Sometimes there is nothing else to be said except. Spring. Finally. It’s spring.
Magnolia Black Tulip
Brave blossoms defy the cold and bloom
anemonella ‘Flora Plena’
At ground level or above they bloom despite rain or wind
Pasque Flower
The sun is still low and it back lights the Easter flower.
Even the bonsai Quince expends it energy into spring.
Bachelor Buttons brighten and jazz up a pot.
Welcome Spring!
Our Grandparents grew food. They knew that they could grow what they couldn’t buy in the store. During the World War fresh food was scarce so they cultivated the ground and grew there own.
The need for growing food kind of skipped a generation because our parents had plenty: plenty of money and plenty of places to purchase food. I didn’t know you could eat mushrooms unless they came out of a can. The first time I saw them in a grocery store I was amazed at how different they looked. The luxury of having money to purchase food was a status symbol. Now, just like many new things we have pushed them aside to pursue the old methods. But of course we do it with a modern twist. We like to grow vegetable and fruits but in our own way.
Now we elevate them, contain them and cultivate them in a designed garden. No more long rows of veg and fruit with cultivators and stakes. It is partially because we have less land to grow and partially our desire to condense the growing medium and effort involved to get more for our expense of time and water.
Galvanized Vegetable Beds, Raised Bed Gardening
galvanized tubs
These galvanized tubs create a great space for tomatoes. It condensed the water so it stays where the plants can get to them. They are watered with a drip system at the soil level so the leaves stay dry except for rain showers. The galvanized metal warms the soil earlier in the year so the seed germinate faster and seedlings grow better.
When we have a little more space and more mouths to feed we do a little bit bigger garden. We still want it to be easy to get to (close to the house), easy to care for (raised contained soil) and easy to water and pick. We also like the ability to keep it clean and easy to weed. This garden with raised beds, and paving stones surrounding is so easy to manage.
raised Vegetable Beds
raised beds and place to rest, the circles in the pavers now contain columnar apple trees
raised beds and pavers
We also may need to keep them from predators. Deer fencing can be used to keep the food available and not make a snack bar for deer and rabbits.
deer fencing surrounding raised Vegetable Beds
Gardens can be beautiful with Vegetables and herbs integrated. This last example shows a lovely beach style border ending in an herb bed. The raised bed on the right side of the picture contains squash and beans. Beautiful in their own right and in context with the whole of the back garden.
integrated Veg and Herb Garden
If you have been following the blog for a while you will remember in fall we pulled our begonias out after the first frost and stored them over the winter. If you didn’t have any to winter over they are available at the Nursery now and you can grab a couple of tubers and follow along with us. It is time to bring them out of their little dark box and bring them into the light. We will give them a soft bed of soil and water and they will be on their way again. Let’s have a look at the box where we stored them.
See the little growth points of pink? That is where the first leaves will come out and start their growth again. The tuber is solid and firm with no soft parts or mold (which is how it should be).
I usually prepare a long tray with fresh seed starting soil mix. This shallow tray is perfect for waking your begonias up, then they will be transferred to the container you want them to live in through the summer. We will transfer them after they have put on some good growth and the weather is warmer. You could put them straight into the pot when it gets warmer but it will take longer to get going and longer to get flowers. As you can see from the little buds showing they are ready to go too.
Let’s soak the soil through so there are no dry pockets. Then just set the tuber onto the soil and gently settle it down so the soil comes up about 1/2 way up the side. Now all you have to do is wait, water, wait, warm…. Maybe waiting is the hard part. It is one thing that gardeners have to learn that is very difficult. That’s it…… Really…. That’s it.
There is always a danger when going to the nursery just to buy a tray and seeding soil. Passing by other things that call to you and in this case it was a sweet little Hymenocallis.
One of the funnest things about these is they can be put into a pot and brought out to brighten a spot in your home and bring in a little fragrance. This is super easy too. You can choose a similar flower or bulb. Look for a recommendation that it can be grown in a container. This will keep it easy. Just grab a pot that you like because this bulb will stay in it.
