Maybe the snail sex scene went too far? I have another report from campus, this time about a wildlife documentary assigned to my “Ecomedia” class. I’m happy to report no mass killing or gruesome hunt scenes (filmmakers sure do like action) but simply insect life in meadows and ponds somewhere in France, with incredible close-ups, slow motion, and...

Salal (Gaulthera shallon) is an often scruffy Northwest native. A few years ago, I didn’t care at all for native plants. I thought they were ugly and boring, and I didn’t understand why any gardener would want to plant them, when there are so many other, prettier plants we can grow from all over the world. I live in Portland, Oregon—Zone 9a. Our...

Many years ago I wrote an article entitled “Beans or Beach?” – bemoaning the difficulty that serious gardeners have in leaving their gardens like normal people and taking vacations.  “If it is a year that we have decided to visit our family in California the question is always “when”?  Seedlings are started in February, the Cold Frame Shuffle is scheduled...

A column I recently wrote about foraging seemed filled with garden-related corollaries. In order to write it, I contacted a couple of longtime foragers and followed them through the mud, brambles and creek beds of a local park as they pointed out various edible plants and fungi. It was an exciting expedition. This is ramp season, as I am sure many...

Behind posts, articles, conferences and social media, there’s a backstory. Have you kept up with the digital correspondence between Ranters Scott Beuerlein and Marianne Willburn?  You can start here, or go back and find the entire correspondence at Dear Gardener. Caye Caulker, Belize 20 April 2024 Dear Scott, A handwritten letter today for you from...

Ever been excited about a new plant until you saw what was blooming nearby at the same time and the color combo almost made you retch? Sounds extreme, but that was my reaction to seeing the golden blooms of Packera aurea among the (can we say garish?) blooms of azaleas. So I moved the Packera to a spot with no competing blooms but in clear view from...