January 15The catalogs are filling our mailboxes and that means that spring can't be too far off. All those pretty pictures and the "you can grow anything" hype makes it sound like our gardens will be so easy to do come spring. In my continuing quest to both locate and profile plants that provide visual interest during our long winters, I took a recent stroll through Manito Park. I came across several small trees with striking bark in the Joel E. Ferris Perennial Garden and learned that they are Paperbark Maples. After doing some research, I believe one would make a marvelous addition to any garden. January 8It's been 10 years since Grant Keller tried to convince friends and family that urban living and green building were the wave of the future. It is pretty amazing where you can go in the gardening world with only a few clicks of a mouse. While magazines and books are still a mainstay for gardeners to collect information and ideas, the Internet has transformed how we use that information and exchange it with others. So, with all the Web sites out there, what makes a good one? January 1With the official arrival of winter, while it might be easier to stare out the window and long for spring, why not enjoy the season and the dramatic transformation that takes place on our landscape? The rush of the holidays is over. Today marks the beginning of a new year. If you aren't a football fan or shopping junkie, take a walk today and see what you can find in the winter garden. Recently I had a couple of hours to kill so I took my walk through the Finch Arboretum. December 11The bright colors of the growing season have been replaced by the more subtle colors of the sleeping garden. Winter colors are beautiful but it is a little harder to get out and enjoy them. While a good walk on a winter afternoon gets the blood going, the lack of green leaves can be hard on a die-hard gardener. It's time to turn to our houseplants for that companionship. November 20The long slow slide into fall this year gave me time to think as I finished my chores. I realized that there was much to be thankful this year. After reading your article last week, I was hoping you might be able to give my husband some advice on his planting of arborvitae bushes. He planted some bushes last year and they did not survive. This year he tried again. He dug holes larger than the root ball and added new soil before planting them, then gave them a good watering. Is there anything else you would recommend he should do? Thank you for your help and expertise. Today's featured plant, Northern Sea Oats, look great in the garden and very cool in dried flower arrangements. November 13Happy day! The garden finally got nailed with a killing frost. I can quit for the winter. There is one last chore to do before I can really lock the door on the tool shed, though. I need to clean and repair the tools that helped me work in the garden. Looking over MaryJane Butters' Web site, or even chatting with her for a few moments, you begin to wonder: We have two burning bushes we bought from a local nursery about 20 years ago that have never turned red. One is in south-facing full sun, and the other gets afternoon sun on the west side of the house. What is wrong? The taste of a fresh cherry changed Jackie Erovick's life.In July 2006, while touring the Inland Northwest after a family reunion in Montana, Erovick and her family happened upon Green Bluff. They stopped at an orchard, sampled the ripe cherries, struck up a conversation with the orchardist and spent two hours walking the 10-acre property. November 6If you are looking for a hardy shrub that has beautiful flowers in the spring, attractive berries that last for months and colorful foliage in the fall, you can't do better than this. I was lucky to get to spend the last two warm days this fall working outside near a Hillyard playfield. In between shoveling dirt into garden boxes, I stopped and just enjoyed the color around me. The trees and shrubs certainly put on a show for us this year. Now is a great time to make sure they will be as pretty next year. A couple years ago Coeur d'Alene's Gabby Gardener, Dick Rifkind, said there was a peach tree that was reliably hardy in the Bumblebee/Enaville, Idaho, area. My elderly parents love peaches and I would like to get them a couple trees. We tried Reliance; it died the third year. Elberta died the second year. It seems Rifkind said that the tree had to be ordered by mail and early, but he is no longer in the area and I don't know how to find out what the tree's name was or where to order it. Do you happen to know? October 30On one of the recent glorious fall days, I took some time for a walk through the Manito Park Rose Garden. Even though it was the middle of October, the roses were beautiful. Every color imaginable and the fragrances were quite pronounced in the still air. The coming winter months trigger our good intentions and our need to feed our wild friends, but does this kindness come at a cost? We always enjoy the information you give us in your columns.We live in Liberty Lake and when the house was built two years ago the landscaper planted a few of what I think are boxwoods. The leaves are yellow and green. The bush has strong upright stems and is getting out of hand, blocking our view of the vegetable garden. I know I could shear it, or at least thin out some of the branches. But what is the best time to do that? I find conflicting information on the Web. October 23Marty Eberle's zeal for dahlias came later in life. He always had vegetable gardens as one of 10 children they were a necessity. And with his own family he continued the practice. A few marigolds may have been scattered across the garden, but no other flowers co-existed with the zucchini or tomatoes. One of the best perks of retirement is having the time to spend with grandchildren. Jan Kroll is taking advantage of that opportunity. She especially loves gardening with 4-year-old Logan, who often comes to spend the night. Compost is black gold to a garden. It is a rich source of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. It makes even the driest sand or gummiest clay into beautifully crumbly, friable soil that is able to hold water. A two to three inch layer of it used as a mulch helps block weeds. October 16Is there anything to help reduce the clusters of small gnats that hover over the lawn? Joan Hall, Suncrest October 9When most homeowners build a deck, they likely envision using it for midsummer barbecues and afternoon sunbathing. When most homeowners build a deck, they likely envision using it for midsummer barbecues and afternoon sunbathing. In SOME urban areas, graffiti art is a respected medium for conveying social and political sentiment. But a recent increase in graffiti and so-called "tagging" in some Spokane neighborhoods is viewed by many as unsightly vandalism, or worse gang-related activity. In SOME urban areas, graffiti art is a respected medium for conveying social and political sentiment. But a recent increase in graffiti and so-called "tagging" in some Spokane neighborhoods is viewed by many as unsightly vandalism, or worse gang-related activity. Bright golden foliage glowing against a shady spot in the garden can make the landscape pop.With the onset of autumn, gardeners should consider the merits of using perennials and shrubs with leaves that change with the season. Bright golden foliage glowing against a shady spot in the garden can make the landscape pop.With the onset of autumn, gardeners should consider the merits of using perennials and shrubs with leaves that change with the season. Generations ago, before agriculture changed the look and feel of the Palouse, the area was a prairie filled with native grasses and wildflowers. Generations ago, before agriculture changed the look and feel of the Palouse, the area was a prairie filled with native grasses and wildflowers. My question relates to the use of our local newspaper (The Spokesman-Review) in the compost bin. Can you tell me what the ink base is? Many printers are now using a soy-based ink for publishing. Also, if soy-based ink is used for The Spokesman-Review, does that also apply to the pages that have colored pictures, ads or other items? I am an avid composter and would like to make use of our daily newspaper by including it in our compost pile. My question relates to the use of our local newspaper (The Spokesman-Review) in the compost bin. Can you tell me what the ink base is? Many printers are now using a soy-based ink for publishing. Also, if soy-based ink is used for The Spokesman-Review, does that also apply to the pages that have colored pictures, ads or other items? I am an avid composter and would like to make use of our daily newspaper by including it in our compost pile. October 2For Kay and Dan Loibl, the last few weeks have been the highlight of their gardening year. The dahlias are blooming. We aren't taking about a few plants tucked into the border. The couple has 100 different varieties in almost every color of the rainbow on their property. While they are enjoying the beauty of the moment, the Loibls know the first frost is not far off and overnight the dazzling plants will be killed. All that will be left are black piles of mush. DarleNe and Douglas Reilly began their garden story in 1969 when they moved to the 1908 vintage house his grandfather had built. Back then, the house was out in the country, a long way from downtown. Today it is a block off the busy thoroughfare of North Division near Francis. But even with the hustle right out their door, the garden is a bright spot in an urban setting. My thornless blackberry bush was slow to bloom, and then hot weather came and now it is loaded. But the problem is that most of the berries are not turning color. I watered them well with a drip hose. Is there anything I can do to get them to ripen? This is the first year I have had trouble. September 18Lyle Tostenrude beams as he shows off his expansive, eclectic garden.There are deer-shaped topiaries, pruned arborvitae and carved bonsais. There is heather and cotoneaster. There is a sunken porch, a hot tub and a pond, 11 Buddhas, seven concrete pagodas and five foo dogs. She's taught junior high and high school. She's been a consultant for private industry. And she's worked in the Washington state governor's office, coordinating work-force training programs. September 4Last year when the Hildahl family moved into a large home in Spokane Valley's Northwood community, they loved everything about it β except the backyard. With the heat of summer behind us, now's the time to enjoy birding in the Little Spokane River Natural Area. Whether by foot or canoe, it's one of the best and easy to reach places to go birding in Spokane County. Autumn is no exception. What a summer. When it got hot in July, I was not looking forward to it being hot all the way to Labor Day. Not when we were trying to plan a wedding reception in the yard in mid-August. I had dreams of watering in my pajamas. But Mother Nature fooled us β again β and sent us a very comfortable August with just a bit of rain. Last year, our zucchini did real well. Like many people, we couldn't harvest them fast enough. This year, our zucchini plant looks great and is putting out a lot of flowers and is setting zucchini as expected. However, when the zucchini are about 3 to 4 inches long, they suddenly stop growing and slowly begin to shrivel from the blossom end. August 28For Don and LaVerle McCandless, growing vegetables is an important part of life. Every year they coax tomatoes, zucchini, beans, cabbage, carrots and a dozen other vegetables out of their garden just off Highway 904 near Four Lakes to can for themselves and sell at the weekly Cheney Farmers' Market. And to give back to the community through the Cheney Food Bank and Plant a Row for the Hungry. This has been a tough year for tomatoes.A cool June reduced early blossoming. Then, highs in the mid to upper 90s zapped a lot of blossoms before they could set, and keeping the plants evenly moist has been a challenge. You don't have to have a large garden to donate produce to your nearest food bank. Every pound of produce is welcome. August 21In an aging neighborhood near Gonzaga University, Master Gardener Carolyn Starner created a secluded oasis of beauty and tranquility. We had barely begun a walk around Annie Pierce's garden when a rumble and a cloud of dust announced the arrival of the UPS truck. One thing that gets us gardeners upset is people who use broadcast seed and fertilizer spreaders either hand held or wheeled for putting on weed-and-feed fertilizers. It ends up killing the neighbors' flowers, as it can throw the weed killer out many feet on either side. I have had people on both sides of me do this more than once. Carolyn Starner, author of "Emerald Journey: A Walk Through Northwest Gardens," offers these tips for creating your own retreat: August 14Nearly 10 years ago, Corbin Art Center Director Lynn Mandyke was tromping around the rugged woodland behind the center in Pioneer Park on Spokane's lower South Hill. I used to admire the beautiful Mediterranean-style home that sat on the corner. It had been built in the 1920s for the daughter of a wealthy city founder. She'd married a sculptor and the rambling house was their love-nest. The house sat on two lots, one of which had been a beautiful formal garden. I planted several large pots this spring. To save weight I put crushed aluminum cans in the bottom of the containers. Now I'm hearing that's not a good thing to do. Also, what about the water holding crystals you mix in the soil? The Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens is open to the public this weekend. It took seven years of hard work to coax this little bit of Spokane's history out of a tangle of nearly 70 years of brush and neglect. What do movies like "The Incredibles," "Harry Potter," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Mosquito Coast," "The New World," and "Ratatouille" have in common? These movies all contain bird sounds. And when Hollywood needs authentic bird sounds, or wants to create make-believe creatures out of authentic sounds, they contact the Macaulay Library. August 7When a debilitating disease kept Karen Druffel from the ocean, she and her husband created a coastal oasis at home in Spokane. Viktoria Bruens has lived in a tiny house in Spokane for more than 30 years. She loves Spokane because the climate reminds her of where she grew up near the Alps in Germany. In early June the irises put on their annual show. Their bold flowers in nearly every color of the rainbow are the mainstays of the summer garden. July 31It's hot, hot, hot – time to cool down and take a splash. With temperatures in the 100s, you're not the only one who needs to stay cool. How about adding a birdbath to your back yard? Last time I checked, Spokane was about 280 miles from the nearest body of salt water. But The Jardin Voyager, "planted" in Cheney, waits for her next crew of grandkids to man the helm and sail off into the land of imagination. I have a good crop of raspberries but some of the clusters have white spots on them. What is this and is it bad for the berries and the plant? July 24Fruits of their labor
