Category Archives: Garden Prep

Double Your Primrose Pleasure

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Ann Lovejoy
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Today, these rescued treasures are available as You and Me primroses (Primula x tommasinii). The large, fragrant blooms are pink or white, rose or cream, blue or purple, yellow or coral, and two laced forms have red or burgundy petals with silvery edges. These free flowering primulas bloom from late winter into June and are solidly perennial, retaining their foliage rosettes all year round. They do best in partial or filtered shade and if divided every few years, the plants will happily carpet a woodland or shade garden.
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Posted in Easy Care Perennials, Garden Prep, Soil, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Beating The Winter Blues

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Ann Lovejoy
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As I weed and edit in my garden, I find myself leaving a lot of what definitely looks messy. Those battered, fallen logs often shelter slumbering bee larvae and sagging plants can be protecting butterfly cocoons. I’ve found dormant frogs nestled in heaps of old leaves and little bats hiding in deep cracks in leaning dead trees. However, while some kinds of mess looks naturalistic, others just look like crap. As I age, I’m experiencing the twin pulls of appreciating order and valuing the wild. I do get daily pleasure and satisfaction from Continue reading →

Posted in composting, Garden Prep, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reviving Frozen Plants

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Ann Lovejoy
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After The Freeze As a series of cold fronts ripped through the Northwest, many of us struggled to shelter and protect borderline hardy plants. Draped with floating row cover cloth, sheets, or bubblewrap, temporary structures can provide a few degrees … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Care Perennials, Garden Prep, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Pruning, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Winterizing | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Gardening In Deer Country

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Ann Lovejoy
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Protecting Plants While Sharing Until last week’s wind and relentless rain battered blooms and leaves away, the new plantings in my island bed were looking surprisingly mature. The back half of the large, horseshoe shaped bed was planted in February … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Prep, Gardening With Children, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged | 4 Comments