The balance of ingredients doesn’t have to be perfect, close is good enough.

Purchase: soil, peat moss, organic fertilizer, bagged sterilized manure, perlite

• Purchase good quality standard garden soil from a soil producer in your area
• Add peat moss in to the soil at about a 3:1 ratio (3 parts soil : 1 part peat moss)

• I choose bagged steer manure from the store, add to about 10% of the volume in manure
• Throw a good amount of perlite in, maybe 10% of the total amount of soil
• Add fertilizer, choose a good quality line of organic products such as “Gaia Green”. Put in a lot of it in if you are making a large recipe of soil
• Also suitable is a standard fertilizer for growing food, mixed with the soil

Now mix it all together really well with a shovel, taking scoops from the bottom and putting it on top while walking around the pile or swimming pool. You are a “mix-master!”

• Do this over and over and over again…
• dig and mix right to the bottom center of the pile

After about a hundred turned shovelfuls…

• Now you have your planting mix
• Fill the container as described above

If you have only a few containers then I recommend guying commercial potting mix, it’s much easier.

Companion planting is based on the concept that some plants benefit each other when planted nearby certain other plants.

Some plants repel pests and in turn help others by keeping the pests away from them, and then other plants will help to enrich the flavor of other plants.

This list covers some of the big partnerships, but there are many, many more possible combinations.

Agastache: Attracts bees. Maintain one row slightly away from the garden to lure cabbage moths away from Brassica crops. Do not plant Agastache near radishes.

Alyssum: Attracts pollinators. Good as a mulch to keep weeds down between rows.

Amaranth: Attracts predatory ground beetles. Plant along side corn to shade the soil and helps to retain water.

Asparagus: Plant with asters, basil, cilantro, dill, cilantro, marigolds, nasturtiums, oregano, parsley, peppers, sage, and thyme. Asparagus repels nematodes that attack tomatoes, and tomatoes repel asparagus beetles.

 Basil: Improves vigour and flavour of tomatoes if planted side-by-side. Also good with asparagus, oregano, and helpful to peppers. Basil helps repel flies, mosquitoes, and thrips.

Broad beans: Excellent for fixing nitrogen in the soil. Don’t plant near onions.

Beans-Bush & Pole : All beans fix nitrogen in the soil. Plant with beets, carrots, celery, chard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, peas, potatoes, radish, and strawberries. Not recommended to plant near chives, garlic, leeks or onions. Pole beans and beets stunt each other’s growth, ensure distance between these.

Beans -Soya: Good for fixing nitrogen, and acting as a mulch against weeds. Grow with corn. Soya beans repel Japanese beetles and chinch bugs.

Beets: Add minerals to the soil. The greens are very good for the compost. Plant with bush beans, Brassicas, corn, garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, and mint. Add cut mint leaves as a mulch for beets. Avoid planting beets near pole beans.

Borage: Excellent all around companion plant. Borage deters tomato hornworm and cabbage worms, and is particularly good planted near tomatoes and strawberries. Very attractive to pollinators, and excellent for the soil and compost. Borage is deer resistant.

Brassicas:  Encompassing many vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chervil, chives, collards, cucumber, kale, turnip.  All benefit from chamomile, dill, mint, rosemary, and sage. Avoid planting near eggplants, peppers, potatoes, or tomatoes.

Buckwheat: Fixes calcium in the soil, and makes an exceptionally good green manure plant. Buckwheat absorbs nutrients that are not available to other plants, and can then be composted or tilled under, releasing those nutrients in accessible forms.

Calendula: Repels a number of bad nematodes in the soil, but may attract slugs. Plant with tomatoes and asparagus.

Carrots: Plant with beans, Brassicas, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, pole beans, radish, rosemary, sage, and tomatoes. Avoid planting with dill, parsnips, and potatoes. Carrots planted near tomatoes may have stunted roots, but will have exceptional flavour. Chives also benefit carrots.

Catnip: Attracts pollinators-and cats, but repels aphids, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, ants, weevils, and squash bugs.

Celery: Good partner for beans, Brassicas, cucumber, garlic, leek, lettuce, onion, and tomatoes.

Chamomile: Attracts hoverflies and wasps. Plant near onions to improve their flavour.

Chervil: Excellent companion for Brassicas, lettuce, and radishes. Chervil helps to repel slugs.

Chives: Improves the flavour of carrots and tomatoes. A companion plant for Brassicas. Helps to repel aphids, carrot rust fly, and Japanese beetles. Avoid planting near beans and peas.

Chrysanthemum: White flowering mums repel Japanese beetles.

Cilantro: Repels aphids, potato beetles, and spider mites. Plant near cilantro.

Clover: Attracts many beneficials and builds the soil. Helps fight cabbage worms, and increases the number of predatory ground beetles.

