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Flower Colors Across the Seasons
When I began growing and studying PNW natives, I noticed patterns in the colors of flowers over the seasons. Spring starts out with white, yellow, and blue flowers, with one lone red flower and orange flower. In April, the colors become more intense, with lots of pinks and blues, and still some white flowers. May bloomers are more deeply colored still, purple, orange, and magenta dominate, and no white flowers. In June, even more intense pink, purple, orange, and golden yello
Chris Musser
Oct 137 min read
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Allium Alert
Every fall, gardeners look forward to planting alliums: namely, garlic, shallot, and the many colorful varieties of flowering alliums,...
Chris Musser
Oct 112 min read
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Native Cover Crops & Wildflowers for Soil Health
The practice of planting soil-enriching crops between harvests is ancient and practiced throughout the world. Chinese manuscripts...
Chris Musser
Oct 65 min read
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Garden Math 101 Cheat Spreadsheet
How Much Compost, Mulch, or Chips? It’s that time of year again: time to spread compost on the beds, top off the mulch, and refresh the...
Chris Musser
Oct 22 min read
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Cover Crops for Portland Gardens
The idea of planting crops to feed the soil is ancient. As early as 6000 B.C., farmers in Greece, Rome, China, and the Middle East grew...
Chris Musser
Sep 306 min read
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A Portland Gardener’s Guide to Garlic
Garlic is one of the most rewarding edibles you can grow in Portland. It thrives in our climate, requires minimal (though dedicated)...
Chris Musser
Sep 222 min read
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Stinzen Planting
Turning Hell Strips and Lawns Into a Sea of Blooms Stinzenplantzen is a Dutch practice of planting naturalizing flowering bulbs—like...
Chris Musser
Sep 145 min read
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Grow Your Own Saffron
Pre-order now to harvest your own saffron this fall! For immediate satisfaction, you can’t beat saffron. Most bulbs, corms, and rhizomes...
Chris Musser
Jul 292 min read
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Bulb Planting Tips
Planting Your New Bulbs Now that you have these beautiful and sometimes strange bulbs and corms and tubers, here are some quick tips for...
Chris Musser
Nov 4, 20232 min read
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