
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
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For many years, I wrote gardening and cooking columns for Seattle newspapers and national magazines, many of which are sadly gone. My life has also changed and I no longer travel or lecture widely but stay close to home to care for family members with health issues. My garden has altered as well, yet it remains a comfort, inspiration, and great pleasure to me. Though change is inevitable, I am..
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
3w ago
Fire and light keep kids engaged Fire Shines Brighter In The Darkest Nights On the Winter Solstice, my grandkids and I made a fire in our fire bowl to celebrate the longest night and the return of the light. Instead ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
1M ago
A New Moon Memoir A few months ago I facilitated a memoir writing session so rich and wonderful that it was a truly moving experience. When the session was over, several people asked when we would meet again. I reminded ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
6M ago
Add spices, herbs, fruity combos to make your own blend Bottling The Essence Of Summer Despite erratic weather, summery crops are filling the kitchen, which today smells like ripe peaches and basil, a delectable combination. One of my favorite summer ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
7M ago
Seedpods are ripening fast Gathering Tomorrow’s Garden My grandkids and I love to harvest seeds of all sort of flowers, with the mantra, “pods that rattle are ripe!” Once dried and cleaned, as use the seeds in various mixtures for ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
9M ago
Life is better when we can love what we do
Spending Our Energy Wisely
Ah, June, the month of the monsoon? Wait, what? Crazy weather seems to be the norm everywhere these days; who expects an atmospheric river rain event and howling winds in June? Given the drought situation we’ve been in for years now, I’m actually quite grateful for the rain and will welcome as much more as we may be granted. Still, it was a daunting night, with a continual rattle and thump of fir cones on the roof and gusty shrieks that sounded like lost souls. Despite a power outage due to blown down trees, the only casualt ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
9M ago
Cottonwood puffs are Nature’s air cleaners
Piles Of Puffs Are Nothing To Sneeze At
It’s cottonwood time again, and the snowy little seed puffs are arriving by the thousands. Cottonwood trees can be male or female, and unless there’s a male somewhere in the neighborhood, the fluffy female seeds will seek out pollen in vain; while there’s always plenty of pollen in the air during our breezy springs, without a nearby male cottonwood, none of it will be the right kind. If you have a cottonwood on your property, you can tell which it is by looking at the catkins in early spring; male catkins are ye ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
9M ago
Sweetgrass bound for a Tribal prairie restoration
Taking Care
As temperatures are climbing towards normal, I’m planting out seedlings and starts and already noticing signs of drought and weather whiplash in both plants and soil. Given the NOAA prediction of another hot, dry summer, it’s definitely going to be a season when taking care of plants will be more important than ever. In calmer years, it was a delight to pay close attention to my dear plants, noting their changes like a doting mother studying the progress of beloved children. Every change from sprout to shoot, from bud to blossom, fr ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
10M ago
The winter of woe followed by the spring of hope
Garden Renewal, Again
A few weeks ago, I finally mustered up the energy to clear away the dead from the gardens at home and around town. Some losses were not so surprising; five consecutive days and nights below freezing was just too much for plants that had been stressed by erratic temperatures, wild weather highs and lows, and too many drought years. Cabbage palms and New Zealand flax are mushy goners all over the place, even where reflected heat from streets and sidewalks offered a little temperature boost. Some rosemaries (mostly the prostra ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
10M ago
Little flowers transform lawns into pollinator happy places
Helping Lawns Become Meadows
Every spring I get questions about how to keep lawns free from weeds and/or moss (or sometimes both). Personally, I’d much rather keep lawns free from turf grass. Frequent mowing and fertilizing are both boring and wasteful of resources (not to mention polluting), so why not start transitioning that useless lawn into a lively meadow? It’s so exciting to watch the transformation from inhospitable dead zones where nothing blooms into flowery places where bees and birds and all sorts of critters are welcome a ..read more
Green Gardening With Ann Lovejoy
10M ago
Avoid unnecessary tidiness; let petals make magical, fragrant pathways
Gardening Without Pain (Or Less Anyway)
It’s finally spring and all week I’ve visited with groaning friends who can’t stand up straight, can’t turn their heads, can’t bend without yelping or don’t dare sit in a deep soft chair. I too am feeling somewhat incapacitated by painful hands and a cranky hip. What dreadful disorder lies behind all these physical woes? Sadly, the culprit is the garden, or to be more precise, the gardeners. Though advancing age could conceivably play a tiny part in this scenario, I was smugly pleased ..read more