Collards: Plant near tomatoes, repels flea beetles.

Corn: Companion to beans, beets, cucumber, dill, melons, parsley, peas, potato, soya beans, squash, and sunflower. Avoid planting next to celery or tomatoes. Amaranth makes a great mulch between rows by competing with weeds and conserving ground moisture.

Cucumber: Plant beside asparagus, beans, Brassicas, celery, corn, dill, kohlrabi, lettuce, onion, peas, radish, and tomatoes. Avoid planting near potatoes and sage. Dill helps cucumbers by attracting predatory insects, and nasturtiums will improve the flavor and growth of cucumbers.

 Dill: Improves the health of cabbages and other Brassicas, a very good companion for corn, cucumbers, lettuce, and onions. Dill attracts the predatory wasps that feed on garden caterpillars, and repels aphids and spider mites. Avoid planting near carrots and tomatoes.

Eggplant:  A good companion for amaranth, beans, marigolds, peas, peppers, spinach, and thyme. Do not plant eggplants near fennel.

 Fennel: Not a companion for any garden food plant. Fennel will inhibit growth of bush beans, kohlrabi, tomatoes. If you must have it plant it outside of the veggie garden.

Flowers: Attractive to pollinators as well as beneficial predatory insects: hover flies, pirate bugs, tachinid flies, and lady beetles.

Garlic: Planting garlic near roses will help to repel aphids. Because of its sulfur compounds, it may also help repel whiteflies, Japanese beetles, root maggots, carrot rust fly, and other pests.

Garlic Tea used as a spray:  Act as a systemic pesticide, drawing up into the cells of the plants. It’s a good companion for beets, Brassicas, celery, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, and tomatoes. Avoid planting near peas or beans of any kind.

 Kohlrabi: A worthy companion for beets, Brassicas, cucumbers, and onions. Avoid planting near peppers, pole beans, strawberries, and tomatoes.

 Leeks: Grow with beets, carrot, celery, onions, and spinach. Avoid planting near beans and peas. Leeks help repel carrot rust flies.

Lettuce: Good companions for beets, Brassicas, carrot, celery, chervil, cucumbers, dill, garlic, onions, radish, spinach, squash, and strawberries.

 Marigold: French Marigolds produce chemicals that kill nematodes and repel whitefly. Avoid planting them near beans. Mexican Marigolds have the same effect, and may repel rabbits.

 Melon: Great companions for corn, marigolds, nasturtiums, pumpkin, radish, squash, and sunflowers. Avoid planting near potatoes. Melon leaves are full of calcium, so they’re good for the compost heap.

Mint: Attracts earthworms, hoverflies and predatory wasps, and repels cabbage moths, aphids, and flea beetles. Mint is very invasive, keep it in containers around the vegetable garden and it’ll never take over. Avoid planting near parsley.

Nasturtium:  Great sacrificial crop as they attract aphids away from anything else that you are growing. They deter whiteflies, cucumber beetles, and attract predatory insects. It is a good companion for Brassicas, cucumbers, melons, radishes, and tomatoes.

 Oats: They grow very quickly for quick tilling to add organic matter to beds, and work well when planted with clover or vetch. An excellent source of green matter for the compost.

Onions: Plant chamomile and summer savory near onions to improve their flavour. Onions also work well alongside beets, Brassicas, carrots, dill, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes. Don’t plant onions near asparagus, onions or peas.

Oregano & Marjoram: Good for repelling cabbage moths, can be planted between rows of Brassicas for this purpose. It’s also good near asparagus and basil.

Parsley: Parsley likes asparagus, carrots, chives, corn, onions, and tomatoes. The leaves can be sprinkled on asparagus to repel asparagus beetles, and around roses, to improve their scent. Parsley allowed to bloom will attract hoverflies and predatory wasps. Don’t plant it near mint.

Peas: Good companions for beans, carrots, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, parsley, peppers, potatoes, radish, spinach, strawberries and turnips. Avoid planting peas near onions.

Peppers: Good neighbours for asparagus, basil, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, oregano, parsley, rosemary, squash, Swiss chard, and tomatoes. Never plant them next to beans or Brassicas.

Potatoes: Bush beans, Brassicas, carrots, celery, corn, garlic, marigolds, onions, and peas all do well planted near potatoes. Avoid planting potatoes near asparagus, cucumber, kohlrabi, melons, parsnips, rutabaga, squash, sunflower, and turnips.

Radish: Plant radishes near beans, beets, celeriac, chervil, cucumber, lettuce, mint, parsnip, peas, spinach, squash, and tomatoes. Avoid planting near Agastache or potatoes.

Rosemary: Good companion for beans, Brassicas, and carrots.

