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

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

Beeless blossoms are everywhere this spring Where Are The Bees? Here we are in the middle of April, many gardens are bright with blossoms, and all those luxuriant spring flowers ought to be alive with bees. But they’re not. Granted it’s been cold (44 degrees this morning) and often windy too, and bees are most apt to be seen when temps are in the 50s and winds are breezy rather than gusty. To top it off, it’s also been scary dry all year so far, especially for a month that’s been famous for rain for hundreds if not thousands of years. In dry, windy years, blooms may shatter faster, giving poll ..read more

Native flowering currant is a pollinator magnet Rewilding Our Property Plant By Plant My favorite garden spaces always have at least a touch of the wild about them. Sometimes it’s a matter of allowing plants to tumble over the edges of beds and borders, erasing hard lines and blurring angles. Sometimes it’s offering an area of native plants as a bug bank, dormitory and mess hall to serve pollinators and pest predators, from ladybugs and lacewings to birds and bats. At best, such gardens merge seamlessly into natural surroundings, as when a flowery meadow is encircled with tiered shrubs that le ..read more

Turning crafting skills into support for causes we love (art by LR) Gentle Yet Effective Activism Over the years, I’ve written dozens of newspaper articles about native plants, with varying responses (of course). A recent one that compared a naturalistic approach to garden design and maintenance with a control oriented approach was deliberately crafted to promote understanding of folks who don’t connect their gardening habits with natural systems. Happily, it has stirred up a lot of conversations and I’ve been pleased to notice that these conversations tend to be less defensive and/or judgment ..read more

Upcycling clothing with patching is satisfying and fun Fashion Frolic A few days ago, I hosted a delightful event where several dozen participants brought in garments for a reimagining session. Folks brought in all sorts of things, from a 60-plus-year-old wedding dress and 1960’s prom gowns to shirts and jackets that were worn to shreds but still well loved. One of my favorite items was a saucy black lace Merry Widow made by Portland’s Jantzen Company in the 1950’s. Today, boned corsets like this one are trendy and often worn over rather than under a dress, but this one is in such good shape ..read more

Magic mushrooms have a long history in human lore Mushrooms Of Magic and Mystery This has been a banner year for mushrooms around here, as the unusually warm fall and abundant autumn rains made for perfect growing conditions. Ever since I first moved to the maritime Northwest, I’ve enjoyed mushroom hunting with knowledgeable friends who taught me to find golden chanterelles, delicious morels with their sponge-like caps, and spicy, pine scented matsutake. We found all these in wooded ares, especially near partner plants like swordfern, huckleberry and rhododendron. My favorite mushroom hunter ..read more

Feed the Solstice fire bowl with hopes and dreams Image by Patrick Gulke Learning To Under-do Happy Solstice! New Year! My wish? May this year be a time for assimilation of new ideas and greater understanding for us all. My own cycle of renewal starts with the Winter Solstice, not so much January 1. That moment in time when the balance of dark and light begins to shift back towards the light has always felt full of possibility to me, like a change point when we might tip ourselves away or towards whatever we choose. This Solstice was especially lovely since, after several frustrated attempts i ..read more

Blooming on despite freezing weather Of Sweet Peas and Smooth Stones This year I planted a late batch of sweet peas, not expecting much as they rarely thrive all summer. To my surprise, they rose up in a huge mass over six feet high and bloomed endlessly all summer long. Eventually a wild autumn wind storm blew most of them down yet they kept on blooming, if more sparsely, even while bent double. Several strands somehow clung to the house wall and they have continued to flower through freezing nights and several more gusty wind storms. Out of season flowers always seem especially precious, bra ..read more

A plethora of potatoes is a wonderful thing Soil Building & Seasonal Satisfaction A kind farmer friend recently gifted us with a glorious bag of potatoes, combining German Butterballs with red skinned and purple varieties. All are delicious in their own way and experimenting to learn which does what best is a delightful exercise. In my experience, those heritage German Butterballs do everything well; whether boiled, roasted, pan fried, baked, scalloped, mashed, you name it, they’re fabulous. They also contribute greatly to hearty seasonal soups, and as freezing nights bring frosty mornings ..read more