Deena Romoff and Stormie Oshun Pursuing his dreams took Sean Owens far away from Spokane. Living his dreams brought him back."The entire focus of my life was to become a pilot in the military," Sean says, noting childhood photos frequently show him dressed in oversized fatigues. "That's all I could think about." Spokane's urban business owners and residents can expect their environment to take on a more cohesive look next year when the Downtown Spokane Partnership implements a street enhancement strategy that will make trashcans, bike racks, bus stops and other infrastructure more pedestrian friendly, pleasing to the eye, and discouraging to vandals and other unsavory characters. Vivian Nielsen runs Garden Gate Lavender Farm with more than 2,500 plants. Not bad for a woman who could never keep her houseplants alive. We have so many bees trying to get all our raspberries. Do you know of any spray or such that would help them stay away? Thanks. July 17Glancing through Don and Patricia Schelling's picture window to the backyard beyond gives the impression that the couple lives in a nature preserve: Tall pines and large boulders dot the slope, giving way to ivy and lush maples at the rear of the oversized yard. It's like a ghost creeping into the garden. Your roses, lupines, phlox and a dozen other plants begin to take on a white, dusty haze ruining the look of otherwise beautiful plants. Welcome to a powdery mildew invasion. And this year it's particularly bad. It's not every day that you get to peer into the face of an owl. It is an enlivening experience to see those big beautiful eyes stare back at you. I've been meaning to e-mail you, and this morning in reading your article regarding grass maintenance, I decided to sit down immediately to ask you this question. To many people a rose is simply a single, long-stemmed red beauty. But Carol Newcomb knows better. Jordan's Joy is a pale blue, tall bearded iris with a hint of silver and a streak of deep-blue running through its ruffled petals. July 3A drive along Woodstone Avenue, in Hayden's Forrest Hills neighborhood, reveals a number of stately homes with impressive gardens. Chamaecyparis obtusa may sound like a mouthful, but this species of Japanese evergreens produces some of the daintiest and best kept forms in the modern landscape garden. The Pend Oreille Lavender Festival, with its rich mixture of culture, community and nature, attracts locals and visitors from all over the Inland Northwest and beyond. As hobbies go, interest in the ancient Japanese art of bonsai has been growing rapidly. The idea of having a miniaturized bit of nature seems to fascinate people. For Tuesday, July 03, 2007. June 26Summer's officially here, and it's time to get to know your hummers. Sorry guys, not the GM models, but stay tuned — if you like speed, this is for you. Mildred Beitzel has been growing irises since 1954. At one point, during her 50 years living in Palouse, Wash., Beitzel had more than 850 varieties. Now in Spangle, she still has hundreds of iris varieties. Her high regard for the plant was influenced by her father and continued with her daughter, Marilyn. Fire season is again upon us in the Inland Northwest. "It's not a matter of if a wild land fire will happen," says Garth Davis of the Spokane County Conservation District. "It's when." I see a lot of sprinkler systems running all the time already. Do we need to be watering lawns a lot right now? You're probably familiar with that famous Joni Mitchell song, the one about how they paved paradise and put up a parking lot. June 12The Purple Haze
(David and Kara Trail)The Purple Haze Garden is a plant collector's dream that features all kinds of unusual plants you're won't see anywhere else. This young family manages to combine a love of gardening and family life in a way that will make you smile and warm your heart. The Purple Haze garden is also the May 2007 Garden of the Month. My maple tree has suddenly developed white spots all over the leaves. Some of them are curling up and drying out at the edges. This is a big tree that shades our house in the summer so I don't want to lose it. Help. The Yak rhododendron craze that swept Britain 60 years ago never made it to the Inland Northwest. June 5The three women eyed the horsedrawn carriage like it was a four-carat diamond.They ran their hands across the leather seat and padded satin lining, peered through the round window at the back that resembles a ship portal. They looked under the black carpeting to find worn linoleum that resembles caning. They toyed with the loosened trim, lifting it to discover even older trim beneath. They examined a pillow-shaped, metal foot warmer complete with coal drawer. Few plantsmen have done as much to explore the limits of botanical discovery as gardening icon Dan Hinkley. Even rarer are those plantsmen who are willing to share those discoveries and their uses with gardeners around the world. Has early morning drumming on the side of your house been waking you up? Do you wonder what the ruckus is all about? I have a problem with spotted knapweed. I have several acres of the stuff and no way to cultivate the area. Hand pulling is out of the question. I have heard that there is a weevil that thrives on this particular plant. How fast, how effective and where can we get them. May 29"This is a hobby that once you get started, it's hard to give up," said Jim Miller, confessing his passion for beekeeping. Good watering is all-important to a good garden, and long, slow watering has many benefits. The dogwood trees around this area outdid themselves this year. There were huge pink and white clouds everywhere! The tomato and pepper plants have been in the stores for weeks. When is it really time to plant them? Also I always have trouble getting them ripe at the end of the summer. It rained last night. There is nothing more nourishing to the garden than a good spring rain. And there is nothing more satisfying to the gardener than to see life coming to be after a gentle soaking rain. A warm spring rain brings clarity to life all around. The air is filled with the happy chirping of song birds and the loud quarrels of turkeys on the hills. Pine trees change to a darker shade of green. The garden grows several inches overnight. All around, life bursts from everywhere, up from the ground, down from trees, from every pore of the earth itself. The rain cleanses the last remaining memory of a long winter and heralds the coming of a warm season. May 22Since Spokane is the "Lilac City," it only makes sense to grow one.But if you have limited space, a 12-foot lilac shrub might be too big. Everything about artist Kay O'Rourke revolves around the land."My creative process is totally intertwined with my garden, the soil and the earth," says O'Rourke, known for her colorful and fanciful art. It's been a pretty good year for our region. I'm hearing more upbeat comments about people doing well at work, a thriving real estate market and more opportunities all around. <Those garden hoses curled up in your side yard or snaking across pathways are among the most versatile tools you have. <May 15In May 1938 Faith Smith was strolling downtown when by chance she happened upon Spokane's first Lilac Parade at the corner of Lincoln and Main. Healing gardens should be a part of every health care facility. That's the word from Ann Hanenburg, ASLA, a landscape designer for Sherry Platt Van Voorhis Landscape Architects in Spokane. Pack your binoculars and favorite bird guide: We're going to Leavenworth! We all know Leavenworth for its Bavarian charm, particularly during Christmastime, but spring offers us another reason to visit this quaint Washington town. Springtime in Leavenworth is a beautiful backdrop for bird-watching. The fruit trees are showing off their full blooms into May, and this weekend the town hosts its Fifth Annual Spring Bird Fest. For beginning and expert birders, locals and visitors, friends and families — this event is sure to please. Recently I spent some very pleasant time in the classroom of my children's kindergarten. Mrs. Stone had asked me to come and show her kindergarteners how to plant seeds. What do you do to keep worms from apple trees and when do you do it? It's lilac season in the Lilac City and the air will soon be fragrant with their heady scent. Lilacs are perfect for our Inland Northwest gardens. They love our weather, don't need a lot of pruning and aren't usually bothered by many pests or diseases. Gerard and Willy Verkaik love open space.And while their children want the couple living close to family, the Verkaiks consider close a relative term. They recently bought a 40-acre property north of Loon Lake off Highway 395. The land is about 30 minutes from their daughter's Colbert home. Home
Pesticide Disposal program - Free disposal of pesticides only, up to 1,000 pounds, at the Coeur d'Alene Transfer Station. Program sponsored by the Idaho Department of Agriculture; Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 3650 Ramsey Road. Free. (208) 769-9586. For Tuesday, May 15, 2007. May 8Still trying to find a special gift for a mother in your life? If she is a gardener, relax, you don't have to worry. Just take her to the annual Garden Expo on Saturday at Spokane Community College. She will find her own gift, and you will look like a hero. A group of us want to purchase a plant for friends living in Liberty Lake as a family memorial. We would like it to be pretty, maybe attract butterflies or hummingbirds and be deer resistant. Would lilac be appropriate? What else would you suggest? May 1I've never opened the door to find one, but I've read about May Day baskets. I always thought it was a wonderful tradition. Our two 5-year-old rhubarb plants are up about 4 to 5 inches just like usual this time of year, but in years past, this is all they do. I'm a tough sell for the garden industry folks who send me products or plants to try. I usually test things for as long as a year before I feel I can recommend them to you. Sometimes though a product comes out that works well enough to pass right along. Here are two products that seem to be worth trying. When flowering trees are in full bloom, my driving becomes hazardous. In fact, so hazardous that my husband won't take the same road if he knows I will be on it at a certain time. Warm weather will arrive any day now. Which means it's time to look at ways to get the young ones into the fresh air and sunshine. But having fun should go hand in hand with being safe, so here are a few things to remember when you shop for backyard play equipment: April 24With warmer weather, more and more birds will be making pit stops in your backyard. Put out a few tasty morsels and they'll be flocking to you. Years ago I bought a collection of dwarf conifers to add visual texture and year-around color to the landscape at my house. Few flowers provide as much joy — and instant karma — as the homegrown sunflower. April has been proclaimed Urban Forest Month in Spokane to celebrate the importance of trees to our communities. Like the roads, bridges, sidewalks, power and communication wires and other gray infrastructure we rely on to keep our communities going, our green infrastructure keeps our communities healthy, livable and ultimately lower taxes for