Fall Rye: Emits a chemical that inhibits the germination of weed seeds. Planted twice in a row, it can choke out several tough weed species. It produces masses of useful organic matter for tilling under or adding to the compost.

Sage: Repels both the cabbage moth and the carrot rust fly, so it’s a great all around companion plant in the vegetable garden. Do not, however, plant it near cucumbers, which are sensitive to aromatic herbs.

Spinach: Good companion for Brassicas, eggplants, leeks, lettuce, peas, radish, and strawberries, particularly. Don’t plant spinach near potatoes.

Squash: Good with corn, lettuce, melons, peas, and radish. Avoid planting near Brassicas or potatoes. Borage is said to improve the growth and flavour of squash. Marigolds and nasturtium repel numerous squash pest insects.

Strawberry: Plant with beans, borage, garlic, lettuce, onions, peas, spinach, and thyme. Avoid Brassicas, fennel, and kohlrabi.

Summer Savory: Attracts honeybees, and repels cabbage moths. Planting it near beans and onions will improve the flavour of both.

Sunflower: Plant near rows of corn to increase yields. Aphids may be herded by ants onto sunflowers without causing the plants any harm.

Swiss chard: Beans, Brassicas, and onions make the best companions.

 Thyme: All around beneficial plant for the garden. Thyme is great planted near Brassicas and strawberries as it repels cabbage moths and enhances flavour.

Tomatoes: Companions are asparagus, basil, beans, borage, carrots, celery, chives, collards, cucumber, garlic, lettuce, marigold, mint, nasturtium, onion, parsley, and peppers. But not Brassicas, kohlrabi and dill. Corn will attract tomato pests. Potatoes can spread blight to tomatoes, keep them apart. Don’t plant tomatoes near walnut trees.

 Turnip: Benefits from mint and pea companions.

Not enough? Need more info? Get your instantly downloadable e-book on Companion Planting in Your Veggie Garden and how to put it to work for you.

Reasons to learn how to grow giant Oriental lilies

• They are really easy and fun to do and come in a wide range of colors.
• They will take quite a bit of abuse and thrive in less than ideal growing conditions
• They produce beautiful fragrant flowers
• They are sold as a bulb about the size of a mandarin orange in the spring and fall in most areas
• The bulb will produce a flower the first year they are planted, but will grow larger and more showy each year after that
• They also don’t require a large amount of soil space which is a huge plus when you are dealing with small space gardening and container gardening
• They thrive in climate zones 3 – 8. This is a very wide temperature range and they will very likely grow well in your area

Oriental Lilies will grow in containers for many years and will withstand quite a bit of abuse and even dry conditions. If you have the ability to plant your lily bulb in the ground then do so. Choose a comfortable out of the way spot for it where it won’t get disturbed from year to year. By doing this you give it maximum opportunity to acclimatize to its environment and grow to it’s largest possible size. It’ll be worth the effort.

Planting Instructions

• Purchase the color of bulb you want from the garden center
• Make sure to check the details of what you are choosing
• Choose “Oriental”, 48″ tall or more and fragrant
• Plant it in good quality potting soil a few inches down with the pointy side up, sometimes the bulb has already started to grow in the package

It’s possible to plant up to 4 bulbs in a 12″+ round or square container.

When you look at the bulb, if there are roots visible they go on the bottom. Cover the bulb with a few inches more soil and pat down firmly for stability.

Choose the sunniest location you have available as this will help them to grow strong and healthy. The stalk will lean and reach toward the light if it’s in a shadowy area or near trees.  The benefit to having them grow in a container is that if the stalk leans you can give it a half turn once a day to keep it growing straight up.

• Apply water just until the entire area is wet down to the bottom of the bulb

Then in a very short amount of time you’ll see a sprout emerge – likely in less than 2 weeks.

The sprout will emerge and quickly grow tall, it’ll make buds and then bloom.

Keep the watering consistent but not excessive throughout the growing and blooming period. If you get rain or live in a rainy area then adjust your watering accordingly so the bulb doesn’t get too much water.

• The blooms should last a month or so before they start to fade and fall off
• When all the blooms are done and there’s no evidence of more buds, don’t cut it down yet
• Leave the stalk there for the duration of the summer until the stalk and the leaves on it have turned yellow

This means that the plant has taken back all the nutrients back down into the bulb, this makes the bulb much stronger for the next year.  When it’s all yellow or brown then you are free to cut off the stalk about 2″ from the ground.

That’s it until next year.

There are at least 12 different colors of Oriental lily, all growing to various heights ranging from 24″ to 60″+.

In my experience, I’ve found that when the package says a mature height of 48″ (for example) the plant will actually grow at least a foot taller than that in the first year and then each year after that it will grow taller and stronger.

