Letter from the editor: March 2010

Winter is almost over, and I'm a bit ashamed to say that I took February off from The Urban Gardener. February is a great month to get away from Seattle, go somewhere warm, enjoy a brief dose of sunshine and remind yourself of the coming warmth of spring. 

With the arrival of Spring, I'm busy contemplating all the garden projects that I've been either too busy, or too lazy tackle.  I've already cleared some tired old plants that just weren't performing, amended the cutting garden struck a blow at the weeds that seem to have shot up over night and root pruned my bamboo.  And now, I have visions of fresh vegetables dancing in my head. 

Before heading down to the tropics last month, I did take the time to visit the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  I found the show to be an inspirational kick start to the gardening season, and I highly recommend checking it out if you're into garden design, plants or garden products.  One of my personal favorites from the show:  the kenetic sculptures created by Douglas Walker of Water Works Garden Sculpture http://www.waterworksgardenart.com/. The pieces were made from brass instruments that he converted into beautiful, tinkling and moving pieces of art.  Another favorite was a collection of some really nice miniature greenhouses, or cloches, made by SunPod Greenhouses Inc. (http://www.sunpodgreenhouses.com/) of the Vancouver B.C. area.  

This month I'll get back to posting.  I have a new plant of the month, a delicious recipe made with seasonable produce from the farmers' market and an article on how to extend your growing season and improve yields by building an inexpensive garden cloche.  Gardeners rejoice!  Spring is nearly upon us!