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Mountain Gardening Tips for Hardy Gardeners
One of these days it’s going to stop snowing so we can start gardening. If you’re a gardener in the Rocky Mountain region, you know how challenging gardening can be. After all, it was 60 degrees yesterday and 29 degrees today. That’s a shock to plants and gardeners alike.
What gardener couldn’t use a little help this season?
Here are some of my top tips for Mountain Region gardeners from my Creative Ideas Team blog.
Easy Gardening Tips for how to:
Beat annoying aphids
Recycle grass clippings
Plant containers on the cheap
5 Tips for Personalizing your Garden:
Plant something new
Let plants be plants
Plant a kitchen garden
Think small
Replant a hanging basket
45 timely tips for what to do in your garden, from March through December.
If your garden is lacking spring color, you need to make a list of these spring-blooming bulbs that are perfect for fall planting.
New Items for Gardening from Territorial Seed
The new gardening catalog from Territorial Seed Company is about twice the size of other seed catalogs.
I’ve written about Territorial Seed Company in the past and have placed orders with them. But the company’s garden seed, plants and supply catalog for spring 2013 is something special.
This catalog is huge and features 240 new gardening products for 2013.
Territorial Seed, located in Cottage Grove, Ore., was the first mail order catalog to offer the Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomatoes after trialing them in its gardens.
Gardeners responded to the superhero status of the Mighty ‘Mato and Territorial Seed sold out most varieties last season. The double variety (‘Sungold’ and ‘Sweet Million’) was especially popular with gardeners who wanted to grow two flavorful cherry tomatoes on one plant.
Grafted vegetables are included in the 2013 catalog including grafted peppers. One eggplant variety, ‘Rosa Bianca’ is also in the catalog.
All the grafted vegetables are grafted by hand.
Jung Seeds & Plants Gardening Catalog
Jung Seeds & Plants, based in Randolph, Wis., is a is a family-owned business that has offered gardeners quality products since 1907.
The annual Jung Seeds & Plants home gardening catalog is one I always look forward to reading.
This catalog features, vegetables and flowers, seeds and bulbs, fruit and all kinds of gardening supplies. It is loaded with great gardening gear from cover to cover.
It’s also entertaining to read all of the descriptions. I’d love to meet whoever wrote the description for the ‘Super Freak Hybrid’ pumpkins or the ‘Red Warty Thing’ winter squash.
Every page is loaded with clever narratives about the company’s vast amount of offerings.
Family owned and operated for 106 years, Jung’s searches for the kinds of seeds and plants that gardeners like to grow.
There are plenty of old favorites, Jung Exclusives, Jung Top Picks and new introductions, too.
New Line of Organics from Renee’s Garden
Renee’s Garden is introducing a new range of organic seed for the 2013 gardening season.
Renee’s Garden, a long-time supporter of the Safe Seed Pledge developed by the Council for Responsible Genetics, has gone a step farther.
This year Renee’s has added a complete range of USDA Certified Organic vegetable and herb seeds.
Some of new line include heirlooms like ‘Chioggia’ beets, ‘Royalty Purple Pod’ bush beans, ‘Jade Green’ container lettuce, ‘Marvel Stripe’ bicolor tomato and much more. The complete line is featured in the online catalog.
As with all of the vegetable, herb and flower seeds offered by Renee’s Garden, the organics were selected after testing them in her own trial gardens. Detailed instructions for planting and growing are included on every packet.
Years ago when I first heard about Renee’s Garden, I had an image of a gifted gardener named Renee starting a specialty seed business selling based on the plants grown in her own garden.
New Gardening Seeds and Things for 2013
If it’s January, it’s time for the new seed catalogs to come rolling in.
Once the rush of holiday shopping is over and the retail catalogs slow to a trickle, it’s time for the seed catalogs to take over.
As a gardener, it has to be one of my favorite times of the year because each catalog holds the promise of warm spring days and bountiful summer harvests.
So many seeds, sow little time.
There are hundreds of new annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables just waiting to be be purchased and planted.
I’ve taken a look at what’s in store for the 2013 gardening season and I’m amazed at what I’ve seen. There are more interesting choices for gardeners than ever before:
New sunflowers that will knock your socks off.
Sweet corn for container growing.
Gorgeous pink-and-rose colored petunias with 3″ blooms.
Personal sized melons.
Two-pound tomatoes bred for making sauce.
Cantaloupe-colored echinacea.
Broccoli that looks like long stalks of asparagus.
Grafted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Cayennetta Peppers are a Blue Ribbon Winner
‘Cayennetta’ is an All-America Selections vegetable winner for 2012 and a blue-ribbon winner for me.
I’d never entered anything in a county fair until this year. And what a year it’s turned out to be.