My absolute favorite, the most stunning and the most fragrant is the Casablanca. It’s pure white, elegant and often grown to be used in weddings. In the garden it will grow up to 60″ or more with good care.

When you plant several of the fragrant lilies you’ll be greeted every day with the air in your yard or balcony being filled with the pleasant scent of these lovely flowers when you go out in the morning.

Lily Problems?

The biggest problem you’ll likely ever have with growing lilies is slugs and snails. One or both of them will be an issue if you live in any sort of a moist, rainy or temperate climate.

There are many remedies for slugs and snails available. In the garden centers you’ll find traps, poisons, barriers and deterrents that will help you protect your lily sprouts.

Sometimes squirrels are an issue and will dig up and eat the bulbs which they think are perfectly delicious. I’ll go into solutions for them later on, but it can be as simple as putting a 1″ wire mesh over your container or planting area and allowing the stalks to grow through that.

The largest varieties that I’ve found are:

• The Casablanca – Pure white (48″-60″ or more)
• Conca d’Or – Electric Yellow (48″-60″ or more)
• Dizzy – White with magenta stripes down the center of each petal with the same color speckles (48″-60″ or more)
• Golden Star Gazer – Sunshine yellow (48″-60″ or more)
• Muscadet – White with pale pink stripes down each petal with pink speckles (36″-48″ or more)
• Scheherazade – Mainly burgundy with lighter yellow or pale green edges on each petal with dark red speckles (36″-48″ or more)

The names of the bulbs may be different in your region, but look for the tallest mature height on the package and you’re favorite color and you’ll be fine. Also, check to the package to see if it’s fragrant or not.

I encourage you to learn how to grow giant Oriental lilies and be astounded at their beauty.

You will want to start with something that will be really easy to grow and very tolerant of anything you can do to it, I recommend the delicious but under appreciated raspberry. They are essentially a fast growing weed that happens to produce yummy fruit.

Raspberries can handle any type of soil and even soil with minimal nutrients, it can take small containers if you keep up on the watering in the hot season. They will even take a drought or two and still recover and produce beautiful berries for you all season long. However, even though they are very hardy and will take abuse, they will produce a better and tastier fruit and be a more robust plant if you give them the food and care that they need.

What variety of raspberry should I buy?

Raspberries are easily available at most nurseries, plant stores and online too. They each have their own characteristics and strengths that are designed to do best for each climate zone.

There are many varieties of raspberry:

• Autumn Bliss: Ripens early fall, large fruit, medium height canes
• Meeker: upright variety, low maintenance, no need for staking usually
• Heritage:  can reach 7-8 feet, needs staking
• Nova: ripens early, tart flavor, does best in zone 5 or greater
• Boyne: Ripens early, small fruit, winter hardy, very productive,
• Tulameen: Ripens very late, large fruit, good choice for home garden, does best in zone 5 or greater
• Fall Gold: Ever-bearing, yellow/gold fruit, unique flavor, harvest from June to October, no need for staking

I recommend tying the branches up to a pole or supporting them from underneath with a prop to take the weight off the branch itself. Choose the Meeker if you want to have shorter canes and a lower maintenance growing season.

If you do some hunting you will be able to find other types as well such as Fall Gold which are yellow and distinctly different. These have a unique flavor and are sweeter than the red ones. These will not need staking as they only grow 4-5 feet tall and have strong biennial stems to support the weight.

Black and Purple Raspberries

You should be able to find black raspberries and purple ones too. They each have a slightly unique flavor and all have their place in your garden, if you have the space. It’s recommended that you keep the color varieties separated by a good distance. This is because black raspberries are known to be susceptible to disease and should be kept far from the red ones. If you are limited on space, stick to just the red or yellow varieties.

I strongly recommend a container for your raspberry plants. You can use a raised bed with sides 12″ tall or more as well. They have a relentless root and sprouting system and will spread themselves in every direction as far as they can find soil. A medium to large size container or toy tub will be fine.

But if you must put them in the ground…

you need to create a containment system for them.  I suggest digging a thin barrier down into the ground around where you want the plants to stay. A piece of plexi-glass will do nicely, you can use wood, but after a few years you’ll have to dig it up and re-do it when the wood rots away. Screw the corners together because the roots will try to press out of there and escape.

What do I feed them?

• Raspberries will enjoy the high quality organic fertilizers
• They like a slightly acidic soil as well

The raspberry plant is a glorified weed that produces and delicious berry. They can grow happily for years without any feeding or nutritional help, but they will be that much happier if you give them a little boost with any good quality fertilizer, preferably organic.

How do I prune my raspberry plants?

The red and yellow raspberries grow in a biennial cycle and have a caning nature rather than a vine nature. They grow a set of canes one year and then the next year grow another set, but the fruit only grows on the older canes that grew in the first year.

