By Erica Browne Grivas Used in stop signs and fire engines, red is a surefire attention grabber, and no less in the garden. Second on the spectrum only to yellow in visibility to human eyes, it is a power that requires careful handling. It’s easy to fall for reds at the nursery or in a catalog picture – but the main thing to notice in choosing your reds is to be aware of undertones: does it fall closer to blue or orange on the spectrum? If you’re unsure, a color wheel can be helpful. Or if you’re shopping, try bringing another red plant…
Posts Tagged ‘gardening’
Green Lake’s Streetwise Gardener: Over on the west side
By Erica Browne Grivas Chez Streetwise is moving from the west side of the lake to the east, giving a whole new window onto Green Lake gardening. Some notes: The oriental poppies have been in their glory for almost a month now. They are perennial, have bigger flowers, fuzzy stalks and often black blotches in the center. Be gentle transplanting them – I hear they resent it. Here is a traffic-stopping display at the corner of N 56th St and 1st Ave NE: This is an annual poppy at our new place, an Iceland poppy, I think, growing lustily along in…
Seattle Tilth’s 2011 Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour includes stops in Green Lake
Seattle Tilth’s Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour returns this year with two stops in the Green Lake neighborhood. The self-guided tour of backyard animals and gardens will be held on Saturday, July 9, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. There are fifty urban and suburban sites on the tour. A wide variety of animals and agricultural practices are featured, including ducks, mini dairy goats, honey bees, geese, a cow, a horse, and a couple sheep with (hopefully) new born lambs. The territory ranges from Edmonds to Renton, with sites in Issaquah and Duvall, and everywhere in between, including two…
Green Lake Windermere to spend a day of community service developing Bagley’s outdoor classroom
This Friday (June 15, 2011), the staff of the Green Lake Windermere office will take the day off and participate in a day of community service. Participants will be lending a hand with the development of Daniel Bagley Elementary‘s outdoor classroom and learning garden (7821 Stone Ave N). The project, which is a continuation of the work done by Windermere last year, includes the construction of a shed and benches. “Windermere’s Community Service Day started in 1984 with my dad, John Jacobi, a handful of agents, and a run-down chain-link fence at an elementary school that needed some TLC,” said company…
From a bench grows a garden: A tribute to Josefa Diaz Barrazona at Green Lake Park
By Erica Browne Grivas Have you ever wondered who is responsible for the crescent-shaped mini-oasis in the shadow of Aurora Ave N along the west Green Lake path near the crosswalk at N 68th St? We found a crew of four taking advantage of Saturday’s dry moments to get in some maintenance time. The garden, which is called the “Crosswalk Rockery,” started with the bench. Three family members of Josefa Diaz Barrazona bought the memorial bench for $500 in 2000 from Seattle Parks and Recreation, but decided to go all out with the garden, promising to maintain it themselves. Barrazona, who lived…
