Proceeds benefit the wildlife center's construction of a new permanent home for Buddy, a "teaching eagle" that cannot live in the wild. Some proceeds will also go to the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Calendars, $20, can be purchased at www.wildlifecenter.org or by phone at 540-942-9453.
" cents Feathered friends. If songbirds are your passion, there are lots of calendars to choose from. The best two include the Celebrate Urban Birds with photos and artwork on themes such as survival, courtship, eggs, creating habitat, creative/ funky nests, feeding, spooky birds, cool birds and how you can help birds. Purchase the $15 calendar at www.birds.cornell.edu or call
607-254-2123.
The Audubon Society's birding calendar celebrates its 10th year, showcasing beauties such as a marsh wren clinging to a reed and a pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds hovering for a meal. It's $12.99 at www.workman.com.
" cents Blooms to enjoy. Rose enthusiasts can enjoy blossoms year-round with the American Rose Society's calendar, which offers rose gardening tips along with photography of the prettiest posies. The wall calendar is $14.99, the desk diary $39.99. Order at www.lulu.com/americanrosesociety.
" cents Get your seeds ready. Gardening season is just around the corner - remember, you start seeds indoors in late February and early March - and Burpee's calendar is there to remind you.
Its vintage catalog art takes you back to early garden Americana with hand-drawn and hand-colored tomatoes, vines and sweet peas. The 12-inch-square calendar is $9.99 at www.burpee.com or 800-333-5808.
" cents Celestial happenings. Last, but not least, the Gardening by the Moon calendar promises to help you extend your gardening season and get more out of the edibles you grow. The best days for planting by the phase and the signs of the moon and garden activities for each month are among its pages.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Do your gardening by the year
Laura Taylor has grown tomatoes and other edibles for 15 seasons.
"As my passion grew I learned that so many other people were interested in growing, and I began offering tomato growing classes, here in my yard," she says. "I now offer both growing classes and cooking classes, many of which are specific to tomato recipes."
The calendar features tips and color-coded information for eight growing regions and recipes, including chicken stew with tomatoes.
The $20 calendar can be purchased at www.LauraTayloratHome.com or 818-716-7130.
Laura's tomato calendar is just one of several gardening and nature-related calendars that will brighten your spirits during the coming year.
" cents Did you know? The Old Farmer's Almanac's 2011 calendar offers advice, folklore and gardening secrets that entertain as well as enlighten you. For instance, did you know there are 75 different species of snowdrops, all white, that bloom in early spring? Or, that the slime secreted through an earthworm's skin helps hold clusters of soil particles together?
Makes for interesting conversation at any garden parties you attend next year. It's $8.99 at gardening, hardware and book stores or online at www.Almanac.com/store where you will also find a weather-watchers calendar.
" cents Wildly wonderful. The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, Va., has created a stunning calendar titled "The Gardens of Eagles" in tribute to the nesting pair at Norfolk Botanical Garden in southeastern Virginia. Annually, the botanical garden operates a live cam that allows you to watch what happens in the nest from the time the first egg is laid until the eaglets fledge the nest. The wall calendar features 18 large color photographs and more than 35 smaller, full-color eagle photographs, as well as highlights from the 2010 nesting season.
"As my passion grew I learned that so many other people were interested in growing, and I began offering tomato growing classes, here in my yard," she says. "I now offer both growing classes and cooking classes, many of which are specific to tomato recipes."
The calendar features tips and color-coded information for eight growing regions and recipes, including chicken stew with tomatoes.
The $20 calendar can be purchased at www.LauraTayloratHome.com or 818-716-7130.
Laura's tomato calendar is just one of several gardening and nature-related calendars that will brighten your spirits during the coming year.
" cents Did you know? The Old Farmer's Almanac's 2011 calendar offers advice, folklore and gardening secrets that entertain as well as enlighten you. For instance, did you know there are 75 different species of snowdrops, all white, that bloom in early spring? Or, that the slime secreted through an earthworm's skin helps hold clusters of soil particles together?
