If you imagine Master Gardeners pretty much know all about gardening, think again! My concept is this: the more one learns about a subject, the more one realizes what’s yet to learn.
SPOKANE — During childhood, Wendi Eva loved organizing her closet and books just so. As a busy Spokane Valley mom, she struggled to keep household order until she found inspiration in Marie Kondo, a renowned tidying expert and author.
Organic backyard tree fruit production practices are not much different than conventional practices these days, as science has discovered products and methods that make it possible either way to control key tree fruit pests and diseases of North Central Washington.
December and January have been warmer than usual winters, and there certainly hasn’t been very much snow. So we are probably itching to get out into the garden and do something.
Judges gave these wines high marks in the 2018 Wenatchee Wine & Food Festival Wine Competition.
Bleak and blustery days call for subtle colors and shapes in our winter landscapes. It’s certainly a different scene from the usual spring-summer-fall seasons of glorious coloring and lush growth.
The advertisement in the back pages of the magazine said the tree for sale was a fast grower and would provide shade in just a few years. It was hardy and beautiful, and resistant to disease.
Anyone’s yard looks fabulous in late spring; most gardens are lush with flowers in summer; deciduous trees ornament fall gardens. But what about winter?
Happy New Year! It’s the annual reminder that another cycle around the sun has come and gone. We are once again given the opportunity to reflect on the decisions we have made over the last 365 days and to decide how we want to proceed moving forward.
Rather than dreaming of sugar plums, this post-holiday time of year gardeners are probably dreaming of next year’s garden bounty and beauty. Seed catalogs arriving in the mail help that vision with their beautiful photos of all types of "new and improved" plants. Lots of hype, some of it wor…
Most plants adapt to the cold extremes of the region they original came from. You can look up the hardiness of most garden plants and compare the lowest temperature they are rated to withstand. If the USDA hardiness zone indicates it won’t withstand low temperatures common to the vicinity yo…
It is dark and cold. Is your green thumb languishing?
I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to gift giving. Even if I know someone very well, it seems like my mind goes blank when it is time to do my holiday shopping. Every year, I am like a deer in the headlights as soon as the calendar begins to approach December. I am sure I am not alone.
Deck the halls, the front door and the holiday table with fresh greens. Now, the challenge of keeping them fresh through the holidays so they'll retain that delightful heady fragrance and visual appeal of the out of doors.
Ever been frustrated when searching for some topic online, then get side-tracked into looking at something else or forget what you were looking for in the first place?
This is not a scary season just because Halloween was couple of weeks ago. However, it is the season where you can be tempted to make decisions that will haunt you for years to come.
While you're out planting daffodils and tulips this time of year, why not add some alliums? They're easy care and attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators while discouraging deer, rodents and rabbits. Alliums are welcome bloomers after daffodils and tulips wind up their flamboyant spr…
In a recent column, I went on a rant about apricots. I braced myself for a public outcry, led by the Apricot Protection League, but, not a peep came my way. This has encouraged me to move forward into my new topic — tree fruit you won’t regret growing: peaches and nectarines.
The WSU Master Gardener Program was developed 45 years ago to provide urban homeowners science-based, relevant and effective gardening information. The WSU Extension service was busy helping farmers, and more and more “backyard farmers” needed a different type of advice. The Master Gardener …
Today was the first morning with a hard, killing frost up in Leavenworth. It was a little bit of a surprise and also right on time. There’s no denying it, fall is here. The reality of it has been a hard pill for me to swallow, especially this year.
Pumpkins punctuate the end of the summer garden. Yes, and sunflowers, plums, watermelons and squash bugs.
This is the time of year to plant new trees and to transplant small trees. Learning the problems WSU Master Gardeners answer about landscape trees may help you avoid killing your new tree.
It's that time of year when light is starting to fail us, and we’ve been without rain for quite some time. This is just the type of environment that allows spider mites to thrive.
It's heartening to see mushrooms sprouting in our lawn; not because they should be growing there, but to me it's a very positive sign that the defunct aspen tree roots beneath the lawn are decomposing, promoting that mushroom growth. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi.