First put in enough soil to bring the bulb to the level on the back of the package. This is a fairly deep pot so there is enough room to do it. If you use a pot that is more shallow you may have to stake the bulb when it blooms. Just be sure there is at least 1/2 of the pot filled with soil before you plant the bulb. Sprinkle a little bulb food in the container and then put the bulb on top of it.
Drop the bulb into the soil gently spreading out any roots that are there.
Cover up the rest of the bulb with soil, water well, and …… wait.
Remember you do not need a greenhouse to do these projects/experiments. Just a sunny window will do and they will be ready to transplant outside before they get very big.
In these days of ‘instant’ there is something unusual about waiting. We don’t really wait for much. I really admire the people who grow from seeds. They are so patient. They have learned the art of waiting and the excitement of seeing a seed sprout and become a wonderful plant. I read recently about a couple who grew trees from seed and live to see them mature and then harvest them. Some had been growing for 40 years. I think that would be hard to do. I do encourage each of my followers to grown something from seed. We will do easy seeds next week (lettuce) and I will start tomatoes by seed indoors later in the season.
Remember to share your gardening exploits with us here on the blog or via Facebook, Instagram (#susan_PWD) and Twitter (@susan_PWD)!
We are so excited to share with you about Little Bytes (you may have seen us mention it in our recent blog posts). We’ve noticed over the past year many folks saying “I wish I could grow something like that” and “If someone would break it down for me I think I could do that”. Well, we’ve heard you and we are on it. We will be spending the next year (and beyond) focusing some time on “breaking it down” for you, hence the name “Little Bytes”. Little pieces of information you can use in your garden right now!
In taking on this new project I needed some guinea pigs, I mean, “test gardeners”, and who better to work with than my very own daughters, Jennifer and Kristen! You may recognize them as they have helped me with the blog already but now we get to garden together.
A little about Jennifer… She lives here in the Northwest with her husband and daughter, Kayla. She keeps my office humming and the crew on their feet. Jennifer has been dabbling in her garden for the last couple of years and is ready to take on new challenges. She’s agreed to be a test gardener for me and you can check out her profile on our “Meet the Gardener” section of the blog.
A little about Kristen… She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and two kids, Emma and Finn (who have been on the blog before too). Though she is my daughter that doesn’t mean she’s an expert gardener. Actually she’s a beginner. She’s agreed to write about her beginning gardening experiences and share about them with you here on the blog. You can check out her profile on our “Meet the Gardener” section of the blog as well.
Our goal with Little Bytes is to grow gardeners. You don’t have to have any experience with gardening to be able to journey with us and grow something for the first time. We want to foster a community of people who are stepping out to start their garden journey along with seasoned gardeners of all types. So, what do you say, are you in with us?
‘Art in Bloom’ was the theme of the NWFGS this year and it was interesting to see all the way’s designers incorporated art, used art as a focal point, and used different mediums of art in the gardens. There is a debate going on now in artistic circles about whether gardens can be art in the first place. Gardens are an ever changing medium that evolves, is augmented by pruning, more plantings and removal of elements. Exploring the garden as an art form was my take on ‘Art in Bloom’. Sometimes artists cross over into garden design and sometimes designers cross over into artists. A beautifully drawn plan can be like a painting. Just like drawing or painting uses different techniques so too does the designer uses different techniques to present a garden as art. Textures, form , scale, and colors all enter into the planning and planting of a garden.
I wanted the whole garden to be seen as an expression of art.
Many people expressed appreciation and even judges said ‘I get it’ which was fun to hear. Doing the garden show is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Even we get amped up for spring by seeing the blooming flowers and water features, knowing that outside our flowers aren’t really blooming and the water features while probably running are not what they will be in a few short weeks. My fish are still hibernating and sluggishly laying on the bottom of the pond (pictured above). The lilies are not blooming yet and my other floating pond plants are still in the green house waiting for the water temperature to warm. The hellebores are just starting to raise their heads and I’m starting to see shoots of bulbs emerging from the soil. Walking through the doors of the garden show and feeling the warmth and energy of happy people lightens the heart, and makes winter not seem so tiring.
