March 9, 2010 at 5:15 am (General Information, useful ideas)
Tags: Coolaroo, Garden design, Landscaping, lawn and Garden, Shade Sails
Fun, Colorful, Shade Sails coming this Spring!
These lively jolts of color can be easily installed to transform any yard into your backyard oasis! Sometimes exterior design calls for subtlety. Sometimes boldness is required. For those latter occasions there are the Coolaroo Shade Sails.
Coolaroo shade sails are not your grandparent’s patio umbrella. They look bolder than that, brightly colored in square and triangle shapes. It’s remarkable how one lone shade sail can lend an outdoor space a contemporary touch. String up a group of shade sails and you can transform a space into something you’d expect to find at a modern art museum.
What you can’t see from the photos is how durable the Coolaroo material is. This isn’t like hanging out a sheet. The shade sails are made for life outdoors. The sail’s nylon edges will not tear or fray. The color of the material will remain bright even when permanently hung outside and exposed to moisture, intense sun and temperature extremes. The D-rings on the corners of the Coolaroo will stay anchored to the included stainless steel poles. And it isn’t just Spot Cool Stuff saying so—Coolaroo products come with a 10 year warranty. If your shade sail becomes damaged the company will replace it for free.
Best of all, the Coolaroo fabric blocks out 90% of the sun’s harmful UV rays while allowing breezes to pass through. So life under a Coolaroo is cool in more ways than one.
Leave a Comment
March 9, 2010 at 5:03 am (General Information)
Tags: Composting, Gardening, lawn and Garden, Recycling
NEW EZ COMPOSTER AVAILABLE THIS SPRING!
The art of composting has been around for some time. Most people either have a compost pile or know some one who does. But it’s not just for the savvy, green-thumbed, garden grower anymore. As land-fills fill up, it’s becoming more and more apparent that we can’t afford to just throw away our organic scraps. Over 20 million tons of organic trash is thrown out each year in the US alone.
The best way to cut down this number is by recycling this waste into compost for plants and vegetables. Compost recycling does more than save the scraps from the landfills. You save money on recycling bags, curb side services, and fertilizer/potting soil. So the savings are lucritive for both your wallet and the planet.
Composting typically takes a long time as it needs to be aerated often, but new developments in composting technology have cut composting time down significantly.
Good Ideas has developed a line of composters that optimize composting by maximizing aeration while cutting down on compost maintenance and time spent composting.
Leave a Comment
February 22, 2010 at 11:23 pm (General Information, useful ideas)
Tags: Color, Garden design, Keeyla Meadows
Keeyla Meadow's newest book...
I saw Keeyla Meadows when she was promoting her first book at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle a few years ago. She presented a seminar there about using color in the garden. We all sat there waiting for her to spill out something that we could take home with us that would make our efforts look even 1/100th as over the top as her creations. She taught me one very important thing. It hit home and continues to be one of my secret weapons in the garden. She said in her talk, ” the fastest, least expensive way to add COLOR to any garden is with PAINT! …After that, I have never been able to walk past the MIS-MATCHED paints in Home Depot or Lowes without checking to see if they had some beautiful color that I needed for something magical that I might paint some day. My son and I started transforming the Garden Center yesterday. We started by adding a fresh coat of white to the main walls and shelves in the gift shoppe. Today I moved forward and went crazy with a beautiful, natural shade of Grey on 3 tables, one shelf and 2 crates and made a “new” corner to display some new products on order. Tomorrow I am moving on to the good stuff…Coral and Lavender and Turquoise! It has been a long winter and I have been COLOR Starved! I am in Heaven with my$ 3.00 gallons of paint and a roller and a brush! When I get done painting everything in sight, I will reward myself with a copy of my Favorite Garden Artist’s newest book!
Leave a Comment
February 21, 2010 at 4:26 am (New Plants for 2010)
Tags: Nursery Stock, Royal Raindrops Crabapple, Trees
Royal Raindrops Crabapple
This beautiful new introduction is one of the many new trees arriving at Westwood Gardens next week! We are excited that fresh stock will be arriving to set up the Nursery for our 2010 season. Everyone is asking, “When are you opening?”… “As soon as possible”, is my reply!
The dark pink blooms start the show of color and are followed by beautiful dark leaves that turn spectacular bronzed orange in the fall! click here to see detailed information and more great photos of this new tree.