Makes for interesting conversation at any garden parties you attend next year. It's $8.99 at gardening, hardware and book stores or online at www.Almanac.com/store where you will also find a weather-watchers calendar.
" cents Wildly wonderful. The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, Va., has created a stunning calendar titled "The Gardens of Eagles" in tribute to the nesting pair at Norfolk Botanical Garden in southeastern Virginia. Annually, the botanical garden operates a live cam that allows you to watch what happens in the nest from the time the first egg is laid until the eaglets fledge the nest. The wall calendar features 18 large color photographs and more than 35 smaller, full-color eagle photographs, as well as highlights from the 2010 nesting season.
Home Improvement Tips
An association committee designed the bath and kitchen displays, Off said. And besides the model exhibits, visitors can see large display boards showing prize-winning, real-life kitchen and bath designs.
It will surely be enough to stimulate ideas and lengthen the wish list for your home.
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694 debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
The chance to soak up gardening and home improvement tips from the pros is one of the big draws to the annual Tacoma Home & Garden Show.
This year, several dozen speakers will share their know-how over the course of the five-day fair.
The Home Depot Showcase, for instance, will include demonstrations of new tools and product installations, along with clinics on laying pavers, installing veneer and stone, using Dremel tools, and other home improvement topics.
Check the home show website, www.otshows.com, for days and times the following speakers will appear:
--Marianne Binetti, News Tribune gardening columnist and an author and speaker whose gardening columns appear in numerous other publications, will explain how to have four seasons of color in home landscapes and landscaping with fruits, herbs and veggies.
--Ciscoe Morris, popular gardening expert featured on KING-5 TV, Northwest Cable News, KIRO FM Radio , the Seattle Times and other media outlets, will talk about pruning trees, plants that attract hummingbirds, and answer audience questions.
--Lorene Edwards Forkner, a gardening writer and speaker, will talk about fruits and vegetables that grow well in the Pacific Northwest.
--Marty Wingate, a nationally known gardening speaker and writer, will discuss variegated plants and choosing the right ground cover to provide carpets of color and texture while staving off weeds.
--Ed Hume, an icon of Northwest gardening, will show how to mix and match plants to their specific needs and solve vegetable problems before they happen.
--Jim Ullrich, president of Wild Birds Unlimited, will reveal how to attract Mason Bees to gardens to help pollinate trees, berries and shrubs.
--Bill Sweatman, a custom-home general contractor, will talk about selecting a contractor, working up plans, and executing a high-quality home makeover.
It will surely be enough to stimulate ideas and lengthen the wish list for your home.
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694 debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
The chance to soak up gardening and home improvement tips from the pros is one of the big draws to the annual Tacoma Home & Garden Show.
This year, several dozen speakers will share their know-how over the course of the five-day fair.
The Home Depot Showcase, for instance, will include demonstrations of new tools and product installations, along with clinics on laying pavers, installing veneer and stone, using Dremel tools, and other home improvement topics.
Check the home show website, www.otshows.com, for days and times the following speakers will appear:
--Marianne Binetti, News Tribune gardening columnist and an author and speaker whose gardening columns appear in numerous other publications, will explain how to have four seasons of color in home landscapes and landscaping with fruits, herbs and veggies.
--Ciscoe Morris, popular gardening expert featured on KING-5 TV, Northwest Cable News, KIRO FM Radio , the Seattle Times and other media outlets, will talk about pruning trees, plants that attract hummingbirds, and answer audience questions.
--Lorene Edwards Forkner, a gardening writer and speaker, will talk about fruits and vegetables that grow well in the Pacific Northwest.
--Marty Wingate, a nationally known gardening speaker and writer, will discuss variegated plants and choosing the right ground cover to provide carpets of color and texture while staving off weeds.
