Q. I have a Siam Tulip – of the Ginger Family of plants? The name of the plant on the mailing carton was con-? I looked thru my agriculture Encyclopedia under Ginger and Siam (Siamese) and the plant wasn’t there. The Encyclopedia didn’t have the mailing carton name in it. The blant “tuber” or whatever…
Category: Northwest U.S. Gardeners
Gardening questions from WA, OR, ID, MT & WY
Orchard Mason Bees
Q. We have had orchard bee blocks in place for several years now and all the holes seem to be getting filled up. Is there a time when we should clean them out or should we just hang more blocks? Seems like the nests are always still hatching or being refilled. We don’t want to…
Moss in the Lawn
Q. My husband has a problem with moss growing in our back yard 100 by 100 feet. He has used moss killer, dug up the moss, and now reseeded it. He wants to know how to prevent future moss growth. Should he use lime to sweeten the soil? There is some shade in the yard,…
Protecting Bee Populations
Q. Question: Hello again Peter, My question is, “Where’s the bees?”. My fruit trees are all in various stages of bloom. I check them daily and have yet to see a bee or any other insect working the blossoms. I use no sprays or chemicals in my yard. Are my garden labors to be “fruitless”…
Squirrel Woes
Q. Because I have very limited areas of ample sunlight in my yard, I plan to do some container (vegetable/herb) gardening this year. The concern I have is about how to keep the critters (squirrels especially) away from my young sprouts. The last time I did container gardening, those guys ate up everything. I don’t…