Pat Munts

What does the term “organic gardening” really mean? It’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot.

For many of us who are serious gardeners, gardening is a lifetime passion.

Native plants have become a big part of our gardening in the last decade and for good reason. Native plants provide habitat for insects, birds and other wildlife as well as reduce the amount of work and water needed to keep a garden looking good. However, information on how to identify them and then grow them well can be a little hard to find.

Later today many of us will sit down to a hardy meal of traditional Thanksgiving foods like turkey, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts and green bean casserole.

Fall is winding down. Most of the leaves and needles have been picked up and the gardens cleaned out. I say most because last month’s hard freezes froze the leaves on some trees, leaving them to hang on the trees longer than normal. This won’t be too much of a concern unless we get a snowstorm before they are down. So, what can we still do while the weather is halfway decent for now?

Like many of you, I allow my houseplants to spend the warm summer on our deck. My collection includes a large jade plant, three equally large Christmas cacti and a real Southwestern desert cactus; all with family histories. While they were outside, they got plenty of light, water and air. Now that they are back inside, it’s a different story.

I’m not sure what to say about the weather we’ve been having or what November will turn out to be.

So I went to the dentist last week for a checkup.

The numbers were stunning. Nearly 2.9 million songbirds have disappeared from North America’s forests and grasslands since 1970. About 90% of those losses are coming from just 12 families of birds we all know well including sparrows, blackbirds, warblers and finches. The study was done by a consortium of bird researchers including the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and was published online in Science Magazine this past September.

Don’t be a hero by trying to remove large or precariously balanced trees by yourself. Hire a reputable arborist even if it means waiting in line for them to get to you.

A good garden always has heart and a good story or two behind it. They can be world-famous estates designed by landscape architects or simple backyards with great stories. But they all have the heart of the gardener in them somewhere.

Early fall is a great time to pick up nursery bargains and transplant perennials and trees to give them a head start on spring.

By the time you read this the daytime temperatures will be headed into the 50s and the night into the mid- to low 30s. It’s time to pull out the tomato and pepper protection and begin fall garden chores.

We all know her as the Tomato Lady who sells tomato starts at Garden Expo each spring. She is also a master at growing peppers.

It’s Dan Loibl’s favorite time of year. His Spokane Valley garden is ablaze with the reds, yellows, pinks, purple and whites of his 100 or so dahlias that are finally blooming.

Building gardens is always an adventure.

There’s a quarter-acre garden bursting with ripening crops. But it’s not where you’d expect. It’s out on the West Plains, where the wind blows hard, the soil is rocky and unforgiving, and the rock chucks devour anything not fenced off. It’s also behind the razor wire of the Geiger Corrections Center.

Bobette Tuchek’s shady patio on Spokane’s South Hill is perfect for a beautiful bunch of hanging begonias. The soft light that comes through the translucent panels overhead highlight the soft apricot, yellow and pink flowers.

Gardens don’t happen overnight

We are over halfway through the summer, so it’s time to clear my desk of gardening tidbits.

You don’t need to live in the woods or have lots of space to have a wildlife-friendly garden.

I hate it when I have to tell a gardener that they have to yank out a plant because of an incurable disease. It’s even worse when it’s your brother.

On Sunday, July 21, Roger Snipes and other members of the Inland Empire Bonsai Society (IEBS) will share their creations with the community during the group’s annual show at the Manito Park Meeting Room just east of the Gaiser Conservatory.