• They need no pruning at all for the first two years
• Once they are done fruiting, cut them off
• “Everbearing” varieties give two harvests each season so you may want to wait until late fall before cutting down
• Leave the new green shoots that just grew this year. Those will be the ones that produce the fruit next year

At the end of the season, cut the tallest canes down to a more manageable height, usually about 4′ or 5′ is good. This stops the plant from getting too leggy and unmanageable.

That’s all you have to do. Now wait until next spring and new green shoots will emerge and the shoots of last year will have turned brown and are ready to make bud, flowers and eventually produce fruit.

You can grow carrots from seed much more easily than you might think. It’s a good place to start and get your feet wet in gardening, and with minimal care and effort you are almost guaranteed a delicious harvest.

In my garden I always choose the odd colors of carrot seed, such as Purple Haze and Kaleidoscope mix carrot which is a mix of white, yellow and orange carrot seeds in one package. Sometimes you can find a package of only white carrot seeds. They are different, delicious and beautiful on a veggie platter especially combined with purple ones and great cooked in tin foil packets on the BBQ too.

What Types of Carrot Can I Grow in a Container?

There are many varieties of carrot, all with different strengths, sizes and characteristics meant to suit a multitude of conditions. For container gardening you’ll want to choose a smaller variety with a smaller mature size. Don’t worry if it has a large mature size, you will be picking before it gets there anyway.

In some stores you’ll find available Purple Dragon carrots and in some areas it’ll be Purple Haze they are similar in their characteristics.

• Purple Dragon carrots are thick and stumpy with a thick purple ring
• Purple Haze is longer and slimmer with a thinner purple ring

I prefer Purple Haze and when you pick them young they are so sweet and delicious.

This is a great way to introduce kids to gardening and might even make carrots more interesting for them to eat.

What About the Soil?

Carrots prefer a looser, lighter soil because this makes it easier for the roots to grow long and straight down. If the soil is dense then the carrots will be shorter and sometimes growing in odd directions with two or three legs. Should you have rocky soil, the carrots will grow around them and become crooked and bent.

For a small number of tubs or containers then I recommend buying good quality bagged soil from your local garden center.

Then fill the container almost all the way up with that. Leave a couple of inches at the top so you have room to add another thin layer of soil over the seeds once you’ve sprinkled them. There should be an inch left before the top edge of the container when you are done.

If you are fortunate and have the space for several containers or a raised bed, then it’s more cost effective and easier to get a 1/2 yard (or more) of good quality garden soil in bulk delivered to your home.

Mix in some perlite and peat moss to fluff it up.

These ingredients are important because it prevents the soil from compacting down in the container or bed and becoming too hard for things to grow. If you go this route then buy a pressed “cube” of peat moss from the garden center and a few bags of perlite. For large amounts, use a tarp. For smaller amounts use an old children’s plastic swimming pool as your mixing area.

Note: Make sure this is a pool that you will not want to use again for holding water. It’s going to be pretty beat up after you mix a bunch of soil in it with a shovel.

What kind of container is best?

Carrots will grow in any container that is more than 12″ deep. I recommend 18″or 24″. That’s plenty of room because you will likely be harvesting early (before they get to the size stated on the package) and getting delicious sweet “young” carrots. Carrots are 60 to 75 days to harvest, they prefer the cooler weather of spring and early fall. You can plant successive crops every couple of weeks if you have a few containers and then get a longer harvest into fall.

Carrot seeds are teeny and very hard to manage and plant the right amount. It’s very easy to over-plant a carrot container. The image below is an example of an over planted container. If this happens you’ll need to pull out some of the small ones to leave room for the larger ones to grow. As the season goes along you can harvest the largest of them allowing growing room for the rest.

Buy a seeder, it’ll save you a lot of wasted seeds.

There are inexpensive little gadgets called “seeders” that you can buy at the garden center or online that help you sprinkle a controlled amount of seeds much more easily. Some operate with air suction and others by sprinkling them through a small hole.

Choose the one you like best, they are really a big help to prevent over seeding.

Sprinkle the seeds on the soil. One package goes quite far and will be enough for 2 large 18″ tubs like the in the image. What you see growing there is an entire package of seeds in one tub. That’s too many. When there are too many seeds in one container, they don’t develop properly.

One package will nicely seed two of the tubs shown. It’ll will feel like not enough seeds but it is.

Then cover the seeds with another 1/2″ of soil and pat it down a little. Water it gently ensuring you don’t turn up the soil and disturb the seeds, use a watering can with small holes or a hand sprinkler with a soft spray.

Use the largest container you have available and add a drainage substance to the bottom. Put 3 or 4 blocks or “pot feet” under the container so it doesn’t sit directly on the ground. This is important for air flow and drainage. Ensure the container and soil line stays level.

