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Welcome to the pea family, commonly called the legume family, or as horticulturalist Catherine Kleier would say, the fabulous Fabaceae family! I’d be willing to bet that everyone reading this … Read moreGardening Etcetera: The fabulous Fabaceae family

Bees are humming, birds are chirping and hummingbird feeders decorate eaves all over Flagstaff. Signs of spring abound, and for all you gardeners, it’s time to plant! Now that snowfalls have c… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Flagstaff Plant Sale and Garden Festival

Moving to Flagstaff more than 20 years ago, I was initially too intimidated by stories of high elevation conditions to try vegetable gardening. My first foray here was with a few kitchen herbs… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Growing herbs is a tasty introduction to gardening

I like cats. When we were growing up, my brother Greg and I liked cats so much that we bought a pure-bred Siamese kitten, wrapped it in a cardboard box, put a lovely bow on top, and gave it to… Read moreGardening Etcetera: The predator-prey relationship between cats and native birds

At the time my husband, Hugh, and I planted our first vegetable gardens in northern Arizona, we intentionally designed both of them to be in full sun â€� I had assumed living in a cold climate m… Read moreGardening Etcetera: A dappled shade vegetable garden

As a member of Arbor Day Foundation, I learned in their October 2022 newsletter that over the 150-year history of Arbor Day and the 50-year history of the Foundation, they have planted and dis… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Arbor Day is April 25 -- why we should celebrate

Last week I wrote on plunger pollination and other strategies plants employ to achieve out-crossing, which mixes genes of two parent plants, resulting in hereditary advantages. While researchi… Read moreGardening Etcetera: More astounding pollination collaborations

After receiving less than 10 inches of snow for the entire winter period of December through February, it was such a blessing to have larger snow storms the first few weeks of March. Unfortuna… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Firewise gardening in northern Arizona

For years I felt envy when visiting the greenhouse at Colton Garden or when seeing beautiful greenhouses marketed online. Some of these were too expensive for my budget. Others did not appear … Read moreGardening Etcetera: Harvest the benefits of a home greenhouse space

“Planting the seed -- let’s talk microgreensâ€� is the slogan at High Country Microgreens. Sherry and Robert Church are the owners, and they have been operating since 2023. Their mission is to i… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Do you know about microgreens?

365betÌåÓýÔÚÏßÊÀ½ç±­ we’ll discuss foundation planting, which is defined by Miriam Webster’s Dictionary as “a group of plants used in landscape design to blend a building with its setting and obscure any und… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Setting a course for foundation planting

As an avid gardener, winter is a time of planning. With a cup of tea in hand, I am combing through seed catalogs looking for my old favorites or new varieties I want to try in my garden this y… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Resources for local garden planning

Planting in raised beds is popular because the container is basically a large box supported by four legs or sits on the ground. Filled with light-weight planting mix, there is no need to conte… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Considerations when planting roses in raised beds

Many of us are impatient to get out into the garden and start growing. But we have at least a few weeks before the growing season begins, especially in our colder microclimates. Here are some … Read moreGardening Etcetera: Seven ways to garden before gardening begins

During snowless winters like we are having this year, I relish the evergreen plants in my garden as they add a touch of green to an otherwise brown landscape. When I worked as a landscape desi… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Designing for winter interest

What do you think of when you hear the word “sparrow?â€� If someone had asked me this as a child, I would have said it’s a plump bird having a streaky brown and black back, with the male showing… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Speaking about the species of sparrows

An old '70s song goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.â€� This was certainly the case for our old Labrador Retriever, Strider, when we relocated from the lushly irrigated suburbs… Read moreGardening Etcetera: So you need a shade tree, ASAP?

Once again volunteers have been busily harvesting and packing local wildflower seeds for you, the residents of Coconino County, to beautify your landscapes. And, since wildflowers are best sow… Read moreGardening Etcetera: A wildflower seed extravaganza in 2025

Note from Cindy Murray: According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, there is an approximately 59% chance that the globe will experience a weak and short-lived La Nina by the … Read moreGardening Etcetera: Winter watering in northern Arizona

My name is Ashley, and although I garden here in the Flagstaff region, most of my gardening experiences are rooted in Pennsylvania. There, I watched my grandfather, Joseph Szafran, tend to a r… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Develop roots with the Master Gardener program

After a long-delayed start, I recently finished one of my favorite annual tasks: preparing my vegetable garden beds for winter. In fall or early winter, I slowly tackle each portion of our rai… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Putting the garden to bed...after a good meal

As I strolled by the floral department of the grocery store this morning, I was captivated by the sheer beauty of the poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima), which conjured up pleasant memories o… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Poinsettias herald the holiday season

Before peat moss, often called Sphagnum moss, entered the horticultural scene in the 1960s, commercial growers and homeowners would formulate their own media for plant propagation. This proces… Read moreGardening Etcetera: For the love of peat, find an alternative

As an organic gardener, I love this time of year, as everywhere I look I see the makings of compost! The vegetable garden is finishing, the leaves are falling, the final lawn mowing is occurri… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Composting 101

Planning to embark on some high-altitude gardening and landscaping projects come growing season? If so, you may benefit by becoming familiar with a few key terms. Read moreGardening Etcetera: A few key terms for growing season

Oh, how I treasure this time of year! We’ve harvested our vegetables and our flowers are spent. The warm-weather weeds are gone, and the cold-weather weeds have not yet germinated. Now is the … Read moreGardening Etcetera: Random nature musings in a quiet time

It’s painful to think how insipid, even dreary, our lives would be if Northern Arizona had no trees. Obviously without pines, aspens and junipers, the area would be much less scenic; forest-dw… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Trees enrich our lives; let's return the favor

Autumn is without a doubt my favorite season, although that hasn’t always been the case. As a kid, I loved summer the most, when school was out and I could play all day. (Maybe that’s true for… Read moreGardening Etcetera: The magnificence of autumn

I love this time of year, seeing all the Halloween decorations made up of squashes, gourds and jack-oâ€�-lanterns. Botanically, it makes me think of the cucurbit or gourd plant family formally c… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Species of squash in spooky season

As autumn gives us shorter days and cooler nights, we often start seeing some creatures we either don’t notice, or that we ignore the rest of the year. I’m speaking here of skunks, raccoons, a… Read moreGardening Etcetera: Understanding your fall visitors