Leave a Comment
February 14, 2010 at 8:44 pm (New Plants for 2010)
Tags: Echinacea, Grass, Huechera, New Plants, Perennials, Shrubs
-
-
Heuchera”Georgia peach”
-
-
Echinacea ” Hot Summer” Coneflower
-
-
Weigela “Rainbow Sensation”
Echinacea “Hot Summer” Coneflower There have been some incredible Echinacea introductions in the past couple of years, but no single variety makes a complete bouquet like ‘Hot Summer’. Glistening rayed petals open a soft, mango color and fade to orange-red. Spectacular! A tall variety; strong clumps look like fireworks with a continuous burst of new flowers all summer long. Well-deserving of a special spot in the full sun, ‘Hot Summer’ will generate a blooming display of color during the hottest time of the year.
Heuchera “ Georgia Peach” Coral Bells Like most peaches on a summer day, this Heuchera changes color from peachy-orange tones to rosy-purple and always with a decorative white veil. Especially bred for the warmer regions of our country, ‘Georgia Peach’ is stunning with surprisingly soft , large leaves that remain evergreen all year. Creamy-white flowers stand on wispy stems in spring.
Chasmanthium “River Mist” Sea Oats What a beauty; one of our beloved natives with variegated foliage! A warm-season grower, upland sea oats are especially valued for their graceful, hanging “oats” held on slender, nodding foliage. Flowering begins in mid-summer with white seed heads that remain attractive through the winter months. A showcase plant, this striking green and white foliage form will make a fantastic specimen. Plant in part shade and provide adequate moisture during the summer months.
Weigela “Rainbow Sensation”
An old fashioned plant, Weigelas bring to mind some our most beloved memories; the fragrance of spring, a burst of pink or red trumpet-like blooms, perhaps a shrub flowering near your Grandmother’s doorstep. In the last 20 years, a great deal of work has gone into breeding for new improved varieties. This garden sensation represents a whole new class of Weigela. A charming selection, before the first flowers appear, Rainbow Sensation™ will brighten your garden with its attractive, variegated foliage. Dense clusters of soft-pink, funnel-shaped flowers bloom in profusion in May, as hummingbirds flock to harvest the sweet nectar. Gently arching stems add grace to the garden with a rainbow of color on this compact shrub. Stems can be cut for flower arrangements. A tough plant, Weigela is especially suited for urban environments where it performs beautifully with minimal care. Extremely hardy, plants thrive in a wide range of growing conditions.
Leave a Comment
February 7, 2010 at 6:09 pm (useful ideas)
Tags: kitchen gardens, potting sheds
I want a kitchen Garden like this one! I am not sure who created it, but it looks too good to be true. If you recognize the Lady in the garden, and think she looks pretty good, too, you would be correct! It is Meryl Streep, from the movie “It’s Complicated”. I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I would see it now just to see the gardens! The potting shed is pretty nice, too!
1 Comment
February 6, 2010 at 9:28 pm (useful ideas)
Tags: Bottles, Garden Art, Recycling, The Environment, Trash
Bottle Fence in New Mexico. Photo By: Norbert Lazar, The Phantom Gardener, NY
I wonder what other great recycling ideas are out there using items that would normally end up in a landfill. Please post any photos you want to share. This idea really was exciting to me because our local Transfer Station Does Not Recycle Glass! I tried to turn in some bottles, and they said to put it with the regular trash going to the landfill! Ever since then I have been trying to think of something to do with all of those bottles…Here is my answer. Garden Art!
2 Comments
February 6, 2010 at 8:00 pm (General Information)
Tags: North Idaho, Nurseries, Plants, Rathdrum
Welcome to Westwood Gardens Blog. We are excited to have this new tool to share information we acquire with you!
Our business is about People and Plants and this is where the two can connect!
Passion grown here…Happy Gardening!
Leave a Comment
February 6, 2010 at 4:27 pm (Plants)
Tags: Climate zones, Coeur d' alene, English Roses, Fragrant Gardens, Garden, Gardening, Hayden, Landscaping, North Idaho, Nursery, Plants, Post Falls, Priest River, Rathdrum, Roses, Sandpoint
"William Shakespeare" English Rose Arrangement
Click HERE to see the Beautiful Roses that can be grown in zones 4 and 5…
These hardy Roses are coming to Westwood Gardens this Spring!
Leave a Comment
