Features

Kachemak Gardener: Be bold but prudent in pruning

There is a rosa rubrifolia/glauca in the corner of the East Garden that puts on an excellent show mid-summer. The blooms are understated but the… Continue reading

 

Kachemak Gardener: Stay at home with weeding, cultivating and bird song

Tall, sturdy fences, in the land of moose, are something to be grateful for. There is a new subdivision behind the high school that has… Continue reading

 

Kachemak Gardener: Spring is definite, and full of promise

There certainly isn’t anything subtle about this year’s spring. Granted, here in the Far North spring is a remarkably short season but this one is… Continue reading

 

Kachemak Gardener: Don’t be daunted by your vegetable garden

Where to start. Methinks that you are focused on food production although I’m thinking intently about perennials. You win; here we go. Take a good… Continue reading

Kachemak Gardener: Over-the-top and charming, African violets are blooming

This was the perfect afternoon to freshen up the African violets. These lovelies bring me so very much pleasure. This is the time of year… Continue reading

Kachemak Gardener: Will a pandemic inspire you to plant a vegetable garden?

So, a pandemic. Is this what it will take to convince you to plant a vegetable garden? A well thought out vegetable garden, not a… Continue reading

Kachemak Gardener: Here are some random thoughts on gardening

Having crossed the threshold of my seventh decade I will be doing a few things differently. The one that you may want to take note… Continue reading

Kachemak Gardener: Until next year …

Rosemary Fitzpatrick is a longtime Homer gardener and has been writing Kachemak Gardener since 1990.… Continue reading

Kachemak Gardener: Why wait for a crisis to help out in each other’s gardens?

So there is my friend Nancy and she has hit a bump in the road. That would be enough for me but she was concerned… Continue reading

Dwarf Korean lilac, dwarf red twig dogwood, Miss Kim lilac, full size dogwood and a Shubert chokecerry fill out the space by the Kachemak Gardener’s balcony in this photo taken Oct. 12, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Your garden is for you, so take pleasure in it every day

For the past three years I have subscribed to “The English Garden.” Each and every issue is packed with dazzling photos of impeccably designed and… Continue reading

Dwarf Korean lilac, dwarf red twig dogwood, Miss Kim lilac, full size dogwood and a Shubert chokecerry fill out the space by the Kachemak Gardener’s balcony in this photo taken Oct. 12, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
Jane Wiebe’s wheelbarrow of lovely tubers will cause any potato aficionado’s heart to sing. The photo was taken on Oct. 7, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Jane Wiebe)

Kachemak Gardener: Arrival of fall brings relief after frenetic summer

After the most frenetic summer within recent memory the slow but sure arrival of fall is a relief. This week has been spent turning the… Continue reading

Jane Wiebe’s wheelbarrow of lovely tubers will cause any potato aficionado’s heart to sing. The photo was taken on Oct. 7, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Jane Wiebe)

Kachemak Gardener: Garden journal helps map out next season

This latest rainfall has been a boon. Once again the weeds are easily removed instead of chiseling them out from rock hard soil. And there… Continue reading

A window flower box at the Kachemak Gardener’s home shows waning begonias but enthusiastic pansies and lobelia on Sept. 6, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Take time to smell the roses

Now that the harvest season is winding down, I have more time to actually cook with what I’ve grown. I know that sounds strange —… Continue reading

A window flower box at the Kachemak Gardener’s home shows waning begonias but enthusiastic pansies and lobelia on Sept. 6, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Let the garden thrive and have its head

Smoke. Hornets. Late summer head cold. Local corn: $5/ear. Porcupines. Inexplicably pink Yukon golds Good Grief! But then again, the Dropmore honeysuckle is gorgeous to… Continue reading

Green Globe artichokes thriving and soon to be harvested on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, in the Kachemak Gardener’s home in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Weather is scary but artichokes are fabulous

Of all the years to run out of lettuce it had to be this one. There has been a steady stream of family and friends… Continue reading

Green Globe artichokes thriving and soon to be harvested on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, in the Kachemak Gardener’s home in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
Cottage pinks, asiatic lilies, heuchera, thalictrum, all happily cohabitate in a very unplanned perennial bed at the Kachemak Gardener’s garden in this photo taken on July 28, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Fast and Furious gardening season has been quite a ride

FAST AND FURIOUS. That’s what this growing season is handing us, the first one the likes of this that I can recall in my 47… Continue reading

Cottage pinks, asiatic lilies, heuchera, thalictrum, all happily cohabitate in a very unplanned perennial bed at the Kachemak Gardener’s garden in this photo taken on July 28, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
Grands Marguerite Vallee, Cecilia Fitzpatrick and Genevieve Vallee seek shade, solace, companionship and Doritos under the lilacs on the Fourth of July in the Kachemak Gardener’s garden. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Share gardens through neighborhood stroll

What better way to share a whole street worth of gardens than to have a “Garden Stroll?” I got the idea from a friend who… Continue reading

Grands Marguerite Vallee, Cecilia Fitzpatrick and Genevieve Vallee seek shade, solace, companionship and Doritos under the lilacs on the Fourth of July in the Kachemak Gardener’s garden. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
“Blooming azaleas — what a delight,” the Kachemak Gardener said on June 28, 2019, of the flowers in her Homer, Alaska, garden. “These are two of these shrubs here that manage a burst of color each year.” (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Think about vegetable possibilities

We took a walk on the Eveline Trail specifically to view the wildflowers. We were just in time, they are fading fast. This heat that… Continue reading

“Blooming azaleas — what a delight,” the Kachemak Gardener said on June 28, 2019, of the flowers in her Homer, Alaska, garden. “These are two of these shrubs here that manage a burst of color each year.” (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
Blue poppies and pink meadow rue bloom in Rosemary Fitzpatrick’s garden on June 14, 2019, in Homer, Alsaka. “Who could ask for more?” she asks. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: Whew! Finally an established garden

We have been graced with the most excellent combination of warmth and rain. Absolutely every plant in this garden is deeply appreciative. This is an… Continue reading

Blue poppies and pink meadow rue bloom in Rosemary Fitzpatrick’s garden on June 14, 2019, in Homer, Alsaka. “Who could ask for more?” she asks. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
Muscari at its peak of perfection, as seen in the Kachemak Gardener’s garden on May 27, 2019, in Homer, Alasa. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)

Kachemak Gardener: This is the perfect gardening weather — really

Uh oh. All the mountain ash berries that the Bohemian waxwings did not show up to eat? Sprouting in every single bit of bare earth… Continue reading

Muscari at its peak of perfection, as seen in the Kachemak Gardener’s garden on May 27, 2019, in Homer, Alasa. (Photo by Rosemary Fitzpatrick)
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