That’s it. Now we wait and water.

If there is no rain, water them enough so that the surface doesn’t dry and form crust and also to keep the top few inches of soil moist. There should be sprouts popping up in 14 – 17 days. However, the seeds will lie dormant or stop growing if the temperature isn’t high enough, and then resume growing when the temperature rises. The optimum temperature for them is 16 – 18  degrees Celsius (61 – 64 degrees Fahrenheit).

Keep them lightly watered but not too wet while they grow, 60 to 75 days later you’ll start to pick the size carrots you can use for dinner and snacking on. Wash off the soil and you won’t even have to peel them, they will have a deliciously irresistible earthy flavor.

This should be enough instruction to get you going when you want to learn how to grow carrots in containers.

Please leave a comment below if you need more info or guidance.

You can clearly see the snow on the ground in the background and a serious lack of flowers. There are very limited food sources for the birds this time of year.

I had never hung a feeder out before this video. It is quite literally the first time the bird has seen it.

I made this hummingbird food recipe and put it out around 3pm, it took about 30 minutes for the first bird to come around and within an hour I had three distinctly different birds repeatedly coming in for food.

This birds’ actions clearly illustrate the importance of having food out for the hummingbirds in winter.  The first time this little guy found the feeder he stayed and drank for about 45 seconds without leaving. He went back and forth many times and in the sunbeam of the evening you could even see his teeny little tongue flitting in and out after sipping up the sweet liquid.

There were even drips down his beak and it was pretty clear he was very thankful to find food.

The variety that you are likely to see here on the west coast of BC are the Anna’s hummingbird. They are distinctively glossy greenish black, they almost glow in the sunlight. They are the only one’s that can survive the west coast winter. The make it through by eating the few bugs or spiders they happen to find or the occasional flower helps them along too. 

They will do much better if we feed them.

There are two other bird feeders above, one with seed and one with suet. If you watch closely you can see the hummingbird looking up and keeping a sharp eye on the larger birds above, but holds his ground and is not scared away. I brought in the feeder so it wouldn’t freeze over night. He was back early in the morning looking for more, before 6 am.

I hadn’t put it out yet and he was hovering looking in the window at me. My apologies, I’ll be more prompt next time.

Some perennial flowers and grasses need to have the assistance of their wilted summer foliage to use for winter insulation from frost or rain protection for the many drab rainy months of a temperate climate. These ones listed below prefer to be cut back in the spring.

It’s not the end of the world if you cut something at the wrong time of the year, most plants can handle that, the plant will recover usually by the next season. You’ll just lose one season of flowers or fruit. 

Perennials to cut down in spring

Artemesia Trim in early spring. The new growth that results due to a fall prune is too tender to survive the winter and the cold is often enough to kill the whole plant. Zone 5-9

Asters Fall blooming asters usually have been pinched a lot during the growing season. They like to rest once they are allowed to bloom. This is why they like to be pruned in spring. Zone 4-8

Astilbe This plant doesn’t require much maintenance, it’s foliage will fall off on it’s own, therefore fall clean-up is usually unnecessary and doing so could weaken the plant’s cold tolerance. In the spring rake away fall debris to allow new growth to emerge. Zone 3-8

Balloon Flower (Platycodon) The Balloon flower blooms until frost and remains attractive for a long time throughout the summer and beyond. The new sprouts will arrive late in the spring so it helps to leave last years foliage in place until then so the place is marked. Zone 3-8

Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus) Cut back the leaves as they yellow and become unattractive, leave the latest ones on as they should remain evergreen throughout the winter. Trim back in spring to allow new growth to emerge. Zone 6-10

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) This perennial is quite unattractive in the winter months, however if you can tolerate the site of it then the seed heads will feed the birds in the winter. Zone 3-9

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) If you prune this one the fall then you greatly increase the chances of it dying over the winter. Leave it as is until signs of new growth show in the spring and then cit it back to 8″ to 12″ tall. Zone 6-9

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) This plant is a prolific self-seeder and should be deadheaded in the fall if dozens of new plants would be unwelcome in the spring. Leave the seed heads on to feed the birds if you wish. Zone 4-9

Campanula This one gets cut back in the summer to clean up unsightly or damaged foliage and to encourage more blooming. Fresh basal foliage will result. This should be left on the plant through winter, so as not to encourage more tender growth in the fall. Zone 3-8

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) The beautiful Lobelia likes evenly moist soil, but doesn’t like living in cold, wet soil for the months of winter. When you leave the foliage and flower stems in tact it protects the plant from the stresses of winter and possible crown rot from too much rain. Clean up in the spring when the wet weather comes to an end.  Zone 3-9

Chrysanthemum The foliage is critical in order to protect the crown over winter. Zone 5-9

