog, Rondo (who does not yet exist, but is to be named after the point guard of the Celtics). And now that I am an official homeowner, I no longer have any reason not to garden. Especially considering the yard I’ve inherited.

One or both of the prior owners clearly enjoyed a little digging in soil. The front yard is a great mix of a tiny patch of grass, a few tufts of native ornamental grasses, several colorful perennials (roses, bleeding hearts, dahlias, and stuff I don’t know the name of), succulents, and herbs. I think I’m going to maintain much of what is already there, through I’d like to pull up a few of the grasses to make room for more succulents and I’d like to replace one side of the grass with a raised bed.

The backyard is where I plan to change the most. Though it is beautiful, I think it’s a little overplanted. I’d like to remove several things to make room for a new raised bed. I’m also planning on taking out the water feature—I am never relaxed or peaceful enough to appreciate a calming flow of water. And, I think the rain in Portland is more than enough. There is already a wonderful area full of peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, and more veggies that I am going to leave alone (and hopefully not kill). We also have a cold box that is currently occupied by weeds. I don’t know what we’ll put in it yet, but I was thinking lettuces or maybe a few herbs.

I’m going to do my best to document the trials of my first garden. I promise to share the good and the bad and everything that happens in between. Lucky for me, I have access to the full Timber Press library to gather information from along the way…

P.S. These pictures were obviously not taken this month. If they were taken this month they would much more barren, much less green, and — thanks to a little Holiday weekend yard work — much more cut back.

This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog.

Today, the last of November, beginning of December, snow is flying in many parts of the USA. Many die-hard gardeners in colder areas turn to houseplants to satisfy that perennial itch to commune with the green world. These days it seems you find lots of houseplants for sale wherever you go. Many grocery stores, even big box stores, now boast a tantalizing display of gorgeous exotic orchids in full bloom along with other houseplants. The flamboyant color and opulent form of orchid flowers are seductive. Like sultry temptresses they lure us into their embrace and many of us succumb to their charms.

For many people, orchids have the reputation (undeserved!) that they are demanding and difficult to grow. Poppycock! Orchids are tough customers that hang on under the most trying of circumstances so long as minimal needs are met. The only finicky aspect of orchid culture is the potting medium because they cannot grow in soil.

Many orchids make excellent flowering houseplants. Take a word from the wise and be careful though, because once you start growing orchids you may never stop! At one time in our lives Kathryn and I owned an orchid nursery and tissue culture lab in Hawaii with several thousand orchids. We were also judges with the American Orchid Society and we literally lived and breathed orchids for years.

Continue Reading »

This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog.

Glorious flowering bulbs of summer can light up your garden all through the warm summer months. Some, like tuberous begonias and dahlias, bloom all summer long. Others, like gladiolus, cannas, and crocosmia, have a more definite and shorter season of bloom. All are among the most flamboyant of summer flowers. They come in a brilliant rainbow of colors, many provide much needed height, and all add interesting texture and form to your garden. Oddly, though all those mentioned above are called bulbs, none has a true bulb. Instead of real bulbs they have a variety of underground storage structures like corms, tubers, or tuberous roots.

If you live in a cold winter climate, you need to dig up most of your summer flowering bulbs in autumn before hard freezes occur. Unlike spring blooming bulbs such as tulips, daffodils and crocus, these summer blooming bulbs are tender and will be killed by winter cold. You should dig up tender summer flowering bulbs in the autumn before hard freezes occur. Then you divide them, store them through the winter somewhere where they won’t freeze, and re-plant them in the spring. Garden jargon calls this process “lifting” the bulbs.

Dig them up, shake off as much of the soil as you can, and set them on newspaper in cardboard boxes to dry for a time. When the little bit of soil clinging to them has dried out, brush away the soil and store them in labeled paper bags until time to plant again next spring.

A couple of tips for success:

First, never store bulbs in plastic bags. Plastic bags don’t breathe, and they trap humidity. Both conditions promote bulb diseases. Put them in paper bags.

Second, dust them with sulfur after you’ve cleaned them up and before storing them. A good way to get them dusted is to put them in a zip-top plastic bag (only temporarily!), add a tablespoon of dusting sulfur, close the bag tightly, and shake. You should wear a face mask to avoid breathing the sulfur dust into your lungs and you should wear gloves to avoid getting it on your skin. Sulfur is a mineral element, mined from the earth, and is routinely used in organic gardening practices to control fungus disease. It is a relatively safe product but some people can have allergic reactions.