everyone. I need some ideas on fences that would keep deer out of my vegetable garden this year. I lost several crops to them last year. It would need to be wide enough for a four-wheel tractor. What about height and length between posts? I went to Wal-mart today thinking I needed a bag of seed potatoes. I came out of there with nearly $100 of various plants, and seed potatoes only as an afterthought. Gene Lucia wanted to plant a garden and get out of the jungle.Lucia and his wife, Barbara, moved to Spokane last year after living more than 30 years in southern Florida. The East Coast natives decided against moving back home after several visits left them discouraged by the overcrowding and the incivility. April 17The words "Global Warming" were just coming into the mainstream around the time my first child was born in the mid-1980s. With a child on the way, thinking about the world I would deliver her into, I remember pondering the vague warnings and troubling possibilities. With our basic spring cleanup done, its time to celebrate spring by taking advantage of local gardening events, festivals and classes: A trip out to the garden sent me into despair. It does every year at this time. Even though April is upon us and there are signs of life everywhere in the garden, no one can convince me that the glory of last season will repeat itself. The garden is a ravaged mess from winter and the merciless deer. I panic at the work ahead of me. But fortunately, I also have the antidote. It lies in the roses. It is time to prune them. Once the pruning starts, the panic subsides. Nature we're all a part of it.Spring is a fitting time of year to celebrate Earth Day. Seemingly overnight, green folds burst from moist earth and bare branches. Sunlight streams through rain clouds. Winds whip cold and fierce, then change to a gentle caress. Birds sing love ballads and dive after mates. I'm still fairly new to this area and have a question about azalea plants that I received in February. They have bloomed beautifully and are just now fading, but new growth seems to be appearing. I have a shade bed with ferns and a rhododendron, can I safely plant these azalea plants there also? Can I do it now or is it too early? Pollen season – leaving its telltale yellow film on windowsills, tabletops and cars – is upon us with a sneezing, itchy-eyed vengeance. There is no way to avoid the stuff completely, but there are ways to fight back inside our homes. For Tuesday, April 17, 2007. April 10Just because you have a small yard doesn't mean you can't have the fun of picking a tree-ripened apple, pear or plum off your very own tree in your very own yard. You just need a dwarf fruit tree that can fit into any sunny spot in the yard. I have been using Lily-Miller dormant spray for peach leaf curl on my nectarines; three times during the winter and the spring. It really hasn't been too effective. I am going to put on the last dormant spray in a day or so. Should I use something that has oil in it? When the buds show a little pink, I then spray with another spray for insects. Can you suggest something that works for peach leaf curl? Any garden worth its dirt has tulips.The bright cups of color scream spring, no mistake about it. Is a lawn part of a garden? Definitely! And, if so, my garden is in some serious trouble, and it has been from day one. Most afternoons, when I pull into the driveway, I take a long look at my house as I drive past. Occasionally, after I park, I flip down the mirror and take a long look at myself. Rooftop and patio dining are staples of the American urban experience, but they're a bit of a rarity in Spokane, despite the city's ongoing love affair with urban renewal. Dwarf trees are becoming more widely available in nurseries, garden centers and from Web sources. April 3SANTA ANA, Calif. If there is one simple way to bring your house into the 21st century, it is with paint. No matter when your house was built, what the architectural style is, what the landscape looks like, color and all its combinations can give your house a current look. Easter lilies have been a part of Easter festivities since the late 1880s. The majestic trumpet-shaped blooms herald the message of the season. While the rest of us are impatiently waiting to plant our vegetable gardens, Vicki Cahill, a market gardener near Newport, Wash., is eagerly awaiting her first harvest. Cahill grows asparagus. By the middle of April she will be feasting on the tasty, pale green spears. Daffodils are up and ready to bloom! And when they do, what a sight it will be! Or at least, I am hoping so. Dallas, Texas, sizzles all year long."It's one long, endlessly hot summer," says Rebecca Ker. "It's crazy heat." March 27Helleborus orientalis may sound like a botanical mouthful, but this diminutive plant should be cultivated in every Inland Northwest garden. It's amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for gardeners with cabin fever. A few warm, dry days and we are back out there playing in the detritus of winter. Piles of raked leaves, pine needles and garden trimmings are everywhere. Now what do we do with them? If everything had gone right in Ciscoe Morris' gardening life, we never would have gotten to know him. But, events didn't go right and gardeners from across the Northwest, Alaska, northern British Columbia and northern California, regularly enjoy his irrepressible humor and encyclopedic gardening knowledge on KING television in Seattle and the Northwest Cable News network. On Friday, Morris will bring his humor, and his television show to the 32nd annual Spokane Home and Garden Show at the new Convention Center. "Someone is outside photographing our house," my husband announced over breakfast on a crisp October morning last fall. Following his gaze out the window of our Cannon Hill home, I saw a woman standing in the street, her face obscured by a camera. I spent the better part of the day potting up bare root roses and a few other things. This is new to me, potting roses in early March. Clean green material can be delivered to one of the area's three solid-waste system transfer stations. Hours are from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily through Saturday. The first 100 pounds are free. Amounts over that are charged at 35 cents per 20 pounds. March 20Want to get the jump on bugs and slugs this year? What about creating some free entertainment out in the garden any time you want it? Good environmental stewardship starts in our own backyards and includes the wildlife with which we share our gardens. In most areas of the country spring is welcome – except for the bugs whose activity goes into high gear right now. The two-story house sat on a hill across from Manito Park, and best of all, it was for sale. For me, gardening season really starts in January and February. And the reason for that? Bare root roses. March 13The big dilemma for gardeners this time of year is to determine what flowering trees and shrubs should be, or can be, pruned now and those that should be left to another time of the year. This is important because if the plants are pruned at the wrong time, you may be removing the unopened flower buds with your attempt to rein in the plant. I went out to check the garden today, and to my surprise and subsequent alarm, some tulips are already poking up out of the ground. Not only that, some of them have already been eaten by deer. March 6On this dreary late winter day, I have a pot of Azalea blooming gloriously in the house. I don't know how long it has been blooming, as we had been out of town for two weeks. But there it is, covered in pink cloud, in quiet exuberance, without anyone's admiring cheers, as if it knows what the best gift is for a wintry day and a welcome home. It's time to catch sleeping insects before they emerge and chew their way through the garden. Dormant or horticultural oils are a highly refined petroleum-based mineral oil or, in a few products, vegetable oil that is sprayed on woody plant materials to kill overwintering insects and their eggs. February 27My annual sojourn to the Northwest Flower and Garden show in Seattle is always an opportunity to see new ideas and get inspired for the coming garden season. Just being around green things does wonders for my attitude. February 20When Greg Cook retired from his career as an Air Force pilot, he and his wife, Tammy, were ready to buy a home and stay put. Nearly 20 years ago, Peggy Lamanna asked her husband to take her to the park she could never find on her own. I sense that gardeners around the area are coming out of hibernation. At a recent garden club meeting, there were more questions February 13Just in time for the next gardening season, Sunset Books will release the eighth edition of the Sunset Western Garden Book later this week at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. It has been the go-to reference for western gardeners for more than 70 years. February 6Have you moved to a smaller space in recent years? Just because you live in a small space doesn't mean you can't grow a few veggies along with your flowers. As more and more people reduce the size of their gardens, the plant industry has been very busy developing miniature forms of our garden favorites. Even zucchinis now come in a smaller size. Interested in eco-friendly building? Considering a "green" house of your own? Or maybe you're just wondering about that curious-looking straw bale bungalow under construction on the South Hill? January 30The yellow straw poking out from a small opening on the front porch says it all. Dubbed a "truth window" in the environmental-housing vernacular, the little diamond-shaped opening on the front of John Brinton and Frieda Morgenstern's new home gives passersby a glimpse into their nearly complete straw bale house. Warmer weather can't be too far away. People are asking about how to grow one plant or another, or how to deal with a particular problem or landscaping project. January 23My desk is buried under this year's onslaught of garden catalogs. Each day's mail brings a few more, and I can't resist reading them cover to cover. While I like reading catalogs from all over the country, I tend to favor Northwest catalogs that offer options that fit our climate with its short seasons and hot, dry summers. Here are a few of my favorites: January 16Bill and Barbara Parsons live out of their suitcase. "Whenever we get the itch to go," says Bill Parsons, "we hook up our truck to the suitcase and hit the road." Here we are, halfway through January. Our noses are pressed against the glass looking for a glint of sunshine and the slightest sign of warmer weather. By the middle of February we will all be suffering from a major case of cabin fever. We are going to need a serious diversion. Area gardeners may not be able to get their hands into their gardens this time of year, but they will be able to get their hands on a new quarterly gardening magazine. January 9My garden tools worked hard last summer and deserve a little bit of TLC for their efforts. I, like many of you, just stuck them in the garage every which way at the end of the garden season – still covered with dirt. Now it's time to give my tools their holiday treat: a good cleaning, sharpening and oiling so they will be ready for next year. January 2Gardeners who have house plants are lucky. In the dead of winter, while everyone else is going stir-crazy, we have our little green in-house therapists to listen to our rants over not seeing the sun, or anything green, without passing judgment. They don't even send us a bill. The only payment houseplants require is a little TLC for the winter December 26I live in the Wenatchee Valley and had a question hopefully you can help me with. I have an 8-year-old red laceleaf Japanese maple that was damaged in the recent windstorm. When cold weather settles in, there is something very comforting about walking into a kitchen fragrant with herbs that have seasoned a pot of soup or stew. December 19When Jane Takai wants to make a quick wreath for the holidays, she just steps out her door and gathers whatever is in her garden. Takai's "garden" encompasses nearly 200 acres of forest above Newman Lake, so she has a lot to choose from. When she and some of her neighbors gather every year to make wreaths and other holiday decorations, they bring stuff from their gardens. December 12There is a birthday celebration going on this year at Manito Park's Gaiser Conservatory Winter is the time gardeners plan and dream. If you have a gardener on your Christmas list, books are a great way to fuel those dreams and keep them happy until spring. December 5The morning we got our first dusting of snow, I was greeted with the raucous chattering of birds looking for breakfast in an empty feeder. The North Idaho Bed and Breakfast Association will host its 17th annual hyoliday tour Sunday. "It's kind of a huge open house," said this year's chairperson, Shar Scott. Hybrid teas, grandiflora and floribunda roses need protection to make it through the winter. One way is to mound up soil, from a bag or elsewhere in the garden, or fine mulch around the base of the rose plants. November 28This Saturday a row of stately historic houses just off South Lincoln Street will hold an open house. There