--Ed Hume, an icon of Northwest gardening, will show how to mix and match plants to their specific needs and solve vegetable problems before they happen.
--Jim Ullrich, president of Wild Birds Unlimited, will reveal how to attract Mason Bees to gardens to help pollinate trees, berries and shrubs.
--Bill Sweatman, a custom-home general contractor, will talk about selecting a contractor, working up plans, and executing a high-quality home makeover.
Old stuff gets a new purpose Show includes speakers on home improvement, gardening
Sometimes, the newest trends derive from the oldest ideas and, sometimes, from old furniture.
Visitors to the Tacoma Home & Garden Show, which opens today, can see how designers have repurposed used furniture and construction materials into chic cabinets and appliance coverings in a display by the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association.
In the "Old Meets New" model kitchen, a worn table is retrofitted into a sink top. A top-of-the-line refrigerator is disguised in furniture-like pieces to resemble a hutch.
They're design options for homeowners "looking for something that makes their room interesting and different, and not just filling the wall with cabinets. ... They also want it to be functional at the same time,"said Shiela Off, a certified master kitchen and bath designer from Signature Woodworks in Gig Harbor and Tacoma.
Yet the "old" pieces in the display coordinate with traditional French white cabinetry and quartz countertops. A slate-stained island, topped in granite, with a raised walnut breakfast bar, provides more counterspace and elegance.
"The trend is to mix different materials," said Off, chairwoman of the kitchen and bath association showcase. "When you put it all together, it blends, and the colors complement one another."
The Puget Sound bath and kitchen group is among hundreds of home and garden exhibitors expected to fill two main areas in the Tacoma Dome today through Sunday.
The show includes display gardens, demonstrations, product sales and how-to seminars. Among the highlights:
--The American Cancer Society Garden Center incorporates five pocket gardens spotlighting the different colors of cancer awareness, each represented by flowers.
--Bob King, world champion chain-saw carver, transforms a small log into wildlife art during each of his demonstrations.
--The Windmill Gardens Plant & Pottery Event features thousands of plants and wares for sale. Each day, the first 150 home and garden show attendees will get a $20 gift card to the Sumner garden shop.
--Adair Homes is building an energy-efficient cottage home at the show and will give it away to a showgoer.
--Olympic Landscape presents an Asian-influenced "Harmony" garden with an arched bridge over a stream.
The "Old Meets New" kitchen is just one section of the kitchen and bath association's showcase. The display also features a master suite bathroom and an outdoor kitchen outfitted in stainless steel cabinets and appliances.
The contemporary bathroom includes a couple of must-see features: A pedestal tub that's evolved from the old-fashioned clawfoot-style freestanding tub into a sleek design whose entire base rests on the floor. A square, one-piece vitreous china double sink and counter top an espresso-colored vanity, accented with brushed nickel faucets.
Visitors to the Tacoma Home & Garden Show, which opens today, can see how designers have repurposed used furniture and construction materials into chic cabinets and appliance coverings in a display by the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association.
In the "Old Meets New" model kitchen, a worn table is retrofitted into a sink top. A top-of-the-line refrigerator is disguised in furniture-like pieces to resemble a hutch.
They're design options for homeowners "looking for something that makes their room interesting and different, and not just filling the wall with cabinets. ... They also want it to be functional at the same time,"said Shiela Off, a certified master kitchen and bath designer from Signature Woodworks in Gig Harbor and Tacoma.
Yet the "old" pieces in the display coordinate with traditional French white cabinetry and quartz countertops. A slate-stained island, topped in granite, with a raised walnut breakfast bar, provides more counterspace and elegance.
"The trend is to mix different materials," said Off, chairwoman of the kitchen and bath association showcase. "When you put it all together, it blends, and the colors complement one another."
The Puget Sound bath and kitchen group is among hundreds of home and garden exhibitors expected to fill two main areas in the Tacoma Dome today through Sunday.