The first house my family purchased had a mature apricot tree growing in the backyard. It was loaded with fruit, and harvest was terrific.
It is mid-summer, and our lawns are not looking as good as they did in June.
“Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!” My daughter and son used to chant that when they were little. The excitement usually began sometime around the middle of August and lasted all the way up until the bitter end.
Free samples of tasty tomatoes. What tomato lover can pass that up?
As the days shorten, plant growth slows toward dormancy; this is the time to divide perennial flowers.
Do you remember the fragrance with the odd name “Christmas in July”? My mother wore this perfume in the 1950s; I think of my mother at this time of year because I plant my fall and winter garden in July and enjoy its produce for Christmas meals.
Tired of coping with finicky, difficult plants in your landscape? Perhaps it's time to go native.
What is a Master Gardener? The title is usually applied to someone with years of gardening experience, and the passion to overcome the complex aspects of home horticulture. Someone who communes with nature sensibly, selecting carefree plant varieties to keep the lawn and garden safe from pro…
Gather your family and head out for garden-related fun from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at WSU/Chelan Master Gardener’s Third Saturday in the Garden event.
Gardeners are the most optimist people in the world. They know the seeds they pat into the soil will fulfill their dreams of fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit. It will just take a bit of time, sunshine, water and nurturing.
A scavenger hunt, listening to the story "'Jody's Beans" about scarlet runner beans and then planting your own to take home are just part of the garden-related fun things for kids of all ages coming up 10 a.m. to noon June 16.
There are few places on earth that have a desert climate with scant summer precipitation, but also have a large river running smack through the middle. The Nile River and Egypt come to mind.
These are some of the non-factual weed myths Master Gardeners often hear:
When we first bought our 7-acre property, our forest was a mess. Overcutting 100 years ago left us with a dog-haired thicket of densely packed "pecker-pole" fir and a sparse spattering of pine.
It is the end of April, and people in the greater Wenatchee area often plan to plant a garden as a way to celebrate Apple Blossom, which gets underway this week.
It has such an appealing appearance — radiant yellow flowers on a long stalk and a long bloom period. It looks like a three-foot-tall snapdragon on steroids, BUT, do not be sucked in. For under the ground are the most pernicious, aggressive tap and horizontal, perennial creeping roots you ha…
Spring is here again! Daffodils are poking out of the ground, snow in the Upper Valley is nearly gone, and spring winds are starting to blow. The soil is drying down and warming up. It’s a perfect time to get into the garden and make a plan for the upcoming summer.
Fire and water, two classical Greek elements — why are they important to gardeners?
It’s that time of year when many gardeners start to dream about how they want to tackle some much-anticipated landscaping projects.
While you’re bundled up and outdoors pruning those dormant shrubs and trees, consider recycling some of those whips and branches, transforming them into plant supports and decorative additions to your landscape.
We live in a dynamic and unique ecosystem. Being on the east side of the Cascade Mountains creates a broad spectrum of environments. The geological history of our area— glaciers and the Missoula Floods — have carved the landscape we know today.
January is traditionally set aside to reflect on past events and dream about the future yet to be. On a regular day-to-day basis, I try to limit my looking back or projecting forward and instead contemplate the present. However, taking the time now and again to remember the past can be very …
Thriving plants need healthy soil, just as healthy people need a balanced diet. Except for sunshine and oxygen, plants get all their nutrients from the soil.
Another year has come and gone and as we look into next year, the WSU Chelan-Douglas Master Gardeners have exciting news to share. The 2018 WSU Master Gardener Conference will be at the Wenatchee Convention Center later this year. The four-day conference begins Sept. 26.
Your garden is beautiful, and you are ready to harvest the tomatoes. You greet the sunny day humming to yourself ... until you look outside. Your garden has been devastated; the tomato plants are flattened, the fruit is either missing or stomped and half eaten. Who could do this to you? The …
Time away from the usual routine has given me a chance to reflect upon this beautiful world we call home. Again this year, I was able to visit another one of the Hawaiian Islands. There’s nothing like an extended vacation on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific to spawn a myriad of t…
