Month: October 2016

Erin Benzakein, founder of Floret, is one of the original farmer-florists. On her farm in Washington's Skagit Valley, she and her family have created a thriving flower farm, design studio and learning center. Her workshops are soldout affairs, created for those who want to learn more about small scale, high intensity flower production and floral design. We asked Erin…

In one of the classes I took at the NY Botanical Garden I learned about the container gardening concept of "Thriller, Filler, Spiller". When you're selecting plants for your container, the Thriller is the central plant that grows taller than the others and is the focal point. The Filler is the plant or plants that surround the Thriller, and the Spiller is the plant that spills over the edges of your container. I followed this concept with the container I…

Hypertufa containers offer the perfect environment for succulents and alpine plants. They're porous and provide a good vessel for the arid, fast draining soil required by these types of plants. They also have an unmistakable charm if you're a pushover for anything made of stone or resembling stone! What is hypertufa? Hypertufa is a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock. Hypertufa is a man-made rock composed of various…

When Rebecca asked me for advice on protecting her potted plants over the winter, I had a few suggestions as follows: Huddle the pots together in a protected spot next to the house and bury them in shredded leaves or surround them with hay bales.…