is something about the pungent, spicy scent of fresh evergreen trees in the house this time of year that really brings in the holiday spirit. November 21The Cranberry, that tart, jewel-colored, little berry, isn't just a side dish at Thanksgiving. November 14Potted evergreens are a traditional way to add interest to the exterior of any house. Soon, we will be decorating inside our houses in preparation for the holidays. The first dusting of snow in the Spokane area had folks scrambling for missing mittens and digging winter coats from the back of the closet. You did it again folks. It was a glorious vegetable garden season this year and you did yourselves proud by funneling 50,000 pounds and counting of desperately needed fresh produce to local food banks as part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry project. November 7The growing season is winding down but some of the nurseries still have late-season bargains ready to plant. If you hustle a bit, you can find some nice additions to your garden. Dave and Sandy Graf love the outdoors. So, when they built their home in Hauser, Idaho, three years ago, they decided to keep things as close to nature as possible. October 31I have not gotten my yard for fall finished yet. Is it too late to move and/or divide perennial flowers in Spokane Valley? We have only lived here for two years and are still learning about what we can and cannot do here. When Kristen Lobdell and her sister, Darci Hastings, purchased a 1903 bungalow five years ago, the lawn was dying and the landscaping nonexistent. Now, thanks to Lobdell's passion for gardening, visitors to the home on the lower South Hill are greeted by a dazzling display of color. For those of you who have water features and ponds, it's time to prepare them for the cold weather. A little bit of time now could save your investment later. The annual gathering of the ladybugs has begun. If your home has been invaded by swarms before, expect a repeat appearance. The insects are seeking winter refuge and want to get into the attic, wall cavities and interiors, by the thousands. October 24After Margaret Bouland's two sons and their wives painted her home's interior walls for her, the North Side resident was ready for something different. Instead of hanging her decorations back up on the white walls, she asked her granddaughter, Jennifer Schofield, for help. Our dahlias, begonias, cannas and caladiums put on quite a show for us this year with all the warm weather. Now that the frosts have come, its time to dig and store these tender bulbs so we can enjoy them next year. What's the best way to get rid of bag worms? - Jim This is where common names can get us into trouble as we deal with insect problems. October 17I've grown dahlias for many years, and have always successfully saved the tubers to plant the next year. I've also traded tubers with friends, and have enjoyed a mix of large- and small-flowered dahlias, as well as tall and short dahlias in every color imaginable. When Roger Shawgo was a child he got a toy replica of a gas station. He enjoyed playing with it, and when he grew up, he and his brother bought a Texaco gas station of their own. It's that time of the year where leaves turn golden and scarlet, covering lawns and gardens with a colorful carpet. But, don't be in such a hurry to rake, bag and discard those leaves says Ann Murphy, Education Coordinator for Spokane Regional Solid Waste System. October 10Container gardening is the perfect way to take advantage of the fall gardening season here. The rest of the garden has finished and the first frosts can sneak in at almost any time, but the weather is still great for cold-tolerant plants in containers. What do you get when you combine 7,300 wine corks, 15 tubs of silicone and 15,000 nails? If you're Del Mallery, you get a privacy wall that's a work of art. A fence surrounding your property provides privacy and security. Or it simply delineates your backyard from your neighbor's. But most fences don't always do that in a way that is pleasing to the eye. In 1999, Darina Green was in a car accident and suffered a serious brain injury. "I couldn't think well. I had unusually bad headaches. Nothing helped the excruciating pain," the Spokane Valley woman said. October 3Just off busy Dishman-Mica Road, Paul and Kathie Scott have created a lush oasis. The Scotts share a passion for landscape design and gardening. Our roses are relishing the cooler weather. After August's heat, they are again blooming like mad. But that show will end with the coming of cold weather, and without a little preparation, the roses may not be here for next year. My hydrangeas are not turning pink. Instead they are just staying green. Is there something I can fertilize them with to help them get color? September 26Let's see, four walls and a roof. Front yard and backyard. Sounds like a house. Looks like a house. Well, that's what most of us would see. "We wanted things to look big, mature and established; like they have been here a long time." It was this simple wish from avid gardeners Lorae and Jeff Sims that led them to create a garden rich with bold plants in extraordinary combinations at their Hillyard home. Sister Karen Conlin has taught cello at Holy Names Music Center for 27 years. But, on the afternoon of Sept. 18 she thought she'd walked into the wrong studio. No weeds in the gardenI'm curious what your opinion is of using Preen as mentioned on the label for certain food crops. I used it last year after completely weeding the garden and had a few stray weeds to pull later on, but July, August, September and even the beginning of this year were much easier to keep weeds out of the garden. Creating order out of chaos has been my theme in and out of the garden this year. January brought almost shirt-sleeve weather and the news that our daughter and future son-in-law were moving up their wedding day from August to President's Day weekend. September 19Several weeks ago I asked if anyone experienced a frost in late July or early August. I heard from several people north of Spokane that at least the tops of some their sensitive plants had been hit. My son gave me a large ficus tree that has had a sticky saplike substance all over each leaf. I have hosed it off twice outside, watered it with tea, and planted garlic cloves in the pot. Swimming pool season is coming to an end. Go ahead, wipe away that tear. Then start planning to close and winterize your pool using these steps from pool-care company BioGuard: September 12My string beans are yielding next to nothing this year. It's the first year I have had them in this place in the garden. Plants with big, bold tropical leaves are all the rage in gardening now. Even in zones far below their comfort range, plants like hardy banana, cannas, elephant ear and taro can be found and planted as annuals out in the garden or in containers. September 5HGTV's hot new reality show "Design Star" pits decorators and designers against one another. The survivor, and winner, gets to star in their own show on the Home and Garden Network. Harvesting cabbage that started to split during the hot weather has yielded unpleasant "gunk" where I cut the head from the leaf base. It requires peeling off a lot of leaves to finally have a clean head of cabbage to take into the house. A friend of mine has a lawn that, well, to put it nicely is a little short on the "lawn." This friend works some wacky hours at a demanding job, so sometimes it's hard for her to get to the so-called lawn. August 29Behind a tall 1926 Tudor cottage, overlooking the city of Spokane, there is a special garden. Roo's garden. Almost three years ago, after a round of in vitro fertilization, Sara Weaver-Lundberg and her husband Russell Lundberg learned that Sara was pregnant with twins. Christi Bristow has a major challenge on her hands, because she has taken on a gardening project that would be daunting for the most experienced Inland Northwest gardener. Colville Farmers' Market - Wednesdays, noon-6 p. m. , through October. Third and Oak streets, Colville. (509) 732-6619. Farmers' Market at Sandpoint - Saturdays, 9 a. The last two years, many Inland Northwest gardeners have complained about the not-so-hot growing seasons we've had. Well folks, it looks like Mother Nature decided to make us put our gardening skills where our mouths were this summer I think we all can agree that it's been a hot summer so far. For Tuesday, August 29, 2006. We have a Virginia creeper that is full of little white bugs, which fly out when they are disturbed, every year. They look like the same small bugs that tend to be in the grass. August 22Juan Juan Moses had a deal with a local coffee shop: She'd trade bouquets of her fresh flowers for coffee grounds for her garden. She would bring the flowers in a simple, white stoneware pitcher. For Charlotte Wilkerson, Jake Krauss, Grant Franstead and Kay Chew, vegetable gardening isn't just something to do in retirement at the Riverview Retirement Community. It's a passion that gives these intrepid seniors exercise and camaraderie as they tend 19 large beds at the garden they share with the Avista Community Garden Green Thumbs on Upriver Drive. We got a few questions about spiders this week I'm trying to answer them in this column. Please tell me about spider spray. My neighbor had the 4-foot wide weedy area between our two garages sprayed this spring, and this year I have none of the hundreds of butterflies on my buddleia that we enjoyed so much last year. Mike and Barbara Kusterer took a different path to low-maintenance gardening. After moving into their large South Hill home nine years ago, the couple made some changes in the landscape. August 15In 1999, Spokane's 57th Avenue was widened and there was no allowance to replant the street trees that had to be removed. That bothered Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association member Carrie Anderson. My 40-by-100-foot garden is infested with bindweed. Is there any way of controlling it without destroying the whole garden? It's taken her nearly 30 years but Dodie Gerding can finally relax and enjoy her backyard for what it is: a haven of vegetables, herbs and perennials not to mention it's a meditative spot where she can watch the sunset over downtown Spokane, listen to the sound of running water, birds chirping and get her hands dirty with compost soil. August 8My most vivid memory of the 1991 firestorm was watching a piece of a burned book float out of the dust and smoke and land in a juniper next to my house. Allen and Alice Peterson face a major challenge in their garden on the west flank of the Dishman Hills in Spokane Valley. Their garden is carved out of the native rock with only a thin layer of soil over the rock. Overlooking the Spokane River, a beautiful rose garden pays homage to the history of a home and a man who lived there. Sara and Terry Voss purchased the large bungalow 10 years ago and almost immediately recognized the fact that they were also the proud owners of a ghost. In the gardening Q-and-A column two weeks ago, you said rock may not be a good choice for flowerbeds. I have been doing a lot of reading about xeric gardening. The news this time of year can be troubling. Dry vegetation and blustery winds feed wildfires. Property, homes and lives can be endangered. August 1Dirt and a mother's love of wildflowers were the tinder that set fire to Ken Druse's passionate journey through gardening. Druse is an internationally recognized garden writer and award-winning photographer who is the acknowledged founder of the natural gardening movement. I recently read the article you did on bishop's weed. I have a shaded yard and have lots of both shade and bishop's weed. Sometimes, fertile soil can wait a long time before beautiful things grow in it. When Dennis Hill purchased a new house on Five Mile Prairie, he was a busy man. July 25Most of us know Phyllis Stephens as the Inland Northwest's garden maven, but behind her incredible wealth of knowledge and advice is a wonderful garden and a very special garden partner: her husband, Jim. When Lee and Beverly Smick moved into a house with a view of the Grand Coulee Dam, they started with a landscape that was a blank canvas. I was going to wait until fall but as you requested questions here you go: Rather than bark, we decided to use small grey rocks as cover for our extensive flowerbeds. NEWPORT NEWS, Va. Ferns have found a steadfast friend in Jim Orband. He believes their soothing looks and easy personalities deserve all the respect and use they can get in any kind of garden big or small, country or city, formal or informal. July 18After living and gardening in this country, Canada and overseas, Pat Baillie's dream of a big, bountiful, garden couldn't thrive in Arizona's strong desert heat. The words "a beautiful home" mean different things to different people. But it's hard to quibble with the expression when you walk down the Street of Dreams. I read that Shasta daisies bloom all summer with deadheading, but mine puts on one full show then it's all over. They only have a few small buds on the lower stems, everything else is the same height and bloom the same week or so. In a centuries-old tradition, Japanese garden style is an expression of the