PBMG Blog

By Debbie Roland, Emmy Ulmschneider, and Shirley Kelley, Master Gardeners Insects are the cogs that keep our Earth’s machinery running. ...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water. --Loren Eisley,...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water. --Loren Eisley,...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners The amount of information available to us now is amazing. You can type in...

By Debbie Roland, Master Gardener It started with two packets of seed and a chicken. Okay six chickens. I was born and raised in...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners As Master Gardeners, we all spend long hours outside, often working alone, and...

By Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardener I grew up surrounded by forests and our gardens reflected and blended seamlessly with them. My...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners Both of us grow plants for food and for aesthetics in our yards. But our...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners Last year when the monarchs were migrating, I wondered where the rest of the...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners We first wrote about Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii), in August, 2021. It is a...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners Most of us are familiar with the European honeybee which was brought by...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners One of my childhood memories is that of watching bats catching their evening...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider My desk (Debbie) faces the backyard and has a view of the garden pond which has a large tree over...

By Jessie Clark, Master Gardener While some plants may express their resentment of the desert heat in the summer, well-established...

By Jessie Clark, Master Gardener Cool season crops are trending again in the world of gardening! As commercial flower grower and...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider When you are a gardener, winter can be frustrating! It gets dark earlier, and you miss the...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a herb-like grass that is native to Malaysia and India. It is...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider People garden for different reasons and there is a garden book to cover each one. We each have...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider December gardening. It’s nice to have a shorter to-do list and a chance to plan for your 2022...

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider If you ever sat down to a vibrantly colored Spanish paella, a Persian dessert, or a French bouillabaisse then you have tasted saffron! It is one of the most precious spices in the world, selling for $500 per ounce. The spice comes from the red colored stigmas (pollen bearing structure of the plant) which is why it is so expensive. It is a labor-intensive crop to grow and harvest. It can take 75,000 blossoms to produce one pound of saf

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider If you feel like you don’t know much about gardening, finding a gift for a friend or family member with a love of gardening can feel intimidating. Read on to help you pick out something that will let them know you were thinking of them with a truly personal gift. First, know your gardener. Think about whether they like to grow vegetables and fruit or flowers. Perhaps they are native plant enthusiasts and would love a few plants for th

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider Edible ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a staple in the kitchen. The rhizome of this plant is ground to add a spicy flavor to numerous types of cuisine. You will want to use fresh ground ginger if you want the full flavor. Although ginger is a tropical plant, with some care and knowledge you can grow it easily here. Select one or two rhizomes to root in a wide, shallow flowerpot. The rhizomes are what you buy in the produce section of

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider Did you know that Native Americans grew and ate pumpkins their seeds and blooms for thousands of years? From that simple discovery came the squashes and pumpkins that have spread around the world and are enjoyed by so many people. Native to North and South America, all squashes and pumpkins, from zucchini and spaghetti squash to butternut squash and ornamental gourds are members of the same genus, Cucurbita. The difference in all these

By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider The basic principle of regenerative gardening is restoring and maintaining soil health. Gardeners of all levels can help restore soil health. Many contemporary gardens rely on fertilizers, pesticides, and other soil amendments. This is the exact opposite of what regenerative gardening aims to do. Here are some tips for regenerative gardening: 1. Minimal Tilling. Are you surprised to know that tilling is one of the practices that r