March 2014 Newsletter

With our relatively dry spring, it’s a great time to prepare garden soil for spring planting. Remove weeds from the area as much as possible. Incorporate generous amounts of organic materials and other amendments, into the sandy soils. Most soils in our area tend to be all sand; they

Many times I have wanted to be covered in the tiny feathers of a junco when caught in a rain shower. I watch the rain drops roll off the feathers as they happily spend their April days scavenging the last seeds from our perennial beds. Why is it that wetness annoys me so much? My rain

The Azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides, is a relatively new pest that home gardeners should be on the lookout for. First detected in Oregon in 2009

Fargesia rufa, also called the panda bamboo, is a species from China. As with all of the fargesias, this bamboo is a clumping bamboo, meaning that it does not spread rapidly with runners. The new shoots on fargesias come up on the outside edge of the plant, resulting in a slow outward

Rugosa roses Rosa Eurosaare a specific botanic class of roses native to northern Asia, eastern Siberia, western Alaska, and the northeastern American continent. The “parent” plant (R. rugosa) was discovered (by western rosarians) in Japan and western Asia in 1796. Rugosas

Fall 2011 Newsletter Enjoy some of our past newsletters as we update our site.

During the cold wet days of spring, seed catalogs can only do so much to satisfy the primal urge to dig in the dirt. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a greenhouse, you may find that you can reach that “happy place” by growing bonsais. It works for me!  Different spe

Phyllostachys praecox is a running timber bamboo that originated from the Zhejiang Province of China. This bamboo can reach over feet in height, although in our coastal area, it will probably reach only 15 to 20 feet high and 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The stems are green with short i

Barbados Aloe is a clump forming aloe that is a major source of the aloe used for medicinal purposes. Aloes are native to Africa, and various species occur their respective regions in southern Africa, the mountains of tropical Africa, various islands off the coast of Africa including