spirit of the natural world. The careful arrangement of stone, plants and water were traditionally supposed to represent the mountains, forests, lakes, streams and the sea of the Japanese home islands. Dave Daniel's fascination with Japanese maples began when he was a boy watching the construction of the Nishinomiya Japanese Garden at Manito Park right across the street from his house. July 11After their marriage 10 years ago, Jeanine and Roger Shawgo, of Newport, Wash., knew they wanted to build a new life together. And that new life included a new home. When Fred Carter walks through his Spokane garden, he takes a stroll through a lifetime of memories. The gardens were created when the house, the original Wessel estate, was built in 1905. Water in the garden is magical. It adds motion, catches light, attracts birds and animals and even cools the air around it. I don't think any garden should be without it. I have a couple of questions: How can you control hawkweed and St. John's wort? I live in Colville at 3,000 feet elevation; we have 57 acres of trees. Both weeds are spreading. Is there any help? Though the real estate market has cooled of late, the average American homeowner can still enjoy tremendous benefits when it comes to sprucing up the home's exterior. July 4In the front of my house, between the sidewalk and the carport, I planted a yellow/green plant that flowers, called bishop's weed. I bought it several years ago to make a border plant. July is lavender season in the Inland Northwest. As the temperature warms, the heady fragrance of lavender soon will fill gardens across the region. June 27Climbing vines add the third dimension to any garden. They soften harsh fences and walls, put color in unexpected high places and shade us and our plants from the hot summer sun. When Shannon and Louis Flores moved to Spokane in 2004, they had a big idea. That notion was to restore the 1899 Browne's Addition Queen Anne style home of early Spokane Mayor Edward Louis Powell and turn it into a showplace bed and breakfast. I was quite sure that it was in one of your columns recently that I read about a pest that lives in the ground around the roots of roses during the day and then emerges at night to chew the poor leaves down to nothing. At one point in my horticultural career, I found myself cleaning out a particularly weedy bed. After pulling for a while, I decided to use a shovel to speed things up. June 20If you have a less-traveled area in your yard where grass just won't do and other plants have a hard time thriving, then perhaps you should consider something that's still soft and green, but more of a walk-able ground cover. We have 15 acres of land covered with spotted knapweed in Spokane Valley. Should we cut it before we spray it? Linda GreenSpotted knapweed is the bane of a lot of landowners in the region. When Rick McKinney took his wife to see the site he had chosen to build their new home, he hadn't counted on her reaction. "I sat down and started to cry," Jill McKinney said. June 13For Cathi Lamoreux, gardening is the oil that keeps her hectic life moving. In the garden she can recharge her batteries, be creative and connect with the outdoor world. Whitney Stoffel wanted a memory of childhood hikes in the Canadian Rockies, so he set out to create a rock garden that captured his experiences. June 6For Linda and Robert Karr of Newport, Wash., the iris season brings back many happy memories that have tied family, their marriage and now their business together for decades. I have three small trees in my garden that are spring bloomers: dogwood, lilac and redbud. None has very many blossoms this year. They are planted where they get enough sun. If you would like to grow healthy ferns in Spokane, you must pay careful attention to their growing requirements. In their native habitat, ferns grow under conifers and small trees in a soil rich in organic matter with a steady moisture supply. The dandelions have already gone to seed, and grass is reaching midshin in some yards. Some people couldn't care less. Others hire a lawn service to whack down their weeds every couple of weeks. May 30Do I need to worry about composting certain items in my garden? I thought of this while reading the article about rhubarb, and it got me debating whether I should be composting rhubarb leaves. Let's face it: Container gardening in the Inland Northwest's hot dry summers can be a challenge. Here are a few suggestions to some things you can do now to create successful and beautiful pots. That was a hard one.
We almost feel a need to apologize, but then again what fun is it if you don't get a challenge once in a while? May 23Ornamental grasses are one hot garden plant right now, and when you look around Spokane, more and more plantings of grasses are appearing every year. Garden touring season in the Inland Northwest is happening early this year, so mark your calendars with the following dates. The Associated Garden Club of Spokane will host a tour June 4, which is early compared to the traditional August date. It was the view, overlooking the Spokane River with the Spokane skyline in the distance, that sold Marcella Rose on her latest project: a little cottage a few blocks east of Downriver Golf Course. I have had blackberry bushes at the Pioneer Heritage Community Garden for a couple of years, but now it looks like the garden will be closed. May 16"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose," Gertrude Stein wrote in 1913, and though she wasn't writing about flowers per se, that quote is often used to say that something is exactly what it looks like. Americans today are increasingly turning to their homes and backyards as a retreat for comfortable, cost-effective and carefree entertaining. Patios, decks, pools, hot tubs, ponds, fountains, waterfalls, fireplaces, play structures, gazebos, decorative lighting, synthetic putting greens, elaborate outdoor kitchens and lavish landscaping are many of the components that Americans are choosing to create their very own backyard fantasy. Are you looking for a summer project for the kids? Would you be interested in a way to help out the community without leaving home? It is spring, and the moss is pretty healthy this year. I usually keep it in control with raking, however raking is hard on my neck these days. May 9Do you have a beautiful garden? Would you like a chance to show it off to the community? If you do, The Inland Empire Gardeners' (TIEG) Garden of the Month contest is for you. Like a lot of us, Jack Smith and Valorie Marschall work all week. So when the weekends roll around they like to relax. The couple spends a lot of time in their RV, traveling across the country. Can you please advise me what to do to contain the growth of raspberry canes and encourage a healthy crop of raspberries on my mature patch? May 2Remember "Cinderella"? The fairytale about the young, mistreated step-sister who helped by her fairy godmother gets to attend the big ball where she, beautiful and unrecognizable, captures the heart of the prince? Native plants are all around us. They are the plants we take for granted in the fields and forests and on the roadsides we pass every day. I have 50 dahlia tubers to plant and a similar number of gladiola corms. Spring, up until very recently, has been cold, wet and windy. April 25In a few short weeks, Inland Northwest gardens will be filled with the fragrance of lilacs. All across the region, even the plants left to fend for themselves on empty lots and abandoned farms will be covered with flowers in a dozen shades of purple, white and even yellow. Are there any daylilies that are safe for cats? Gerald Weber, SpokaneUnfortunately all daylilies can be toxic to cats. Ingesting even a small amount can lead to kidney failure. April 18It's not too early to put out slug bait, folks. They were already eyeing my ligularia this week, just waiting for me to clear a path to their first meal of the spring. Straw houses are no longer just for "The Three Little Pigs." Lorraine Queener has been living in a straw bale house in the Spokane Valley for the past three years. Her 1,200 square foot home was constructed using 42 large straw bales. April 11There are many reasons why you may decided to hire a lawn care and spray service to help keep up your yard this year. Perhaps you are uncertain about which chemicals to apply and when. Spring came to Steve and Joan Hoitink's South Hill garden several weeks ago when their stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) began sending up its white-and cream-colored flowers. I have voles in my yard that are very destructive. I cannot get any information on voles at all. They dig holes everywhere and eat the bulbs and anything else they fancy. Home and garden projects bring out the creative side of all of us. And it's fun to show and tell. Luis and Tammy Santana sent a photo of one of the three hand-made gates that surround the garden at their Newman Lake Home. April 4You know that green color in your lawn right now? I hate to tell you this, but it may not be grass. In fact, it's probably moss moss that had a field day for most of our wet, mild winter. I get a truckload of small leaves every fall and dig a shallow trench in my garden. I throw in the leaves with a shallow layer of dirt over them. Plant: Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) March 28Mother Nature may not be through with winter weather, but it's time to think about getting out in the garden again. Fortunately, there are plenty of things to do while the weather is still iffy here are a few suggestions. Mark you calendars, folks. On March 29 and April 5, we will have two unique opportunities to light our creative fires just as we start into the garden season when two groups of nationally-renowned artists and garden designers speak at local venues. I have three traditional hydrangea plants that are now 6 years old. They have never bloomed. I've tried pruning, not pruning, sticking a shovel in the ground and going half way around the plants to "irritate" the root system as recommended by a Master Gardner at a Home and Garden Show, but nothing has worked. With their perfectly manicured hedges and all those blooming crocuses, one thing is for certain: The Joneses next door know how to get into the spring of things. March 21Getting impatient to get out in the garden? A cold frame is a simple way to get a jump on both ends of the season. If you want to give a memorable party, you need a special place to have it. George and Helen Duey celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in a large gazebo in their Rice, Wash. I recently moved here from the coast. I noticed that the automatic sprinkling system seems to bring out the weeds in the vegetable garden. We heard from some worried gardeners here at Home last week. They had been receiving e-mails telling them that left over debris and tree limbs from the area devastated by hurricane Katrina would be turned into mulch and shipped to Spokane. March 14Anyone who has listened to Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion," has heard this master of America folklore extol the virtues of rhubarb pie. Just one piece of Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie supposedly can cure or solve any problem known to man. Could you guide me to a source to obtain a list of plants that are toxic to dogs? We have a puppy that will eat flowers, vegetables, weeds and the stems, leaves and roots of all. The city is always there. It stands solid and dependable rain or shine, snowstorm or dust storm, a stage of sorts upon which you perform your everyday life. March 7In our modern culture of scientific proof and knowledge, gardening by the signs and phases of the moon seems like nothing more than a myth from ancient times. I moved to Spokane Valley from the West Coast of Washington, and I am confused about what garden zone I am in. I thought it was 3, but an article came out that mentioned 5, with recommended reading material. February 28Starting seeds at home is a great way to get a jump on the garden season, grow unusual plants and sometimes save some money. Here's a short guide as to how you too can get a jump start on your veggies. Native Plant of the Month for February: red-osier dogwood (cornus sericea, a.k.a. cornus stolonifera) From ancient China and ancient Rome to the present, the building point is the same: wood doesn't last unless it is properly protected. So, if you want your home to last anywhere nearly as long as the Coliseum in Rome or the Forbidden City in Beijing, then you will need to take a few precautions. February 21This year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle signaled a big shift in how people think of their gardens. A few years ago gardens were merely a frame that set your house off on its lot along the street, but now, gardens are fast becoming extensions of our homes, reflecting who we are, our interests, histories, hobbies, lifestyles and fantasies. After working 30 years in the medical field and raising three children, watercolor artist Vicki West has reason to celebrate. No more painting as a hobby in the basement. My rhubarb is beginning to get small leaves and isn't growing well. What is its life span? Is it time to dig it up and start