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10 Things To Do This Weekend 05/11

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Horoscopes for Wednesday, May 16, 2012 05/16

LIVING COLUMNS

Busy Mama

For all the many, many, things you do: Thanks, Mom 05/12

Get Fit

Cycling clubs offer options for newbies, veterans 04/29

Marianne Binetti On Gardening

Marianne Binetti: Hearty plants can take the chill 05/11

Health Matters

Add some green to your spring clean 05/06

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Living Editor

Dusti Demarest
253-274-7380
ddemarest@theolympian.com

Create your own ‘Occupy Spring’

It’s the second week of November and there still is time to dig up and divide overcrowded daylilies, hosta and iris. You also should cut back yellow foliage of lilies and peonies. In the vegetable garden, leave carrots, cabbage and Brussels sprouts in the ground where cold weather will add a sweetness to the flavor. Keep checking on green tomatoes stored indoors. Toss out any that begin to rot before the danger spreads.
Challenging climate doesn’t mean boring plantings

The end of June is when you can finally issue a death certificate to winter-weary roses, perennials and trees and shrubs. If anything still looks lifeless this month, off with their heads or out with their roots, and get ready with a beautiful replacement. Life is too short to put up with ugly plants. In our cool summer climate you can add trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals all summer long.
Begin phase two of flowering, gardening

The end of June is time for phase two in the garden. The first phase of color from spring bulbs and early perennials is over.
Time for fertilizing and pinching back

The third week of June is when growth surges on bedding plants and perennials, so fertilizing now will give you and your plants almost instant gratification. Heavy feeders such as roses, petunias, geraniums and impatiens will branch out and bloom almost immediately after you fertilize. This is also a good time to pinch back leggy plants to encourage more compact growth. You can nip off the top one-third of plants such as chrysanthemums, sedum Autumn Joy, phlox and snapdragons now and you’ll enjoy more numerous blooms later in the season.
Time is right for some sun-loving plants

Meet Marianne
For some, this cold, wet spring is nothing to joke about

It’s official. This is the coldest spring on record and I have learned my lesson. In an earlier column I pointed out the advantages of this cold, wet spring – less weed seeds, daffodils last longer, gardening in the rain is great for your skin – but judging from your emails and comments on Facebook, most gardeners were not amused by my Pollyanna attitude. I now know that so many gardeners lost hebes, flax, jasmines and other favorite garden treasures that they may still need time to grumble and grieve. But at least we all have plenty of dead plant material for the compost pile – and who doesn’t need more compost?
Best kids' spaces grow with them, foster learning, play

Keeping up with our children's growing stages is a challenge, to be sure. As they move into the years of school and music lessons, sports practices and socializing, the bedroom and playroom will require a few adjustments to manage the work and play flow. The years between toys and teens are packed with so much learning on so many levels that it's worthwhile to take advantage of any space you have in your home to foster this growth.
Dark hue has crisp look that is both sporty and formal

Blue is back.
A patio makeover can be a one-weekend wonder

We've got the cure for winter's lingering wrath: a weekend porch makeover.
Wait till after Mother's Day to plant annuals

Once upon a time the first week of May was when gardeners in Western Washington would plant out geraniums, tomatoes, squash, marigolds and all the other warm season flowers and vegetables. That story would no longer have a happy ending.