The show includes display gardens, demonstrations, product sales and how-to seminars. Among the highlights:
--The American Cancer Society Garden Center incorporates five pocket gardens spotlighting the different colors of cancer awareness, each represented by flowers.
--Bob King, world champion chain-saw carver, transforms a small log into wildlife art during each of his demonstrations.
--The Windmill Gardens Plant & Pottery Event features thousands of plants and wares for sale. Each day, the first 150 home and garden show attendees will get a $20 gift card to the Sumner garden shop.
--Adair Homes is building an energy-efficient cottage home at the show and will give it away to a showgoer.
--Olympic Landscape presents an Asian-influenced "Harmony" garden with an arched bridge over a stream.
The "Old Meets New" kitchen is just one section of the kitchen and bath association's showcase. The display also features a master suite bathroom and an outdoor kitchen outfitted in stainless steel cabinets and appliances.
The contemporary bathroom includes a couple of must-see features: A pedestal tub that's evolved from the old-fashioned clawfoot-style freestanding tub into a sleek design whose entire base rests on the floor. A square, one-piece vitreous china double sink and counter top an espresso-colored vanity, accented with brushed nickel faucets.
Bunch Helleborus
All these cane fruits, apart from autumn-fruiting raspberries (pictured), will need support for their fruiting canes, which can be done with posts at either end of the row and a minimum of three horizontal wires attached to the posts at even intervals.
If you are using a wall or fence for blackberries (raspberries prefer to be in the open), attach the wires to vine eyes screwed into the wall. Bare-rooted raspberries should be planted about 45cm (18in) apart while blackberries and hybrid berries need more space, so should be planted at least 1.5m (5ft) apart, or more.
Prune newly planted canes to around 22cm (9in) from the ground, to encourage the production of strong canes from the base of the plant. Tie them to the wire as they grow through the season but don't harvest them this year and remove flowers if there are a lot of them, which will encourage a better crop next season.
. Continue chitting seed potatoes.
. Prune late summer shrubs including buddleia, caryopteris and ceratostigma.. Send your mower to be serviced before the spring rush.
. Top-dress permanent plantings with fresh compost, scraping away about 2.5cm (1in) of old compost from the surface.
. Keep the garden relatively free of debris under which winter pests can hide.
. Begin to feed plants in established borders using a controlled-release slow-acting fertiliser, avoiding splashing it on new foliage.
. Spray nectarine and peach trees to prevent or eradicate peach leaf curl disease.
. Test the soil temperature using a thermometer but don't sow anything outdoors until the soil has remained above 7C (45F) for a week.. Check that wall-trained fruit trees and bushes are well supported before the new season's growth makes fresh demands on them.. Prune winter jasmine after flowering, shortening long old shoots to encourage new growth.. Continue planting bare-rooted trees and shrubs while they are still dormant.
. Bring pot-grown strawberry plants into the greenhouse to encourage early flowering and fruiting.. Keep sacking or old carpet handy to cover and insulate cold frames during very cold spells.. In the kitchen garden, continue clearing the ground, digging it over and adding garden compost.. Lift and divide overgrown flowering perennials.
Best of the Bunch Helleborus WINTER can bring out the worst in the garden, especially in the shady spots where it all looks dull and dreary, unless you have some hellebores, upright evergreen flowering perennials whose subtle, nodding blooms bring a welcome interest to an otherwise gloomy outlook.
From mid-winter to spring, H. orientalis, the Lenten rose, bears white or creamy green flowers that flush pink with age, while its leathery, deep green leaves persist throughout the year.
It's ideally placed near the front of the shrub border as it only grows to around 45cm (18in) tall and wide and if you're not careful it can be drowned under other more showy plants.
The leaves provide good ground cover and flowers will last well in water. I personally like the white variety H. niger, the Christmas rose (pictured), which flowers between January and March.
Dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter before planting, but be warned they won't thrive in waterlogged soil. They will grow in either sun or shade and like lime or chalk.
