Green Scene

Previous Columns

• Violet blooms brighten winter - 1/29/2010

  This time of year can be trying for me. It's cold and wet outdoors, I've spent time studying seed catalogs and made lists of new things I want to try. But I need plants — real, living ones.

• Green Savings - 1/28/2010

  Retrofitting your house to save energy can be pricey, but a variety of incentives and tax credits are available in Oregon that make going green easier on your pocketbook.

  
• The days of wind and roses - 1/22/2010

  Last week's dry, warm weather had me out in the yard for the first time since leaf-raking.

• Plants in homes help clear the air - 1/15/2010

  Houseplants, especially those with colorful blossoms, can certainly brighten up a room. But along with being pleasing to the eye, houseplants are proven to have real health benefits.

• Birds thirst for water: help them - 1/8/2010

  Just before New Year's, a crowd of busy birds near an Ashland parking lot got my attention. I sat in my car, watching robins and cedar waxwings greedily diving into a half-barrel planter.

• Gardening with kids — no rules means fun - 1/1/2010

  Happy New Year from Denver, where I am visiting my daughter and her family, including my two young grandsons. They love gardening, too, so it's often a topic of conversation.

• Symbol of peace is a pest - 12/25/2009

  One of the best things about the leafless season is watching goldfinches eat the seeds from my birch catkins.

• Chilly, wet days mean maintaining your tools - 12/18/2009

  Being a cockeyed optimist, one reason I didn't mind the recent cold weather is because it probably killed off lots of slugs, slug eggs, earwigs and other insect pests. I hope.

• Cold snap will help and hurt - 12/11/2009

  By the time you're reading this, the deep cold snap probably will have passed. The fragile garden containers will have cracked; the hoses or pipes burst and plants expired.

• Tools fit nicely under the tree - 12/4/2009

  Does part of you dread the upcoming holidays because you never know what to get for grandpa or mom or your good friend and neighbor? If the person on your list is a gardener, here are a few ideas...

• Count your blessings, share them with others - 11/27/2009

  If any day could lay claim to being a gardener's holiday, it would be Thanksgiving.

• Soil additives play big role in gardening - 11/20/2009

  While teaching a gardening class recently, it came to my attention that many people are confused about the kinds of soil texturizers and their functions.

• Gardening conference shows shift in lifestyles - 11/13/2009

  Threats of rain and scudding clouds accompanied attendees to the Master Gardener's Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens conference last Saturday, held for the first time in Medford's new RCC/SOU Higher...

• Grow your greens all winter long - 11/6/2009

  Eating fresh greens from the garden all summer and fall has spoiled me. I'm not willing to settle for buying those bland, expensive greens from the supermarket all winter.

• October's roses gave a big blast of fall color - 10/30/2009

  It's been interesting to admire the advancing fall colors while roses have been in such admirable display.

• Lasagna in the garden - 10/23/2009

  Lasagna on the dinner menu, yes! But lasagna in the garden? That, too, will be a "yes," I believe, as you learn more about it.

• Plant the garden of your memories - 10/16/2009

  I'm readying for a trip to my childhood home on the East Coast and have gotten pretty excited about seeing fall in Pennsylvania.

• Fall work in garden pays off in spring - 10/9/2009

  We often are tired of gardening by October. All that weeding, watering, picking and perhaps preserving has made us feel like saying, "Enough already — I'm done!"

• Colorful lessons on trees - 10/2/2009

  As autumn becomes official, my thoughts automatically turn to the colorful foliage displays I remember from my childhood.

• Pink Goes Green - 9/25/2009

  Home insulation, which has always been pink, is getting "green" now, meaning it's becoming indoor air-friendly, using more recycled materials and is demonstrating environmental responsibility at the...