HOMES & GARDENS

Gardening and home improvement tips, ideas, photos and videos for Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest

This tiny bird is one of the most frequent guests at area feeders, where it for bands together with chickadees, bushtits and nuthatches to enhance its feeding success. It's especially partial to suet blocks. Full story »

The fact that I was wrong about which bluebell is so hateful in my garden only makes me hate them more. Full story »

This fast-growing basil relative is an attractive herb with complex, spicy flavors, and it makes a good border plant. Full story »

Interior news and notes on candle design, an apartment in Brooklyn and Sandow Media's latest purchases of Interior Design and more Full story »

While you can sow them directly into the ground, you might have better luck giving them a head-start inside and then transplanting. Full story »

Also known as broad beans, favas are sturdy and easily grown. Plant them in a sunny spot after the last-frost date for your area (generally about April 15 in the Portland area). Full story »

Dutchman's pipe is a fascinating story of how plants, insects and other pollinators have evolved to reproduce and survive. Full story »

Interior notes on the importance of lighting, fixing up your outdoor space, an inspiring blog and some foundations of good design Full story »

Every year when the flowering plums start to break open, the questions begin: What kind of tree is that? Full story »

Designer Carrie Carlson takes out a brick nook to open up the adjoining family room and revises the space in the kitchen and nook for better access Full story »

Bzzzzzz. Give a bee a break, will ya? Everyone gets all excited to see honeybees in action, but it's really the orchard mason bee that does all the heavy lifting around here. Find out why the mason bee is the most efficient Northwest pollinator and how to nab some of your own. See Anne Jaeger's Video of the Week. Full story »

Tips for finding prices, appraisers and places to sell your collectibles. Full story »

The leftover grounds from your morning cup of java aren't acidic as you might think. Use them as a soil amendment, side dressing or as a nitrogen source in the compost pile.  Full story »

Taking the time to divide my Agapanthus was a good thing. Two plants gave me six -- enough to replant two and give the rest away.  Full story »