Coral Bells (Heuchera) This plant is susceptible to the freezing and thawing of a temperate climate. It’s recommended to leave the foliage in tact to act as a mulch to protect them through winter. Zone 4-9

Cushion Spurge (Euphorbia) Prune back the plant to its base in the spring, that’s it. Zone 4-8

Delphinium Cut back the flower stalks, but allow the foliage to stay on until spring. Cut back before new growth emerges. Zone 3-8

Dianthus (Sweet William) Most varieties will remain evergreen, so just give it minimal clean-up in the spring as needed. Zone 5-8

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) Cut back stalks when flowers fade and then nothing is needed until clean up in spring. Zone 3-8

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) In the fall the foliage will turn yellow and die back completely like a Hosta. No pruning is really needed in the spring as there will likely be nothing there. Zone 3-9

Gayfeather (Liatris spicata) This one doesn’t like wet feet and can rot. The seed heads provide food for the birds over winter, but the plant may die. Zone 3-9

Goldenrod The new hybrid goldenrod doesn’t seed all over the garden and can be left standing for the winter. The old-fashioned species Solidago should be cut in fall, to avoid becoming invasive. Zone 2-8

Hosta The foliage gets yellow and ugly over winter and also mushy if you live in a rainy area. Cut back when this happens, the plant disappears completely in the winter. Zone 3-8

Lamb’s Ear (Stachys) Let the leaves stay and remove winter damage when the leaves sprout again in the spring. Lamb’s Ear is very invasive in temperate climates. Zone 4-8

Lavender  Lavender doesn’t like to be cold and wet and easily dies over the winter. Fall foliage protects it a bit so if it survives cut it in the spring when new growth appears. Zone 5-9

Lavender Cotton Doesn’t like the cold. Don’t prune after middle of August, then wait until you see new growth in the spring before pruning again. Zone 6-8

Lupine (Lupinus) Lupins cannot stand very much, they are not hardy. It’s best to treat them as an annual in most locations, but if not cut it back after the flowers fade, leave the greens on. Zone 4-6

Oriental Poppy Cut back flower stalks after they fade, but leave the foliage to protect the crown over winter. Zone 3-7

Coneflower (Echinacea) This perennial doesn’t look very attractive in the winter, but if you leave the stalks standing the seed heads will feed the birds. Zone 3-8

Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia) This one is also very sensitive to wet and can easily rot. Cut the green back by half and the rest will help to protect the crown. Zone 5-9

Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) Treat the same as Lavender. Prune back any dead woody branches to the ground. Zone 5-9

Sea Lavender (Limonium latifolium) Cut in spring Zone 3-9

Sea Holly (Eryngium) Cut back once per year in August or September only and the new basal growth is enough to get the plants through winter. Zone 3-8

Sedum Prune in very early spring Zone 3-10

But if you have a decent size garden or anything larger than say, 10 containers or hanging planters then it’s time to seriously consider employing the use of a drip irrigation system. There are several benefits to installing a drip system, the greatest of all is that it’ll save you time. You won’t have to stand with a hose while you could be doing other things like eating the delicious fruit that you’ve grown.

Containers benefit greatly by using a slow watering drip system. They can be set to water at an adjustable rate through the drip heads and mini sprinklers. You can choose each drip head so it suits each container or basket.  The drip is a much slower rate of water delivery than with a hose or watering can.

This helps the plants in that they get a more complete soaking down to the small roots at the center of the root ball over a much longer period of time. This can counteract a problem that some containers can acquire over time where the water runs out too fast.  The repeated waterings month after month or year after year cause the water to find the “path of least resistance” and form canals down through the edges of the pot to the holes in the bottom. The water runs straight out of the pot as fast as you pour it in and makes no contact at all with the roots or root ball, let alone soak in to the small roots inside.

Purchasing and using a drip system is the perfect way to make sure you don’t have a problem with this.

Approximately half (maybe a third) of my garden is set up with a drip irrigation system.

It’s the best investment I’ve ever made and once I had it set up properly it really cut down on the amount of time I spent watering. I have several containers where the water runs out too fast before the roots were able to absorb the water. The general health of the plant was suffering because it wasn’t getting the water I was trying to give them.

The drip system ensures that they get the water at a slow rate so they can absorb it. If you live in a warm climate or have an extended hot spell through your summer, then allow the drippers to drip or sprinkle faster and allow the water to soak in to the hot soil and relieve the plants a little from the heat. Check out the kits from Drip Depot, they take the guess work out of what parts you need to buy.

Please leave a comment below with your experiences using drip systems.

Most everyone knows about the honey bee and how critically important it is to the food supply we rely on.

But how much do you know about the industrious little Mason Bee?