Even with all that, garden show gardens are hard to create. If you want an inside look at how we created our garden click here. Every year I try to focus on creating something my fellow gardeners can relate to. I want to spark their imagination, show something they haven’t seen before, present ideas to take home. Not every garden has the same impact on every person so trying to appeal to a broad audience and please the judges at the same is a tight rope walk. Maintaining my focus, not getting caught up in competitiveness, is key for me. Obviously budget constraints, forcing issues, labor issues, and time constraints always add to the difficulty of presenting a show garden. The show was the first week of February this year which shortened the forcing time. Trying to express that this garden is a show garden and should be seen as a part of a whole garden was also challenging. Imagining the gardens at the show in a slightly morphed way helps to think about it at your house. Seeing where the door is in your minds eye, or how the grass paths lead to another pathway to another area of the garden help to see the gardens in relationship.
With that in mind, here are some tips for visiting the garden show next year (I’ll try to remember to re-post next year before the show starts again).
1. Go more that one day. It is very difficult to see everything in one day. Some gardens or displays may strike you as boring, but they may just be subtle. Looking at them again will help to see more. They could strike you as too jumbled but then when you go back you might see just that one piece or plant that would be perfect in your garden.
2. Talk to people. Either other attendees, speakers, or the people in the gardens themselves. They are usually eager to share knowledge, expertise or even directions to the bathroom. Gardening is so enjoyable that like minded people like to share.
Lettuce bombs
3 Try something new. There are lots of plants, bulbs, shoots, and tubers in the plant market. Some of these plants are a great price and are hard to find in the nursuries. There are seeds and advice as to how to start them. New seed strains, new ways to grow them (seed bombs), and even heirloom varieties are available here Connecting with local nurseries will help to form bonds and connections for plants throughout the year.
unpaid cultivators
4. Learn something new. Seminars , speakers, and the DIY stage are informative and fun. New ideas are presented. HHT (horticultural hot topics) are discussed. Learning about ways to volunteer, gardens to visit, and problems that are affecting our plant world are important and the garden show is a good place to learn about them. Most speakers are people just like you and me and they are happy to share what they know. You will see the newest books, and maybe sign up to receive newsletters or blog posts via email. I really like to follow blogs that present me with more questions than answers (some people prefer it the other way around). Check out… Gardenista.com, wellywoman. heavypetal.ca, reddirtramblings.
pulmonaria Azurea
5. Share what you know. After the garden show share what you learned with friends and family, how important it is to you and how important gardening is to the planet. The stewardship we share will improve the quality of life around us. It is so important to garden like your life depended on it, because in reality it does. Joining a gardening club, working with a pea patch, sharing your gardening skills and know how with younger people will insure that the awareness and importance of gardening is not lost. The farm to table movement was started in this way. I love the people who came through that were with a group, staying at a hotel, and were there for the whole show. Lots of gardeners from Canada!. Their passion is very real and they enjoyed every moment of the show.
As I think about the time table for the coming year I start to plan what I would like to do and I want to share with you about Little Bites. Little Bites is about teaching and empowering our younger generations about gardening little bites at a time (get it?). You can plant a seed, watch it grow and eat it instead of opening the refrigerator. Instead of watching other people’s lives on our various screens lets get out there and learn how to grow food and flowers, eat invasives, divide corms, do soft wood cuttings, design for sustainablitly… Whoops maybe I should RELAX and get some much needed rest…… Nah, I’ll rest when I loose the ability to get outside by myself. Needless to say we, here at Plantswoman Design, are excited about Little Bites and what we can accomplish when we work together outside. Stay tuned for more information and an invitation to get involved!
