The Ugly Duckling – 1 Year Later

Do you remember just how bad it was? The 'warehouse with ample parking meets multiple personality disorder'  house we bought last August?? This blog post(opens in new tab) will refresh your memory, and while a year is a mere blink of an eye in garden terms, there has been significant progress in the front garden…

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Front Garden Assessment

As my regular readers will know, we have just left our 5-acre garden of 16 years and moved into what can best be described as "the ugliest house in Duvall". The garden isn't a whole lot better being a blend of dead grass, dead bamboo (mercifully container in a planter), every self-seeding annual you can…

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New Deer-Resistant Shrub to Grow: El Nino Desert Orchid

Back of the border, flowering shrubs are a welcome addition to any garden but those that are also deer-resistant are a cause for celebration. In the past I've looked to Carolina allspice (Calycanthus) to fill this role, especially the variety Aphrodite, although I have been told that while they have proven reliably deer resistant in…

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Deer-Resistant Edibles (usually)

I had an email this week from a lady who had purchased the plans for my Critter-Resistant Vegetable Garden, but realized that it wouldn't be installed in time to protect this seasons fruit and vegetables. That got me thinking as like some other gardeners, I have incorporated a few deer-resistant edibles such as rhubarb into…

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Early Spring Favorites for Hummingbirds (that deer & rabbits ignore)

When selecting flowers to attract hummingbirds to your garden, it's easy to focus on summer blooms such as fuchsia and salvia, yet there are so many early spring perennials and shrubs that can entice them. What's more, this list of my personal favorites is also drought tolerant (once established), deer-resistant and even rabbit-resistant! Even if…

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