There are over 300 different species of them in the Northern Hemisphere.

The honey bee is in trouble due to viruses and is dying off at a very fast rate. This is why we need to help the Mason bee thrive as much as we can. There are teams of scientists and beekeepers working on this problem.

The Mason bee is much smaller than the honey bee but it pollinates 75% more efficiently. They are always around and finding places to live with or without our help but if you put up a house customized just for them then you will see many more of them around and you’ll give them the boost they need to thrive and increase their numbers.

The reward for you and your plants is of course is that your garden gets completely pollinated. You’ll have beautiful flowers and fruit.

In your local nursery or garden center you should be able to find mason bee supplies. If not you may need to go to a place that specializes in bee products and offers assistance to those who want to get into any type of beekeeping.

The mason bee houses can be made or purchased. The commercially made ones are beautiful but sometimes they are quite expensive. You can make one out of a few small chunks of wood, there are basic construction plans available online, but it doesn’t need to be much more than a small square frame. You will need to purchase specially made paper tubes each year for them to lay their eggs in. Sometimes you can roll new tubes for them out of newspaper around a pencil, this can work too.

The image shows a Mason bee and bug house which serves dual purpose of creating a home for other beneficial insects as well.

What do they live in?

Whether you buy a commercial mason bee house or make one yourself it’s important to put a piece of wire mesh over the entire house in which the bees lay the eggs.

The easiest way is to make the bee house and secure it to the wall or tree. Then form a big bubble of small 1″ square wire mesh over the entire thing and secure it really well. It’s imperative that the holes in the mesh are small and it is secured on all sides. The bees will be able to fly through the holes without problems but the birds will have no luck at eating them.

Woodpeckers love mason bee cocoons and will happily sit on the edge of the house and peck out your little bee nursery in no time at all.

Hang the house filled with empty tubes about 4′ off the ground on a tree or the side of your house in the early spring. Choose the warmest side of your house.

The bees that are already around will use these tubes to lay eggs for the next year. Also, in the early spring from your garden center you should be able to find packages of cocoons containing new bees that are not yet hatched.

Mason Bee Info and General Lifecycle

The mason bee is a solitary bee and therefore does not make wax or honey or live in a hive like our common honey bee.

• The females do most of the work 
• The males die after mating in the very early spring
• They don’t carve out their own places to lay eggs
• They use holes bored by other creatures that have since been abandoned

This is why they are so quickly attracted to the paper tubes we put out for them.

• The female spends the summer pollinating and collecting food and laying eggs
• The female destined eggs first and the male eggs last toward the front of the tube
• Then she packs the tube with mud between the two cocoons and on the outside as well.
• The males emerge first in spring and hang around close to the house until the females emerge
• They mate right away and then the males die

The female carries on with the work of the summer and laying next years eggs. The cycle repeats.

The most common carnivorous plant you’ll see around is the Venus Fly trap (Dionaea muscipula). They are readily available in many nurseries and even in some grocery stores. They’ll trap and eat anything that walks across their jaws and triggers the hairs that makes them close.

There are many other kinds of carnivorous plants available if you find a specialty higher end nursery, they will likely carry several more varieties and may even be able to order them in for you.

My favorite is the Sundew (Drosera capensis).  There are several styles and growth habits of this one but they all operate the same way by producing a sweet sticky syrup that attracts the flies and other bugs to it. They then get stuck in it and cannot escape and they are eventually digested by the plant.

How Do You Care for Carnivorous Plants?

The first thing to know is that they don’t have roots in the same fashion as normal plant. As well they don’t use what roots they have for nutrient absorption because they get their nutrients from the bugs that they eat from above. That means, do not give them any fertilizer.

Water them only with distilled water, not tap water. They are sensitive to the chemicals that are in our water supply and it will harm them. If your home has dry air then you may need to mist your Sundews every few days to keep them producing enough of their sticky syrup.

Carnivorous plants are bog plants and they like to be quite wet during the growing season. Plant them in fresh sphagnum peat moss only about an inch deep if they are small. Place them to the same depth at they were in the container you bought it in, not higher than the crown of the plant.

The only pest that’s really a concern with indoor carnivorous plants is mealy bugs, if you notice little white-almost fluffy looking things around and on your plants then you’ve got’em and it’s best to dispose of the whole plant altogether.

For the dormancy: allow the water to go down a bit in the winter and add water less frequently, the plants will be less than attractive while they are dormant but will come back to life as their life cycle goes around again.

If you buy a large pitcher plant, in the warm summer months you can put it out on your deck or any area that has a wasp or mosquito problem. They will be drawn to the scent of the plant and end up falling down inside and being consumed by the plant.

These plants can be a very unique solution to bug control in your living areas. It’s well worth the effort to learn how to care for carnivorous plants well.