The Northwest Flower and Garden show is officially done! We had such a good show this year and are pleased with the overall response. Today we wanted to share with you some of the highlights of our week.
First up, our garden won a gold medal! You can’t really top that…
Julie Moir Messervy
Next up, we got to meet so many great speakers and was interviewed on camera by GardenTV.tv. Julie Moir Messervy came by for a visit and some wonderful comments. Being one of the judges we were excited to hear her comments about our garden first hand. We were also able to meet Marianne Binetti, Willi Galloway, Robin Haglund, Teresa O’Connor and Debra Prinzing. All wonderful women of the horticultural world.
Cyle and Susan
And we say good bye to our dear friend Cyle Eldred. We owe a great deal to Cyle as he was able to talk me into doing the show in the first place. With his guidance I was able to hone in on what I felt my goals should be in creating a show garden. Alas, the show must go on and we will miss working with Cyle through the craziness that is the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. We wish him the best as he pursues the new adventures that await him.
Now that we are done with the show I have some time to reflect on what we accomplished there. Stay tuned for my thoughts, musings, tips for attending a garden show, and perhaps some news about our exciting year to come.
Well folks, the garden show is coming to an end. At 6pm today they will be closing the doors for the last time this season. We had a snow storm roll in last night and, after going to see Sleeping Beauty with my grand-daughter, daughter and her mother-in-law, had a difficult time making it home. Coming in today we wondered if folks would brave the snow or just stay home. So far the last day attendance is pretty steady.
Stay tuned for our highlights from the show tomorrow. Also, the full plant list, complete with photos, is up on the website. Just click the green “Plant List” button on the upper left of this page.
Day three has come to an end and we continue to have a great response to our garden. Today, my grand kids came up and, after we visited some of the walk through gardens, we headed over to the kid’s garden area. Now, yesterday I was not totally excited about my preview but, today, I must say, I was surprised by how much the kiddos did enjoy the kid’s garden area. While there were Legos and an opportunity to make your own stop-motion photography stories, we spent most of our time in the foam area.
When the kids had their fill of foam craziness we stopped over and colored a little bit before heading over to make our portable terrariums.
The kids didn’t seem to interested in going back to play with the Legos so we actually headed over to the Usborne booth to browse their book selection. Finn entertained himself and many passersby in the kid sized shed across the isle while Emma donned her shopping diva persona to make her selections. Over all, we really did have a great time with our kids at the show. I did have to give up two stones from our garden’s rill for Finn but the kids left happy and tired so it was worth it.
Tomorrow promises to be one of the busiest days at the show but don’t let that deter you if you were thinking of coming out. Just give yourself a little more time to get through the display gardens. You may even try to get there either at opening (9am), close to closing (8pm), or during a meal time hours during which the show floor seems to slow down a bit. Also, don’t forget to swing by and see us for your little treasure from us. Just let them know that you follow us on the blog or any of our other social media outlets!
Today we started at 7:30am with the Garden Show Tweet Up! I’m not entirely sure how one signs up for the Tweet Up or what the criteria was for coming but there was quite a diverse group of people to chat with. You might be wondering what a Tweet Up is and what the purpose is (I kind of did the first time round too). Pretty much it is an opportunity for folks that use Twitter to have access to the display gardens before the rest of the crowds get there. This gives them great space to take pictures and talk to garden creators about their gardens. It is a great time to connect with an intentionally more social media savvy group. We tried our best to “work the room” and I do think we were successful as by the time the show started @susan_PWD was getting a great response.
Other notable fun we had today… Susan was interviewed by Garden TV, met many, many great gardeners, garden bloggers, and speakers. Tomorrow the grand kids are coming by to check out the kid area. I’ll let you in on a little secret… I previewed the kid space today and am sad to report it isn’t quite what I expected. I am afraid our 5 and 2 1/2 year old may be too young to appreciate it but we will go and let you know how it goes.