Interplant hellebores with spring-flowering bulbs or hardy cyclamen, or team them with epimediums and hardy geraniums in a border.
3waysto...
Lookafter yourroses 1 Prune most varieties each year in late winter, although shrub and ground cover types can be left for two or three seasons before needing to be cut back.
2 Feed them generously in early spring before growth starts and again after the first flush of flowers in early summer.
3 Remove suckers, shoots which appear alongside your original rose bush but whose leaves are different and whose shoots appear from the roots. Don't cut them with secateurs. Instead, pull the sucker, while wearing tough gloves, from its point of origin, scraping the soil away to see where it comes from and grip low down.
If you are using a wall or fence for blackberries (raspberries prefer to be in the open), attach the wires to vine eyes screwed into the wall. Bare-rooted raspberries should be planted about 45cm (18in) apart while blackberries and hybrid berries need more space, so should be planted at least 1.5m (5ft) apart, or more.
Prune newly planted canes to around 22cm (9in) from the ground, to encourage the production of strong canes from the base of the plant. Tie them to the wire as they grow through the season but don't harvest them this year and remove flowers if there are a lot of them, which will encourage a better crop next season.
. Continue chitting seed potatoes.
. Prune late summer shrubs including buddleia, caryopteris and ceratostigma.. Send your mower to be serviced before the spring rush.
. Top-dress permanent plantings with fresh compost, scraping away about 2.5cm (1in) of old compost from the surface.
. Keep the garden relatively free of debris under which winter pests can hide.
. Begin to feed plants in established borders using a controlled-release slow-acting fertiliser, avoiding splashing it on new foliage.
. Spray nectarine and peach trees to prevent or eradicate peach leaf curl disease.
. Test the soil temperature using a thermometer but don't sow anything outdoors until the soil has remained above 7C (45F) for a week.. Check that wall-trained fruit trees and bushes are well supported before the new season's growth makes fresh demands on them.. Prune winter jasmine after flowering, shortening long old shoots to encourage new growth.. Continue planting bare-rooted trees and shrubs while they are still dormant.
. Bring pot-grown strawberry plants into the greenhouse to encourage early flowering and fruiting.. Keep sacking or old carpet handy to cover and insulate cold frames during very cold spells.. In the kitchen garden, continue clearing the ground, digging it over and adding garden compost.. Lift and divide overgrown flowering perennials.
Best of the Bunch Helleborus WINTER can bring out the worst in the garden, especially in the shady spots where it all looks dull and dreary, unless you have some hellebores, upright evergreen flowering perennials whose subtle, nodding blooms bring a welcome interest to an otherwise gloomy outlook.
From mid-winter to spring, H. orientalis, the Lenten rose, bears white or creamy green flowers that flush pink with age, while its leathery, deep green leaves persist throughout the year.
It's ideally placed near the front of the shrub border as it only grows to around 45cm (18in) tall and wide and if you're not careful it can be drowned under other more showy plants.
The leaves provide good ground cover and flowers will last well in water. I personally like the white variety H. niger, the Christmas rose (pictured), which flowers between January and March.
Dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter before planting, but be warned they won't thrive in waterlogged soil. They will grow in either sun or shade and like lime or chalk.
Interplant hellebores with spring-flowering bulbs or hardy cyclamen, or team them with epimediums and hardy geraniums in a border.
3waysto...
Lookafter yourroses 1 Prune most varieties each year in late winter, although shrub and ground cover types can be left for two or three seasons before needing to be cut back.
2 Feed them generously in early spring before growth starts and again after the first flush of flowers in early summer.
3 Remove suckers, shoots which appear alongside your original rose bush but whose leaves are different and whose shoots appear from the roots. Don't cut them with secateurs. Instead, pull the sucker, while wearing tough gloves, from its point of origin, scraping the soil away to see where it comes from and grip low down.
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