I entered 5 different produce competitions and came home with 5 blue ribbons. Here’s to beginner’s luck!
At the Denver County Fair, my ‘Cayennetta’ entry of two fire-engine red peppers must have gained the judge’s attention. These were the only red peppers in the category that included large green jalapenos, purple jalapenos, Spanish ‘Padron’ and even a plate of Naga-Bih Jolokia ‘Ghost’ peppers.
‘Cayennetta’ is a new pepper variety and was selected by AAS as a top vegetable for 2012. AAS is a non-profit organization dedicated to testing new garden seed varieties, selecting the very best as “winners” and then introducing them to gardeners to grow in their own gardens.
Look for Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea in 2013
A new colorful and durable echinacea will keep gardening interesting next year.
I really appreciate how All-America Selections has changed its process for announcing its winners. Instead of releasing all the new plants at once, the organization makes its plant announcement as soon as the selections are made.
Gardeners can then look forward to seeing these new plants in upcoming catalogs, mail order companies and websites…and watch for them at lawn and garden retail stores next spring.
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is the perfect echinacea for gardens in our area. It’s a gorgeous, first-year flowering echinacea that captures the spirit of the North American plains.
According to the folks at AAS, this offering produces a mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ doesn’t require a lot of water and offers a wide-range of uses. AAS recommends planting in a perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
Montrose Botanic Gardens and Plant Select
If you’re thinking about a summer garden getaway, you might want to spend some time at the Montrose Botanic Gardens in Montrose, Colo.
This beautiful xeric garden was recently honored by the Plant Select program as a demonstration garden partner with the coveted Golden Shovel Award. The garden was recognized for the exceptional educational opportunities it offers visitors.
At 5600 windy feet in elevation, the garden has the San Juan Mountains as its backdrop.
More than one acre (on the almost four acre site) is planted and it features a native plant island and a promenade lined with perennials.
A dedicated group of volunteers called “The Weed Warriors” meets every Wednesday to maintain the garden.
In August the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will make a scheduled stop at the Montrose Botanic Gardens during the first leg of the race.
For more information about the Gardens, contact Sara Ungrodt or visit the garden’s website.
Hot Weather Tips for Gardening
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
Summertiiiiime and the livin’ is crazy . . . forest fires, Stage 1 drought, weeds galore, plants wilting left and right.
What’s a gardener to do?
These tips may help you cope with hot, dry weather:
Go long on grass. If you have Kentucky bluegrass, don’t mow your lawn any lower than 3 inches. Taller grass blades shade the soil and help conserve moisture. They also reduce weeds.
Bonsai Basics for Growing Miniature Trees
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
One of these days it’s going to stop snowing so we can start gardening. If you’re a gardener in the Rocky Mountain region, you know how challenging gardening can be. After all, it was 60 degrees yesterday and 29 degrees today. That’s a shock to plants and gardeners alike.
What gardener couldn’t use a little help this season?Recycle grass clippings
Plant containers on the cheap
Let plants be plants
Plant a kitchen garden
Think small
Replant a hanging basket
The new gardening catalog from Territorial Seed Company is about twice the size of other seed catalogs.
I’ve written about Territorial Seed Company in the past and have placed orders with them. But the company’s garden seed, plants and supply catalog for spring 2013 is something special.
This catalog is huge and features 240 new gardening products for 2013.
Territorial Seed, located in Cottage Grove, Ore., was the first mail order catalog to offer the Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomatoes after trialing them in its gardens.
Gardeners responded to the superhero status of the Mighty ‘Mato and Territorial Seed sold out most varieties last season. The double variety (‘Sungold’ and ‘Sweet Million’) was especially popular with gardeners who wanted to grow two flavorful cherry tomatoes on one plant.
Grafted vegetables are included in the 2013 catalog including grafted peppers. One eggplant variety, ‘Rosa Bianca’ is also in the catalog.
All the grafted vegetables are grafted by hand.
Jung Seeds & Plants Gardening Catalog
Jung Seeds & Plants, based in Randolph, Wis., is a is a family-owned business that has offered gardeners quality products since 1907.
The annual Jung Seeds & Plants home gardening catalog is one I always look forward to reading.
This catalog features, vegetables and flowers, seeds and bulbs, fruit and all kinds of gardening supplies. It is loaded with great gardening gear from cover to cover.
It’s also entertaining to read all of the descriptions. I’d love to meet whoever wrote the description for the ‘Super Freak Hybrid’ pumpkins or the ‘Red Warty Thing’ winter squash.
Every page is loaded with clever narratives about the company’s vast amount of offerings.
Family owned and operated for 106 years, Jung’s searches for the kinds of seeds and plants that gardeners like to grow.
There are plenty of old favorites, Jung Exclusives, Jung Top Picks and new introductions, too.
