All the Dirt on Gardening

Swallowwort Asclepias incarnata After thoroughly browsing the 2016 plant and seed catalog from Select Seed , I called one of the owners, Allison Barlow to ask a few questions. One of the things that I noticed about their catalog is that they mix seeds and plants on each page which is unlike most catalogs with seeds in one section, plants separated out into another section. "Once we started growing our own plants in our greenhouse, we thought that mixing them in the catalog showcased them better," Allison said. Select Seeds greenhouse is on their own property. Allison said that they also have a small organic garden for growing their own organic seeds in-house. If you read the catalog, you may notice, as I did, that their seed packets have unusual seed counts such as 58 Clary Sage seeds, 372 Dreadlocks Amaranth seeds, 113 Phlox Cherry Caramel seeds. Most catalogs use round numbers - 250, 100, etc. "We measure our seeds by gram," Allison said. "Rat...

Is your mailbox starting to be stuffed with catalogs yet? Ours is. Plants, bulbs, seeds, tools, equipment, books - we all need it all if the wording on the catalogs is to be believed. I love tropical and exotic plants that thrive the first year. Each year, though, as I learn more about sustainable gardening, planting for wildlife, and taking care to leave the earth a little better for my having been here, I put in more and more for nature. Fewer chemicals go onto our slice of the Earth than they did 10 or 15 years ago. And, more U.S. native plants go into the ground. This is last spring's bulb bed - 300 flowering bulbs created a spectacular view from our kitchen window. I found a nursery in the state of Washington, near Portland Oregon, that is called Sweet Nectar Nursery, and contacted the owner, Susan Kirkenbride. My question was, how can we attract more hummingbirds and butterflies to our gardens without hanging those sugar-water feeders? Here is a map of hummingbird arrival da...