Cold Climate Gardening

Griffith Buck rose ‘Wanderin’ Wind’ with catmint

Yikes! The last day of June! So many things I wanted to share with you, and the month just flew by. If I want to share my favorite plant combinations of June while it is still June, I’d better get started. This is the same rose I mentioned in […]

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A Good Book for Beginners
When I was in high school, I wanted to know more about gardening than I was able to learn. My gardening grandmother lived hundreds of miles away. The library had a set of Time-Life books on gardening that made me feel I needed a greenhouse, or at least a potting shed, […]

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A reader wrote last night
I would very much like to purchase Jewell Weed Seed. I live on 47 beautiful acres, that is infected with poison ivy. I am VERY allergic to poison ivy. Can you help me?
I don’t know of a source for jewel weed seed. If anyone does, please comment. But I think […]

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I found this blog because it links to me in its sidebar, and I have been getting a few visits a week from this site. I noticed today there is a series of photos that appear to be snow on desert-like regions. I say “appear” because the blog is written in a language I don’t […]

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Canada thistle weaves throughout the peony bed

Observant readers may have noticed the prickly-leaved weed sidling up to ‘Rozella’ in my last post. That dastardly villain is Canada thistle, aka Cirsium arvense, and it is one nasty customer. According to the University of California Cooperative Extension,
Once established, Canada thistle spreads rapidly by horizontal roots, up to […]

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‘Bev’ was planted in fall 2002 and has filled out substantially

Peonies remind me of my paternal grandmother. Whether it was an evening with her bridge group, Sunday Mass, or a family cookout, she always dressed fashionably, including fully applied makeup and perfume. To be called glamorous was a compliment she always appreciated.

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What I saw this morning [Photographer: Kathy Purdy]

Just in case there’s anyone reading this who doesn’t yet understand what a cold climate is (I’ve had Australian searchers looking for “hardy plants” arrive at this site), I thought I’d give an illustration. When I got up about an hour earlier, the outdoor temperature was 36 […]

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