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Judy Miller

USDA Hardiness Zone: 4b/5aLocation: rural; just south of British Columbia/Idaho borderGeographic type: foot of Black & Clifty Mountains (foothills of Rockies--the Wet Columbia Mountains in BC climate- speak)Soil type:acid sand (glacial lake bed)/coniferous forestExperience level: intermediate/professionalParticular interests: fragrant & edible plants, hardy bulbs, cottage gardening, alpines, peonies, penstemons & other blue flowers, primulas, antique & species roses & iris; nocturnal flowers Also: owner of Paradise Gardens Rare Plant Nursery

Answers to Betsy & Heather’s questions

February 28, 2006

Hi gals, isn’t it fun to dream of gardening when it’s raining too much to set foot in the garden? And, yes, Betsy, this is not the end of winter. In Boundary County we can have snow & freezes every month of the year so it’s not over yet. It’s a very [...]

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Speaking of Pansies

December 20, 2005

While hunting up long-stemmed pansies instead of the flat pansy-colored blobs on offer nowdays in most catalogs, I came across enough re-naming of varieties to make my head swim.
And enough ‘Marketers Gone Bad’ examples to make me laugh out loud.
First, the re-naming: Bingos are now Matrix, Baby Bingos are Panache & Panolas, and what’s [...]

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Western Gardening

December 20, 2005

hilarious to contemplate when it’s 0 degrees F

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Catching Up

June 21, 2005

I tell myself that’s why I’m behind on the mowing, anyway.

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Why just do, when you can over-do?

April 6, 2005

I finally re-skinned the greenhouse today. Rather like changing a mammoth bed–old cover off, new one on. I had to do this because the plastic I got last fall turned out to be the kind that makes for perpetual rain inside the house. Disgusting and mildew-provoking, plus it causes wash-outs in pots. [...]

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USDA to clamp down further on seed importation: what you can do

March 14, 2005

If you’ve ever ordered from Chiltern’s, tried new basil or lettuce varieties from Europe, or have pretty hybrid plants from England in your garden (Verbascum ‘Jackie’, Heuchera ‘Bressingham Hybrids’, etc.)——– you can forget about anything new. The USDA is slamming shut the borders on new plants.
Maybe you’re already aware of this. It is [...]

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Fall Rituals

September 12, 2004

My mother and I have just done our fall pear canning, something we have done longer than I can remember, and I’m sure many other families in that house have done over the hundred years or so of the tree’s life. I played under its branches as a toddler and climbed in it when [...]

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Garden Desire

August 19, 2004

Just got a huge bag of lovely daffodils, 100 dn1 for $15. I should be able not only to finish the row along the side of the quonset barn but put in a row in the lavender field and share a bunch with Mom as well. A lady saw me loading them into [...]

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Just For Fun/response

July 17, 2004

1. Oriental and asiatic. And species. Every form & color (except not the lollipop ones that look like little stop signs.)
2. Out here no-till means mega herbicide and slit seeding; not for me. I hand till the raised beds when I set them up and then renovate occasionally. Anyone telling you [...]

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Roses & black spot

March 25, 2004

Good link. But they neglect to mention that many antique roses are black spot resistant as well. I’ve never sprayed a rose for black spot, and my family has always grown roses. I’m under the impression that the tendency to black spot susceptiblity came into rose breeding with Chinas & thence into [...]

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Gardening Conferences

March 8, 2004

The link to the Hort. conference in Idaho is dysfunctional now. Fitting for a state that schedules its Nursery Association conference in January every year. Would you drive nearly 500 miles over icy mountain roads to sit in meetings for a week? Neither would I. Luckily, there was a nice sustainable ag [...]

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Faith in a Seed

February 24, 2004

Any gardener who hasn’t read Thoreau’s book Faith in a Seed should hie her/himself to the library. It is one of those read a bit, think a bit, read some more books, and now is the time to read it.
I’m in the thick of seed sowing now, trying to keep up with my schedule [...]

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Havin’ a Heatwave

January 10, 2004

It is now 50+ degrees warmer than it was a few days ago and the snow is cannonading off the roof like thunder. Finally relinquishing its hold on the trees, it is dropping off in showery gusts. This is a relief as a crystal thaw has been forecast. Trees heavy with snow, [...]

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