When your bulbs are well coated with sulfur, put them into a paper bag, label the bag with the kind of bulb, the name of the cultivar, and the date, and store your summer flowering bulbs in a cool, dark place through the winter until you can plant again in the spring. Dusting with sulfur prevents fungus spores from germinating as bulbs in storage can easily become infected with blue bulb mold, a fungus disease.

If, in spite of your best efforts, some of your bulbs become moldy while in storage, throw them away. Don’t plant them. And don’t keep them near your other bulbs. You’ve heard how one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel. Same goes for bulbs. You don’t want one rotten bulb to spoil all the rest.

I’ve been reading parts of Fearless Color Gardens by Keeyla Meadows today, deciding how to capture the essence of it in a one-page letter. It really isn’t going to be easy; there is a lot of fun, friendly information packed into this 180-page book.

The parts I like best are the TRY THIS sections. These are step-by-step plans that help gardeners connect with color. Most of them are simple, and they’re all fun. Here’s an example  from chapter one.

TRY THIS: Keep a Color Adventure Journal

Keep a color notebook to record your discoveries on your color journey. I use sketch notebooks from the art store. Select several colored crayons, pens, chalks, or pencils that you are attracted to. One of the wonders of color is how personal it is. What attracts you is repulsive to someone else. We are not all the same. Now select a few colors that are repellent to you. All explorations are of interest regarding color.

Here are some explorations to try:

#1. Find a flower with petals of a color that is very attractive to you. Copy the color into your notebook. Write about the color. Do this for a few colors. What are some of the most attracting colors for you?

#2. Select one or two colored pens, pencils, or crayons of colors that are familiar from your childhood. Choose at least one color that you love or used to love and one color that you dislike. Make dots, squiggles, giggles of each color on a page, leaving room to write. Write about your color roots.

#3. Perhaps draw a stepping-stone, “follow the yellow brick road” path with one of your colors. Trace your relationship with the color you love through the years. then trace your relationship with a color you dislike or are repelled by.

From Fearless Color Gardens, available in December

A few weeks ago, with the help of my mum (who happened to be in town) I planted my first-ever batch of bulbs. It’s one of those things that I’ve always wanted to do, but  until now I never got around to doing it. Gardening blogs and Twitter feeds are all a-buzz about bulb planting season, so I had plenty of reminders that now was the time! I was also inspired by the Doonesbury comic strip — gardening that makes me laugh is gardening that I can get behind.

We started small, which (I am told) is not the best way to start with bulbs — but I often learn best by failing, and I decided that 35 bulbs was enough. I bought two kinds of crocuses, some wee daffodils, and some Fritillaria meleagris, which I love because they look like tiny checkerboards.

Continue Reading »

I’m a relative newcomer to the world of garden blogging, and I sometimes come across blog topics that are a whole new world of gardening that I never thought of. The concept of “bloom day” was just such a topic. “What’s this ‘bloom day’?” I thought to myself. “It looks like pictures of people’s flowers. Surely it can’t be that simple? There must be some larger purpose.”

After much curious browsing of the internet, I think I’ve discovered three things.
1) There is no larger purpose that I can see – and really, it doesn’t matter.
2) Flowers are pretty.
3) Bloom Day appears to occur between the 14th and the 16th of every month. Ideally the 15th, but you know — some people get excited, and some people get late.

So, in honor of Bloom Day, finding useful information on the internet, and the release of our new book on black plants, I am posting some images of black flowers. I believe that technically, these flowers should be growing in my own garden, so I’ve picked ones that I would like to have in my garden, given half a chance. I am also posting a day late – but I’m hoping that no-one will refuse to look at flowers just because they are posted on the 16th instead of the 15th.

Continue Reading »

This year, it seems mandatory for any lifestyle article to include tips on “how to save money.” The gardening industry is no exception, and one of the things that people tout to save money is starting your ornamental plants from seed. Most articles claim that it is “cheap and easy”. I won’t argue with “cheap”, but I’m beginning to add a big mental asterisk to “easy”. As in: “Starting things from seed is cheap and easy”*

*As long as you have exactly the right spot, sow the seeds exactly the right way, and don’t mind re-sowing three or four times. Oh, and those lovely pictures of fields of waving flowers on seed packets? Sometimes seed packets lie. (I know! There should be a law!)

Continue Reading »