This award-winning garden writer’s work has appeared in magazines like Fine Gardening, Meredith’s Simply Perfect series.

Good Greenhouse Advice

If like me, you dream of some day owning a greenhouse, you’ll be interested in what Lorna Basso has to say about living with hers. Built by Hartley Botanic in 2010, Lorna’s greenhouse in her two-acre Atherton, California garden serves … [ Read More ]

The Subject is Roses – Will new roses keep coming to the marketplace?

Tough economic times seem to be hitting the rose industry like an outbreak of black spot on a damp morning. After bankruptcy reorganization, Jackson & Perkins was acquired by J&P Park Acquisitions Inc. Weeks Wholesale Roses was bought and reorganized … [ Read More ]

Make the Most of your Garden Show Experience— Sunset Garden Editor Kathleen Brenzel tells how

“Every garden starts with inspiration, and you can find lots of inspired ideas at garden shows,” says Kathleen Norris Brenzel, editor of the just-published ninth edition of The New Sunset Western Garden Book. She should know. As Sunset Magazine’s Garden … [ Read More ]

Landscape for Privacy— Marty Wingate shows how to plan now for next summer’s garden sanctuary

Have you ever wished your garden could feel more like a private hideaway? Perhaps your outdoor space has yet to be defined, or maybe the neighbors just added a second story that overlooks your back yard. Because winter is the … [ Read More ]

Four Favorite Small Trees—Planning next year’s garden? Don’t forget the trees.

There’s a gardening aphorism—“The best time to plant a tree?  Twenty years ago. And the second-best time to plant a tree? Now.” This month I’m looking back twenty years to my local Northwest experts—Roger Gossler of Gossler Farms, and Harold … [ Read More ]

Holiday Books for Better Gardening – It’s curl-up-and-read time

Why is it that most garden books debut in February? I have to wait until then for Willy Galloway’s terrific vegetable book, Grow, Cook, Eat—A Food Lover’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening. Is February the month when publishers assume gardeners’ hearts … [ Read More ]

Four great tips for an alternate approach

Brent Heath of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs makes this claim with a certain pride: “It’s always safe to walk in our greenhouses.” Most owners of commercial establishments can’t say that. Routine chemical spraying or fumigation of indoor growing spaces means … [ Read More ]

Heirlooms Survive the Taste of Time

Home gardeners and farmers look to the past and see their future at the National Heirloom Exposition. Heirloom vegetables —those open-pollinated varieties older than 50 years—have long been treasured by gardeners and farmers alike for their wide-ranging flavors, extended harvest … [ Read More ]

Cool Ideas and Hot Plant Picks

I recently attended a three-day plant-o-rama—a garden study weekend sponsored by the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. Each morning, all 500-plus of us (some from as far away as England) gathered at the University of Portland to listen to horticultural … [ Read More ]

Celebrate Conifers

What do Aga stoves, Sub-Zero fridges and Bosch dishwashers have in common with conifers? They’re all high end—and they all deliver. Right now, many summer borders are going over the top in a proverbial riot of blooms. They could use … [ Read More ]