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Waterwise Gardening - a book review

Waterwise Gardening: Everything You Need To Know About Efficient Watering to Grow a Healthy Yard by Richard Restuccia Published by Rizzoli, 2025 I would guess that watering is the major issue that most gardeners grapple with, especially novice gardeners. I know from working at the nursery that the majority of questions and issues we get stem from either watering too much or not watering enough.  Many people in our area have sprinkler systems and I'm sure that can be a good thing if used properly but I feel that they primarily keep the lawns green but fall short for landscape plants. Especially when it comes to trees and larger plants, the timing and amounts are not satisfactory for many plants. I often hear people say that their sprinklers are set to come on every day - yikes! And there are those who did not water because it "rained" when it actually drizzled.  The best thing to do in this situation is to have a xeric garden but that would mean sacrificing favorite plant...
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Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for April

Rhododendron 'Blue Baron'
 

Time seems to be flying and things look a lot difference from last month. We are back to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, a blogger participation event on the 15th of each month hosted by May Dreams Gardens.

And what a way to begin with the vivid violet-blue blooms of Rhododendron 'Blue Baron'. The plant itself is a bit scraggly but the blooms are a show-stopper. This is a small shrub, only about 1 foot tall.

Another beautiful rhododendron that I shared in my last post but deserves another look is 'Taurus'.


 Another beautiful red one - 'Hills Bright Red' -


Barberry 'Orange Rocket' and Spirea 'Ogon'

Clematis armandii

Camellia 'Donation'

Camellia 'Nuccio's Bella Rosa'

 

Rhododendron 'PJM'


Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart'
 

 

Daphne tangutica

Daffodils

 

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles 'Double Take Orange Storm') and Veronica 'Georgia Blue'

 

A few tulips -




Serviceberry (Amelanchier 'Autumn Brilliance')

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy


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  1. Kris PetersonApril 15, 2021 at 11:12 AM

    Gorgeous! I can't say there's any overlap between our floral displays unless you count the last of my Narcissus, rapidly beating a retreat in the face of our dry and very warm spring. Seeing your blue rhododendron makes me regret the fact that I haven't managed to grow anything in this genus in my current garden, not even the paltry few Azaleas traditionally sold locally.

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  2. ksApril 15, 2021 at 8:43 PM

    I remember how I longed for Camellia 'Donation' when I moved into this house 30-odd years ago. Could not find it anywhere so I settled for 'Pink Perfection'-long gone now. The shade in my garden is unfortunately totally dictated by the tree canopys of the neighbors to the south and west.

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  3. LeaApril 16, 2021 at 6:41 AM

    Very pretty!
    Have a wonderful day!

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  4. chavlinessApril 16, 2021 at 7:46 AM

    Your Vancouver garden is a quite a bit ahead of my north Seattle one. Rhododendron 'Blue Baron' is so striking! I'm still searching for Veronica 'Georgia Blue'.

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  5. Chickadee GardensApril 16, 2021 at 8:42 AM

    What a gorgeous selection of flowers, Phillip. I like the Berberis combined with the Spiraea, that's a great combination. Happy Bloom Day!

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  6. Lisa at GreenbowApril 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM

    The red of those first two rhodis are almost artificial looking. A beautiful color. Happy GBBD.

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  7. SwimrayApril 16, 2021 at 8:39 PM

    Intense red and blue on the rhodies - so unusual and patriotic. The golden bleeding heart looks almost gawdy to me.
    -Ray

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  8. Hoover BooApril 18, 2021 at 11:35 AM

    Not only the flowers, but the photos. Gorgeous!

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  9. YvonneApril 23, 2021 at 1:19 PM

    Spring is lovely in your garden. Beautiful flowers.

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