over? For Tuesday, February 21, 2006. The Home and Garden show is coming to the Spokane Fair and Expo Center this weekend. Are you ready for a little spring fever? February 14In December we introduced "Around the Corner," a series of stories highlighting some of the charming retail districts in the area, by visiting and shopping around the area of West Main. Ever wonder just where those flowers you got your significant other for Valentine's Day came from? Steve Iseman, the flower buyer for local flower wholesaler Roses and More, knows exactly. February 9Winter is when I catch up on my reading and the recent crop of new books has yielded a few I want to share. If you are a beginning gardener, first-time homeowner or new to the area, picking the right plants for your garden can be a daunting task. When Jeannine and Troy Tipke decided to downsize, they really meant it. They sold their comfortable home on Spokane's South Hill and in June of 2005, replaced it with a tiny cottage with only 750 square feet of living space. Growing Your Own Food The Master Gardeners and the Washington State University Extension is presenting this class that will discuss vegetables and heirloom gardening. Getting in shape doesn't seem to come cheap. Annual gym memberships can run more than $1,000; trainers can charge more than $100 an hour. Hardy bulbs grown for indoor winter flowering such as miniature yellow daffodils, grape hyacinth, crocus and hyacinth can be planted outdoors in garden beds in early March. February 2Let's face it folks, even if the currently warmer-than-usual winter has you thinking spring and garden, it's too early to do much more than pull shot weeds right now. Yes, it's still too cold out. And it's even pretty windy as we're writing this but you know how time flies. Soon it'll be time to bring back Pat Munts' popular question-and-answer column and we need your questions. January 26Let's face it folks: Using environmentally sound gardening and lawn care practices is quickly becoming a matter of necessity instead of a lifestyle choice. The recent debate about reducing the use of phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers, to improve local water quality is just the beginning of a long-needed conversation about our environment in the Inland Northwest. Back in the '70s, Tucson, Arizona's Fourth Avenue neighborhood was a hippie haven, where longhair types peddled novelty "tobacco pipes" (no doubt contributing to the town's nickname, "Tu-stoned"). January 19For Gordon Emry, it all started with a picture in a magazine. The colorful pictures of orchids and the ad's claim that they made excellent houseplants intrigued him. Undoubtedly we will get another workout with the snow shovels before it's all over, but wouldn't it be nice to know when we could expect that to happen? They are small, have the look and feel of a cottage or cabin and are movable. Recreational park trailers or "park models" are slowly popping up in the Inland Northwest. Take an insider's tour of Hawaii's sexiest island for an inexpensive, authentic experience. You'll get more from Maui or less. For Thursday, January 19, 2006. January 12When Dawn Green was a little girl, she loved flowers. She spent hours arranging wildflowers and dandelions, and she loved the way the bouquets she created could make others happy. At first, Mary Anne Brown thought the sewer had backed up. Not a good thing to happen in early December. But a quick check around the house found nothing overflowing or running amok. Kaye Linda Johnson knows a little magic. When she decided the dining room of her home, built in the 1970s north of Spokane, was ready for a re-do, she talked her husband, Carroll, into helping her make a few changes. January 5An electric fireplace flickers in Etta Riedl's living room. It warms the area in front of her large Oriental rug, which is surrounded by formal floral-print sofas. In our summer gardens the buzzing of honey bees has an almost musical, even hypnotic, quality. I know more than one person who has dozed off in a lawn chair to their droning. December 29As we leave the old year behind and enter a new year of wonderful possibilities, we thought it would be a good time to take a minute to consider a first impression of sorts. HomeCampbell House Holidays Wintertime fun in historic Campbell House, decorated for the holidays. Enjoy the scent of cookies baking in the oven, historic cooking demonstrations, children's activities, piano music by local music students and storytelling. The winter solstice took place last week. It was the shortest day of the year, when the Inland Northwest saw only eight hours and 25 minutes of sunlight. December 22Kathleen Peterson doesn't confine her Christmas decorating to just a Christmas tree. Peterson spreads the holiday cheer throughout her home in the Downriver neighborhood. That gardener on your Christmas list still got you stumped? It can be hard to find them things when the garage is already stuffed with tools and you can't even pronounce the name of that must-have plant. Looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon? December 15Vote for your favorite residential display in our new online Holiday Lights poll, on our Web site at www. spokesmanreview. com /holidaylights/We have listed five of the most elaborate displays in the area, with addresses and directions. When I was growing up, we had a piece of plastic mistletoe that my mother would get out every year and hang up in a doorway. December 8WASHINGTON Vickie Lewis was raised on a farm in Oregon, so she was entranced when she visited a small yellow house for sale in rural Damascus, Md., in late April. Many years ago my daughter gave me an African violet. We were at a Friends of Manito sale and she, then about 5 or 6, bummed a dollar from my friend fresh out of allowance, again. When real estate agent Neil O'Keefe, with his wife Heather and their three children, moved to Spokane three years ago, the first thing they wanted to find was a level lot. December 1When the twilight made the grey clouds above us turn pink and orange, it was time to make a choice. Which tree was it going to be: the beautiful Engelmann spruce or the fragrant noble fir? For many people, a traditional, cut Christmas tree, or an artificial tree just doesn't cut it anymore. Some don't like the idea of cutting down a tree just to be able to enjoy it inside for just a few days that seems like the waste of a good tree. Do we take away the fallen leaves and needles from beds or leave them there for protection? When Guy and Shawna Byrd purchased their home in Eagle Ridge, they chose it because of the characteristics of the lot on which it sat. November 23This is it. This is the year nothing will go wrong. This year we won't tie ourselves out of the car. This year we won't get buried to our necks in snow. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day we stop or at least slow down enough to think about the people and events in our lives that are important to us. Wouldn't it be nice to know when a frost is about to hit your garden? How about knowing rainfall totals so you could turn off the sprinklers for a few days? This week's Beautiful Home page is a preview of good things to come. Saturday, Dec. 3, The Spokane Preservation Advocates Sixth Annual Holiday Home Tour will open the doors of four homes in the historic Cliff Park Addition of Spokane's South Hill. Mike's Hike for the Perfect Christmas Tree Join outdoor recreation leader Mike Aho in the Colville National Forest to choose the perfect holiday tree. November 17LOS ANGELES Thom and Leslie Beers are possessed, although in no way like Linda Blair or Emily Rose. The couple does not talk in tongues or levitate, but their Sherman Oaks home in the San Fernando Valley northwest of downtown Los Angeles speaks in an elevated vernacular of its own. WASHINGTON Nothing fuels the holiday spirit like decorating the home, and at this time of year, lighting is a crucial element. Holiday lighting reflects the magical sparkle of the season, the warmth of friends and family and sets the tone for holiday traditions. When Ken and Jackie Dorris moved back to the Spokane area from Alaska three years ago they had a list of things their new home must have. When Sheri Hahn was asked what her favorite poinsettia was, she had to think for a minute. It wasn't easy. After all, Hahn was standing in the middle of an enormous greenhouse filled with 20,000 plants that represented 30 varieties of the colorful Christmas plant. So it's taken a while for it to get really cold that doesn't mean it's too early to think about snow blowers. November 10Behold the humble mum, workhorse of the hothouse. It is autumn's pompom, the squat, flowering plant best known for sitting vigil at Thanksgiving, for filling in at budget weddings, for standing ready, at the grocery, to bail out a remorseful son who just remembered, at 11:30 p. At the annual Spokane County Master Gardener Recognition Dinner a couple of weeks ago, the table bouquets were quite unusual; dahlias and gladiolas, cut fresh from the garden on the day of the dinner, filled the tables with a wonderful reminder of the fall that won't end. When Daniel and Carisa Dami built their large country Victorian home north of Spokane seven years ago, Carisa, who owns Carisa Interior Design, looked at it as a blank canvas. Boldly colored amaryllis plants have become a popular holiday tradition in our homes. Their bright pink, red, white and candy-cane striped flowers add a colorful punch beside the poinsettias and holiday greens around the house during the holidays. November 3The formula is basic and simple: Natural ingredients are selected and blended, mixed with mouth-watering color and seasoned well. The result is warm and organic, and it feeds the soul as well as the body. I think fall is my favorite time of year. The colors are so vivid and bright. The lowering angle of the sun backlights plants and trees bringing out the colors of the changing leaves, so that the plants virtually glow. 7711 N. Colfax St. , Dalton Gardens, IdahoA theme of river rock runs through the Thibault home in Dalton Gardens, Idaho. When the family purchased the new farmhouse-style home two years ago, the building was almost complete but they were able to add custom touches which include a river rock island in the kitchen and a fireplace made of the same material. A group of dedicated volunteers wants former Five Mile students to come back to school. Or, at the very least, they'd like you to send your photos and memorabilia. I have a question about petunias. It regards their tendency (at least mine) to get long and stringy with tiny leaves and only one blossom at the end. October 27Winterize. Button up your overcoat, it's cold outside! Zip up the house and garage, too! That's the advice of four Spokane area hardware store owners: Gary Peters, Peters' Hardware in the Valley, Daun and Mike Czechowski, at Stewart's True Value Hardware, on the North Side and Clara Miller of Miller's Do It Best Hardware on the South Hill. For Thursday, October 27, 2005. For Thursday, October 27, 2005. A few years ago, someone in our family the guilty party has yet to come forward misplaced the telephone number of the pool guy. By Adam Blalock's usual standards, it was one of his smaller giant pumpkins for 2005. But his 658-pound giant pumpkin still took the top prize at this year's Spokane County Interstate Fair. Well, the results are in! After looking at all the photos of scarecrows submitted by wonderfully creative readers of Home, including a few snapshots of witches, giant spiders perched on older cars and decorated pumpkins, the staff of Home picked these winners. October 20The rains have come. Frost has nipped many parts of the Inland Northwest and it's only a matter of time before the cold reaches the entire region. For Thursday, October 20, 2005. For Thursday, October 20, 2005. For Joey, Paul, Ashley, Kristina and the other students in the Family Connections Program at the Bancroft Center of Spokane School District 81, summer school took on a whole new dimension this year. Here's a suggested fall project that will pay dividends during nice weather for years to come: build a pergola. Pergolas are a throwback to older days when these trellis-like structures played the role of outdoor rooms. It's time to turn over a new leaf billions of them, in fact, as trees begin to shed their canopies for the winter. My leaf mover of choice is the rake. October 13For Janice Thorson, planting garlic every fall is the fulfillment of the garden version of the adage from the movie "Field of Dreams" "Plant it and they will come. For Thursday, October 13, 2005. For Thursday, October 13, 2005. The nights are cool enough now that I close most windows. Evening comes earlier. Tomatoes and summer squash have past their peak. It's time. October 6For Thursday, October 06, 2005. October brings falling leaves and plunging temperatures. It's also the month for winter preparations. Fall is often the forgotten gardening season in the Inland Northwest. The summer flowers are through showing and are fading away while the vegetable gardens are giving up their last fruits. I have several really tall sunflowers that haven't developed their seeds yet. It's getting late in the season and