Dear Flora: How do I make a social impact with my garden? I would like to combine what I love with actually helping others. ~Socially-Conscious Garden Lover Dear SCGL: I commend you for thinking this way. If all gardeners did, we would make such a HUGE impact-we’d be reeling from it and so many would [...]

Back to helpful organizations, I enjoyed talking to the representatives of the King County Iris Society. I don’t know as much about Irises as I would like to and I found it very helpful to ask them questions of all kinds. March is the start of the Iris Growing Season and the group recommends that [...]

The Feb/March Birds & Blooms magazine has an interesting and educational article about orchids written by Tom Krischan from Wisconsin. He recommends several varieties for the beginning orchid gardener. What I know is this-you can’t beat the colors that these flowers produce. It’s amazing and gives my mood a lift every time that I look [...]

And what a strange word, do you agree with me? Say “mulch” fast ten times-I could only do it four before laughing. It just doesn’t sound right after the first few. Mulch is simply a 3-8 inch covering over your plants. And yet something that simple can be hugely beneficial to both you and your [...]

One of the benefits that I wanted to gain from the show this year was to help sort out meaningful gardening organizations that can help you and I with our planting goals. Many of them have free information available in print and on websites, a community of other knowledgeable people and ongoing learning opportunities. Some [...]

Several folks who blogged (on their personal blogs) about their experiences at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show alerted me to their posts. Thought you’d enjoy reading them, too. Heavy Petal: Gardening from a West Coast Urban Organic Perspective: Caitlin Black filled in for blogger Andrea Bellamy (who is quite pregnant). Caitlin blogged about the [...]

I am gearing up to plant peas next week, as long as the rain stops, and I wanted to talk to you about my experience with TYPES of peas to plant. The kids and I both love the sugar snaps-in fact that is the only kind they will eat-and bar none the best variety we [...]