Keywords: Garden calendar, Reference books

Garden Tool: New gardeners will appreciate a month by month to-do list with advice on when to divide perennials and when to plant shrubs. The New Twelve Month Gardener - a West Coast Guide (Whitecap Books, $20.00) is a few years old now, and refers to the west coast of Canada, but is still quite useful for gardeners in Western Washington. Use the monthly "Garden Highlights" to plan a garden that has interest in all seasons. Each month features a few in-depth articles on topics like flowering trees and species tulips.

Season: All Season
Date: 2007-04-03
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Keywords: Reference books, Trees--Diseases and pests, Woody plants--Diseases and pests, Integrated pest management

Garden Tool:

A reference book is available to help gardeners solve pest problems. Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs: An Integrated Pest Management Guide (University of California, $42.00) diagnoses common diseases, insects and environmental stresses with color photos and suggests appropriate solutions. This book also has a chapter on how to get your plants off to a healthy start with proper planting techniques.

The Integrated Pest Management approach tell us the most important fact to remember about plant problems is that poor growing conditions like soggy roots or bone-dry roots inevitably leads to pests and diseases. Select the right plant for the garden conditions to avoid problems later.

Season: All Season
Date: 2007-04-03
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Keywords: Agavaceae (Agave family), Cactaceae (Cactus family), Lewisia, Reference books, Sedum, Sempervivum, Succulent plants, Xeriscaping, Yucca

Garden Tool: Ready for a truly drought tolerant garden? Plant hardy cactus and succulents. The only requirement for these plants is perfect drainage. Hardy succulents can die of rot in our winter wet. Overcome that challenge by building raised beds and mixing plenty of gravel and sand into the planting hole. The book Cacti and Other Succulents by Keith Grantham and Paul Klaassen (Timber press, $34.95) reports the following plants are good candidates for growing outside: Cacti - Echinocereus triglochidiatus (hedgehog cactus), Opuntia humifusa (prickly pear cactus) and Coryphantha vivipara (pincushion cactus); Succulents - Delosperma cooperi (ice plant) and Calyptridium umbellatum (pussypaws); Old Stand-bys - Yucca, Agave paryi, Lewisia cotyledon, Sedum and Sempervivum.

Season: All Season
Date: 2007-04-03
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Keywords: Reference books, Vegetable gardening, Vegetable seedlings, Winter gardening, Brassica oleracea (Capitata group), Brassica oleracea (Acephala group), Spinacia oleracea, Lactuca

Garden Tool:

While vegetable gardeners are inundated with zucchinis and other summer produce it can be hard to imagine the winter garden. But July is the time to plant seeds for fall and winter crops of cabbage, Asian greens, collard greens, spinach and lettuce. Transplants should go in the ground in mid August. Perennial and biennial flowers can also be started from seed right now. For an excellent list of what plants to sow throughout the year check out The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide produced by Seattle Tilth. It is available for $12.50, including tax and shipping. Call 633-0451 or go online to order a copy.

Season: Summer
Date: 2007-03-05
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Keywords: Plant and garden societies, Reference books, Rosa

Garden Tool:

Rose resources:
Online:

• www.everyrose.com - the best online database with photos, sources and gardeners' comments
• www.justourpictures.com - great photos of roses
• American Rose Society

Books:
• The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book (Sagapress, 1994) -A revised edition from this late great British plantsman
• Reliable Roses by Philip Harkness (Firefly Books, 2004) - Excellent photos and organized text describe 75 good roses
• Roses for Washington and Oregon by Brad Jalbert & Laura Peters (Lone Pine, 2003) The best 144 roses for the Northwest
• Lois Hole's Rose Favorites (Lone Pine, 1997)- Has all the usual rose profiles and care information, plus lots of fun facts and lore.

In Seattle:
• The Seattle Rose Society meets at the Center for Urban Horticulture (3501 NE 41 Street) on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm (except July and Dec.)
• The Woodland Park Rose Garden, adjacent to the Zoo, is open to the public from 7 am to dusk, everyday. Admission is free.

Season: Summer
Date: 2007-04-03
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Keywords: Reference books, Organic gardening

Garden Tool:

The Rodale family of Emmaus, Pennsylvania has a 60 year history of publishing books and magazines that promote organic gardening and their encyclopedias have come to be regarded as the standards on the subject. A good example is the Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (DK Publishing, 2002 $40.00). A must-have for serious organic gardeners certainly, but the user-friendly qualities that are a trademark of DK will make it one of the first books in a beginning gardener's library as well.

Season: All Season
Date: 2007-07-12
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Keywords: Reference books, Washington State University Cooperative Extension, Horticulture--Washington

Garden Tool:

Wondering what to plant at your cabin in Cle Elum? Or perhaps something to give your cousin who's just moved to Spokane? A new series of booklets on gardening in the Inland Northwest gives a perspective not found in the many titles written by westsiders. Published by the Washington State University Cooperative Extension, separate volumes cover roses, berries, vegetables, landscape plants, perennials, fruit trees and native plants, each for $12 or less. To order, call the WSU Bulletin office at 1-800-723-1763 or order online (search "inland northwest")

Season: All Season
Date: 2007-07-12
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