I'd like to have the seeds available for the birds this winter. September 29Right now Steve and Joan Hoitink's woodland garden is reveling in the fall coolness and giving them a few more chances to enjoy its beauty. The assortment of 6-foot trees Joe Chatburn planted when he built his Cheney home are now between 20 and 30 feet tall. I have a potential problem with my mountain ash. It is at least 15 years old, quite large, and apparently healthy. However, I've read that this tree is vulnerable to a number of problems that reduce its value in landscaping. September 22The Spokane horticulture community is saying goodbye to two remarkable horticulturists. Jan and Peter Shaw are trading Spokane's USDA Zone 5 for USDA Zone 9 otherwise known as the Monterey Bay area of California. Judy Cocking may describe the inside of her Newman Lake home as plain, but it's not exactly normal. The interior cabinets are fashioned from bubinga, an exotic red hardwood that comes from the same place as most of the 35 stuffed animals on her husband Duane's trophy room walls Africa. I've had all kinds of trouble with my tomatoes this summer. First the plants set fruit but it hasn't been ripening. They are just hard and green. We're looking for your photographs from your home, recent projects or remodels. Each week, we'll publish photos in Home and post additional pictures on our Web site. September 15It's almost over. Another all-too-short growing season is coming to an end. Bright and brilliant annuals are looking tired. They've grown leggy and are losing their bloom. It all started with a six-pack of annuals about 20 years ago. For Spokane resident David Marcyes, these six little plants ignited a passion that today has him growing and planting 7,000 annuals around his home which sits on a bluff north of the Spokane Valley. NEW MARKET, Va. Do yourself a good turn when leaf-watching season arrives this year by adding nursery centers to the tour. That could mean some of the best fall colors in the area eventually coming from trees growing in your own yard. NEWPORT NEWS, Va. There's always some pest or disease lurking among Frank Hunyady's hosta collection. He takes it in stride, realizing there's no such thing as a problem-free yard especially when you grow 300 varieties of this shade-loving plant. Bring a pieceof a golf course homeAre you game? According to Casey Cumpton, owner of Golfscapes Northwest, installing a putting green is not as complicated as you might think. COLUMBIA, S. C. Fragrance adds another dimension to the garden one that can trigger memories more powerful than color or texture. Fragrances are seared in our brains, from the sweet scent of tea olive to the gentle aroma of roses. Tracy Christensen would like to make fixing up ordinary homes a regular hobby. But her husband Bill is kind of attached to their Cliffwood Court house. I have a climbing rose that I was given 18 years ago. It grows on the west side of my house and gets lots of water. September 8Did you know that spiders come in a saffron color? Or that Lambs Ears' leaves make great pretend moustaches and fairy doll blankets? Or that sweet basil rubbed on hair and skin will help ward off bugs? Dear Pat: Help! My basement is being invaded by large brown spiders. I am finding them everywhere. Do I spray them and with what. Before Joan Butler moved into her South Hill home, a family of 10 had lived there for 25 years. When you think "dream home," what comes to mind? A grand estate on acres of land? An ornate Victorian? For the baby boomer generation, it's "The Jetsons," the '60s futuristic cartoon equivalent of "The Flintstones." Ladybugs and butterflies are among the insects that conjure sweet thoughts of childhood. There is a whole movement of planting butterfly gardens. No one plants a grasshopper garden. September 1For Thursday, September 01, 2005. When Diane and Don Kelly built their house 26 years ago on the top of Sunset Hill, the natural vegetation, visible just over the low fence, was their garden. People often come unseen to Ron Brown's tree-covered hillside garden. They park on a residential side street and quietly make their way to one of the weathered benches alongside the mulch-covered trails, pausing to eat their sandwiches under the cool comfort of a dappled shade. Our gardens are breathing a sigh of relief as the heat of summer fades into the cooler days of September. With any luck, the frost will hold off for a few more weeks and give us a second gardening season. 7516 E. Columbia Dr. , SpokaneTim and Karen Carson feel fortunate to have found a home so perfect for them, their grandchildren and their parrots. Kathy McCollough loves to sit on her deck and watch robins, sparrows and wrens splash in her birdbath, and every year she seems to have more feathered friends. Summer's over and the calendar is beginning to get interesting again. Here's what's coming up: Corbin Senior Activity Center will hold a flea market Sept. August 25Plant scientists are reinventing the watermelon, that most traditional of all summertime fruits. New "mini" varieties fit easily into refrigerators. Seedless melons are easier to eat. This has not been an easy vegetable growing year. Gardeners have replanted stuff several times because it was too cold for seeds to sprout. I am having trouble with my raspberries. I planted this row seven years ago and had great crops for the first five years, but now production is way down and berries get smaller each year. Since they're both musicians, David and Jean Dutton need a big house with plenty of room for instruments and recording equipment. Cruise down any residential street and notice how many traditional pots and planters grace the front steps of neighborhood homes usually identically placed on each side of the door. August 18Olivia Payne, 7, loves her pet hen Hazel so much that she cuddles with it, carries it around the house wrapped in a blanket, and reads to it at night. Brian Green delicately removes dead leaves from the small terrarium he arranged a year ago in Northwest Seed & Pet's greenhouse and chucks them onto the floor as he talks about the feeding process of the Venus fly trap. Well folks, our vegetable gardens are in the home stretch. In a few short weeks we will be facing freezing temperatures and the end of the garden. My poppies are beautiful while they bloom in the late spring, but quickly become a big ragged mess, taking up way too much space in my garden. 6609 N. Washington St. , SpokaneA small metal sign on Stan Porter's garage door reads "House of Porter established 1965" the year he bought the house at age 20. Those brilliant sunsets hint at something less beautiful. Smoke-filled skies, the result of wildfires scorching the local landscape, serve as a reminder that this is wildfire season. As the real estate market heats up, so does our passion for fabulous houses. Some of the coolest, and oddest, pop up on reality shows. August 11"What's Growing On" Luncheon 12:30-2 p. m. ; Featuring Coeur d'Alene's Gabby Gardener, Dick Rifkind, with a presentation on planting and winterizing, and Rosemary Price from Wenatchee. Whew! The dog days of summer are here. I don't know about you, but I am coming up with all kinds of ways to stay cool and still work in the garden. A flurry of new books praising the use of concrete in a domestic setting suggests that this most prosaic of materials appreciated for its brawn but unsung for its beauty may be on the verge of a mainstream image makeover. I have circle clumps of green grass in my lawn. When the grass started greening up this spring there were circle areas of green grass, while the rest of the lawn is still brown. August 4WASHINGTON Laura Henderson's real estate agent was not sugarcoating the situation. "She called me and said, `I've got a house you're really going to like, Laura but I have to tell you: The outside is really bad, and I don't want you to drive up to it, take one look and just leave,' " recalls the Bethesda, Md. Got ants? Get grits. That's the advice a South Carolina reader passed along recently in an e-mail. He had ant hills on his paving-stone patio the creepy things built dozens of hills between the cracks of the pavers and he couldn't seem to get rid of them. 3001 Pennington Road. , St. JohnRandy Repp has lived on the same little hill for almost all of his 48 years. His first home was a tiny family farm house, then a modular home he brought in to replace it. For more than 70 years, The Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane have been bringing gardeners in the region together with great gardens. After all, this is the group that gave us the Lilac Festival in 1938, and has brightened our public landscapes with innumerable projects since then. As a transplant from Tacoma, Wash., to North Idaho, I planted a lot of marigolds around some garden projects I was trying out. Past experience in Western Washington proved that this plant keeps the slugs at bay. Lightning does strike twice. In fact, the Empire State Building gets 20 to 25 strikes each year. Or take Jerry Orchanian's two close encounters. Benefit sale Bethany Presbyterian Church is holding a yard sale to benefit the Liberty Park Child Development Center. July 28Watering gardens and landscapes during the summer in the Inland Northwest is a necessity. Our summers are traditionally dry with some areas receiving well under an inch of rain a month during July and August. It's time to start watching for the next pest invasion: With the onset of hot dry weather in the last couple of weeks, tiny spider mites will soon be out in full force to attack unsuspecting trees and plants. Some of the hottest new technology in sprinklers is in the area of managing water use. Todd Watson, president of Auto Rain, one of the region's largest suppliers of sprinkler equipment, says the Environmental Protection Agency is developing a rating system similar to the Energy Star system now available to rate the efficiency of electrical appliances. In a neighborhood of large, old homes, Marilyn Barnes' 1905 house stands out for its color Arabian plum. Slimy, slobbery, slithering, slippery slugs. Your garden might play host to these strange creatures without your even knowing it, because slugs are nocturnal, sliding beneath the cool, moist shelter of rocks and leaves by day. Timed irrigation systems or methods save time and waterCheck spray heads and patterns regularly to ensure the system is working properlyThe best watering time is between midnight and 9 a. I have a problem with my rhubarb. It has produced nice long stocks of beautiful red rhubarb, but the last three years the stalks are shorter, and many are about pencil size that become limp and do not develop. July 21WASHINGTON Koreans see the feathery green plant everywhere in the Washington metro area. Souk adds a bitter sharpness to seafood soup and a green tint to rice cakes. Aleck Contos's house on Spokane's South Hill is crowded with hummingbirds made of glass, wood and metal. "They were gifts from people after my wife died," he said. Bill and Wendy Budges' home is covered in a unique terra-cotta patchwork of tan and orange and brown. The house, built in 1923, was originally sided with stucco and owned by the vice president of Washington Brick, Lime and Sewer Pipe Co. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has an extensive list of plants that provide good nectar sources on their Web site. Here are just a few to get you started. Question: I have four mums that are 3 years old. The first year I planted them in the spring and they bloomed in July. July 14In its simplest definition, a bonsai is a tree planted in a pot. But this simple definition belies a sophisticated art form that has evolved over 3,000 years into a complex combination of tradition and culture, which reflects a philosophy of nature based on observation and imagination. The bonsai tradition most Westerners are familiar with comes from Japan where the term literally translates as "shallow container planting. " But bonsai's roots are in the even older Chinese tradition of penjing, or "potted scene" plantings, done by Chinese Buddhist monks. Looking for relief from the sticky heat of July? Longing for a cool moment by a gentle waterfall? This Sunday's annual Inland Empire Water Garden and Koi Society Pond Tour could be just the thing. Question: The photo is the yellow leaves on my old Peace rose. She has been living on the property much longer than I have, and is queen of the front yard. Jackie Waite says she got a deal when she married her husband Jamie. "He has an ability to visualize what he wants and build it," Jackie says. It's time to get your traveling shoes on and visit some of the great gardens that can be found in this region. This weekend will offer two days of touring opportunities. July 7Will and Sue Hille have come to expect how first-time visitors will react upon entering their east-central Spokane home:"That's the 'wow' view," says Sue. Wow indeed. When Matt and Nancy Bell and their four children found the place to re-establish their Spokane roots, they fell for a wonderful big house with Scandinavian influenced architecture and "a big sand pit, no driveway and weeds 8-feet tall. Tom Simonich didn't spend the Saturday after the big windstorm on June 21 doing what he'd planned. He spent it looking for a replacement for his mountain ash which was turned to little more than kindling by a 30-foot pine, uprooted by the wind. Question: Last year I had a few ferns pop up in my perennial flower bed and I carefully surrounded each with cardboard and sprayed it with Roundup. Once Craig and Shellie Fetchos' children had grown and moved out of their 1914 Craftsman home on Graves Road, they decided it was time to do some long-anticipated work on the house. The simple plastic pot came along after World War II and revolutionized the gardening industry. Plants that once were available only in early spring, bare-rooted and dormant, could be grown, shipped and sold at virtually any time of year. June 30Roses are the most popular garden plant in the world. And for good reason. They come in a wide range of colors, most bloom from early June through the summer until the first hard frosts, and some are fragrant enough that one plant can perfume the entire garden on a still evening. Growing hydrangeas in the Inland Northwest seems to be a major challenge for gardeners. I don't know how many times I've heard gardeners say they planted one and it never bloomed. Wild berries are ripening across America and the race is on among man and animals, birds and insects, to see who will get theirs first. WASHINGTON Even when it is fully open, the cabbage rose keeps its secrets, refusing to unveil a tiny yellow center that is heavily blanketed by layers of translucent, pale pink petals. 2017 E. Rockwood Blvd. , SpokaneWhen Scott Hanson built the Rockwood Boulevard home that Jim and Geri Swope now own, he designed it to resemble a beach house on the Oregon Coast. If you are one of the millions of homeowners deciding what to do next to enhance your home, experts agree it may be time to look out the window and consider "decking out" the outdoors. The Spokane Rose Society will hold its annual show Saturday at the Spokane Valley Mall. Judging starts at 10 a.m. Question: We live in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and are wondering what can be done to eliminate "scab" and wire worms from potatoes. My father has lived here for 62 years and has always had this problem. June 23When Valerie Fawcett gets together with a few friends to party each summer, everybody brings a little pot to plant something in, that is. Marty and Barb Lenz, with five other Palouse homeowners, are inviting the public into their homes and gardens to benefit the historic Holy Trinity Chapel. You know that basil you planted over Memorial Day? Those plants that are now turning yellow and just sitting there, doing nothing in the garden? 6110 N. Indian Bluff Road, SpokanePaul Mack is an attorney, so he was a little too busy to be on site all the time contractors were building his dream home on a high ridge northwest of Spokane about two years ago. Question: We have a long, stepped, concrete walkway going up an incline from our driveway to our front door. On either side of the walkway, we have planted English boxwoods. For Thursday, June 23, 2005. The specifics: The event is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Along the way: Six homes and the historic Holy Trinity Chapel will be featured. June 16Think of them as "the other boys of summer. " Instead of putting on cleats, swinging a bat and taking a victory lap around the bases, these players have a game of their own. My earliest barbecue memories are foggy. I grew up in Denmark where it often rains and storms during the months the calendar designates as summer, so barbecuing was not high on the list of summer activities. Birch trees are a very popular landscape tree in our region. It's hard to beat the beautiful white bark of the European weeping birch, the peeling but colorful bark of river birch or the shiny green leaves and graceful form all the varieties have. Before your spring flowering bulbs melt back into the soil until next year, take a last look at their dying leaves. You might want to note their locations so that you can dig up and spread out overcrowded bulbs. Remember, you've got that long list of projects you promised yourself you'd get to this summer. If your to-do (or honey-do) list includes experimenting with a decorative painting technique, or simply re-painting a room, "The Complete Book of Paint: 70 Techniques, Finishes and Designs for Your Home," is an excellent resource. The Inland Empire Gardeners have announced the winner of the May Garden of the Month Contest: Charlie and Terry Klement of Airway Heights. The Klements' garden is no ordinary garden. Question: I have a large bed of Shasta daisies that seem to become infested each spring with aphids and/or some type of bug that leaves little white "crystals" on the flowers and leaves. 4204 S. Hogan St., Spokane June 9Well, folks, its time to clean out the miscellaneous tidbit file that's been collecting on my desk this spring, so here goes:www. 2good2toss. comAre you working on a garden or home project that involves getting rid of perfectly good stuff that you just can't keep or reuse yourself? 14517 E. Arrowleaf Lane, Spokane The contemporary home of Norman Samish and Thea Nerod sits high on a ridge overlooking the City of Spokane Valley. Gardening with Ornamentals The WSU/Spokane County Master Gardeners will present a series of four classes on gardening with ornamentals. Today. Calling all organizations putting on garden tours this summer – now is the time to strut your stuff. Send us the information about your tour as soon as possible, so we can do a garden tour calendar by the fourth week of June – before the earliest shows and tours. My question is what to do about squirrels. Our neighbors feed them. They dig up and usually eat newly planted bulbs and plants. Many readers contacted us last week asking what to do about the brown spots on their lawns, caused by dogs relieving themselves. Brown-spot damage results when dogs, particularly females, dump a large amount of urine in one spot. June 2WASHINGTON As the high water of magenta and pink azaleas begins to recede from around our homes our annual red tide? it may be a good moment to consider the daintier, less common and differently colored deciduous azalea now on the verge of making a much-deserved comeback. When Shirley Foien wrote to describe this unique 20-year-old house which now belongs to her son and his family she wrote: "I would like to nominate our family home." For Laura Buelow, growing iris has been a 60-year passion. "We moved here in 1949 and bought a house and as soon as I had a yard, my mother started filling it up with iris. Irises are usually available in the garden centers and catalogs by early August. "Buy from someone you know," Laura Buelow recommends whether it's from a local nursery or from a catalog. Cheney Farmers' Market - Fridays, noon-4:30 p. m. First and College Street, Cheney. (509) 235-2220. St. Maries Farmers' Market - Fridays, 3:30-6:30 p. Iris Garden - Fridays through Sundays, 10 a. m. -6 p. m. thru month of June, with 2500 varieties of iris. 40 miles north of the Y, 200 N. Question: How bad a threat in the Northwest is Canada thistle these days? I notice it all over and no one seems too concerned. May 26Lawns. Some people love them. Some people hate them. For Roger and Miriam Devaney of Mead, caring for the lawn is a pleasant hobby and a way to get outdoors at the end of the day or over the weekend. With foot traffic: Fescues Several cultivars of a native grass are available. It is much more drought- and shade-tolerant than bluegrass. Needs less mowing. Fighting fairy rings Fairy rings are the rings of dark green grass filled with white mushrooms that appear in cool wet weather. They expand outward leaving behind a dead patch of grass. Last week I was busy out in front of my big old scary house planting mail-order hostas. My slightly drafty 1910 fixer-upper badly needs a paint job, and some cement work on the front porch wouldn't hurt either. Believe it or not, there are people who can dislike a plant with so sweet a name as "honeysuckle." Not that every honeysuckle should be loved. Question: My husband thinks that cutting the lawn down to about 2 to 3 inches causes it to grow faster, use up more fertilizer and burn easier during the summer. "I have never seen so many or different kinds of aphids," exclaimed Cindy Deffe, environmental sciences instructor at Spokane Community College. On a recent walk on the SCC campus with her horticulture students, they found aphids everywhere, even in her classroom where she has a number of live weed plants set out for study. LEXINGTON, Ky. Jackie Cooke planted a wisteria vine five years ago, and each spring, she dreamed of seeing the back of her house smothered in fragrant purple blooms. Art Show and Plant Sale - Wide variety of plants. Saturday. 9 a.m. -4 p.m., O'Rourke home, 3123 W. Ninth St. May 19Eve Thyrum knows all the proper botanical Latin names of all the plants in her garden, but tends to avoid using them when she's not talking to hard-core gardeners like herself. PHILADELPHIA It's hard to imagine spring without the colorful contributions of flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. But the bulbs of summer can add a bit of razzle-dazzle to the garden just as perennials are starting to slow down in the heat. Once they led bucolic lives. Now, the stocky little garden gnomes with bushy beards and pointy hats have landed on the A-list. And you know what that means tony malls, hip galleries and all the right resorts. Some specialty growers in the commercial garden industry are uprooting all the rules about where you should plant roses. How about roses that bloom from spring to freeze-up, are disease-resistant and maintenance-free, winter-hardy, drought-tolerant and flower extravagantly even when grown in light shade? For Beverly Hawker and the Young Women's Program in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints' 17th Ward in Newman Lake, planting a vegetable garden is a way to not only teach the 12- to 18-year-old girls how to grow their own food and learn about their pioneer heritage, it is also a way to reach out to the rest of the community by donating what they grow to Plant a Row for the Hungry. Which roses do well in half-a-day of shade here in Spokane? I'm making a shrub rose hedge along the top of my retaining wall instead of a fence. WASHINGTON Advocates of a growing movement for green roofs on city skyscrapers anticipate a day when people will look down from airplanes and see a quilt of vegetated building tops. Homeowners Bud and Kathleen Hazel describe their picturesque Tudor revival-style cottage as "a little gem." The 1939 clinker brick house, with dramatic "weeping" mortar, caught Kathleen Hazel's eye years ago when she was a student at Eastern Washington University. St. Maries Farmers' Market Fridays, 3:30-6:30 p.m. Adjacent to the Hughes Historical House, St. Maries. Home Depot's Free May Workshops - Workshops include: "You Can Have Fun with Faux Painting: Basic and New Techniques," Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ... May 12The outlook for the deck, patio and poolside across the Inland Northwest this summer is tropical. Look for long days full of bright, hot, color, cool shade beneath a wide umbrella and plush, comfortable cushions. WALNUT CREEK, Calif. When many gardeners dream of that perfect garden, it seems that at least part of that dream has the sweet smell of basil and rosemary. WICHITA, Kan. — If Eric Otte's guess is right, about half of us haven't done much in the way of lawnmower maintenance in a while. Just what is it about ferns that make landscaping with them so popular? Are people hungry for plants that appear fresh and green after trudging through another long, monochromatic winter? Flower and Plant Sale Fundraiser Sponsored by Delta Gamma Alumnae Association with proceeds going to organizations that provide aid and education for the blind. Today. This time of year, I have friends who make a day of visiting all their favorite nurseries and garden centers. They take the car with the largest trunk, or a truck, and make the rounds until they either run out of daylight or money. SANTA ANA, Calif. Plant milkweed and the monarchs will come. Cathy Icaza, an avid gardener living in Santa Ana, didn't set out to be a butterfly keeper when she innocently spied a pretty plant with orange and red flowers at the nursery. I'd like to know how to grow sweet potato vines. I bought some sweet potatoes at the grocery store (the produce guy said there is a 50/50 chance they were sprayed with something so they don't sprout) but what do I do with them now? "... Gardens are not made by singing, 'Oh aren't they beautiful' and sitting in the shade," author Rudyard Kipling warns in his poem "The Glory of the Garden. Susan King wrote to recommend the Spokane home of friends Cheryl Mortenson and Randy Hendershot. "I like to refer to them as the artist and the handyman," King wrote. Do your homework. Look for outdoor furniture ideas in magazines and catalogs. Browse the internet for design concepts. Know your style. Whether you like sleek contemporary lines, or the elaborate curves of vintage furniture, you can find outdoor furniture to suit your personal style.
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