New Line of Organics from Renee’s Garden
Renee’s Garden is introducing a new range of organic seed for the 2013 gardening season.
Renee’s Garden, a long-time supporter of the Safe Seed Pledge developed by the Council for Responsible Genetics, has gone a step farther.
This year Renee’s has added a complete range of USDA Certified Organic vegetable and herb seeds.
Some of new line include heirlooms like ‘Chioggia’ beets, ‘Royalty Purple Pod’ bush beans, ‘Jade Green’ container lettuce, ‘Marvel Stripe’ bicolor tomato and much more. The complete line is featured in the online catalog.
As with all of the vegetable, herb and flower seeds offered by Renee’s Garden, the organics were selected after testing them in her own trial gardens. Detailed instructions for planting and growing are included on every packet.
Years ago when I first heard about Renee’s Garden, I had an image of a gifted gardener named Renee starting a specialty seed business selling based on the plants grown in her own garden.
New Gardening Seeds and Things for 2013
If it’s January, it’s time for the new seed catalogs to come rolling in.
Once the rush of holiday shopping is over and the retail catalogs slow to a trickle, it’s time for the seed catalogs to take over.
As a gardener, it has to be one of my favorite times of the year because each catalog holds the promise of warm spring days and bountiful summer harvests.
So many seeds, sow little time.
There are hundreds of new annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables just waiting to be be purchased and planted.
I’ve taken a look at what’s in store for the 2013 gardening season and I’m amazed at what I’ve seen. There are more interesting choices for gardeners than ever before:
New sunflowers that will knock your socks off.
Sweet corn for container growing.
Gorgeous pink-and-rose colored petunias with 3″ blooms.
Personal sized melons.
Two-pound tomatoes bred for making sauce.
Cantaloupe-colored echinacea.
Broccoli that looks like long stalks of asparagus.
Grafted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Cayennetta Peppers are a Blue Ribbon Winner
‘Cayennetta’ is an All-America Selections vegetable winner for 2012 and a blue-ribbon winner for me.
I’d never entered anything in a county fair until this year. And what a year it’s turned out to be.
I entered 5 different produce competitions and came home with 5 blue ribbons. Here’s to beginner’s luck!
At the Denver County Fair, my ‘Cayennetta’ entry of two fire-engine red peppers must have gained the judge’s attention. These were the only red peppers in the category that included large green jalapenos, purple jalapenos, Spanish ‘Padron’ and even a plate of Naga-Bih Jolokia ‘Ghost’ peppers.
‘Cayennetta’ is a new pepper variety and was selected by AAS as a top vegetable for 2012. AAS is a non-profit organization dedicated to testing new garden seed varieties, selecting the very best as “winners” and then introducing them to gardeners to grow in their own gardens.
Look for Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea in 2013
A new colorful and durable echinacea will keep gardening interesting next year.
I really appreciate how All-America Selections has changed its process for announcing its winners. Instead of releasing all the new plants at once, the organization makes its plant announcement as soon as the selections are made.
Gardeners can then look forward to seeing these new plants in upcoming catalogs, mail order companies and websites…and watch for them at lawn and garden retail stores next spring.
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is the perfect echinacea for gardens in our area. It’s a gorgeous, first-year flowering echinacea that captures the spirit of the North American plains.
According to the folks at AAS, this offering produces a mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ doesn’t require a lot of water and offers a wide-range of uses. AAS recommends planting in a perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
Montrose Botanic Gardens and Plant Select
If you’re thinking about a summer garden getaway, you might want to spend some time at the Montrose Botanic Gardens in Montrose, Colo.
This beautiful xeric garden was recently honored by the Plant Select program as a demonstration garden partner with the coveted Golden Shovel Award. The garden was recognized for the exceptional educational opportunities it offers visitors.
At 5600 windy feet in elevation, the garden has the San Juan Mountains as its backdrop.
More than one acre (on the almost four acre site) is planted and it features a native plant island and a promenade lined with perennials.
A dedicated group of volunteers called “The Weed Warriors” meets every Wednesday to maintain the garden.
In August the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will make a scheduled stop at the Montrose Botanic Gardens during the first leg of the race.
For more information about the Gardens, contact Sara Ungrodt or visit the garden’s website.
Hot Weather Tips for Gardening
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
Summertiiiiime and the livin’ is crazy . . . forest fires, Stage 1 drought, weeds galore, plants wilting left and right.
What’s a gardener to do?
These tips may help you cope with hot, dry weather:
Go long on grass. If you have Kentucky bluegrass, don’t mow your lawn any lower than 3 inches. Taller grass blades shade the soil and help conserve moisture. They also reduce weeds.
Bonsai Basics for Growing Miniature Trees
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
Jung Seeds & Plants, based in Randolph, Wis., is a is a family-owned business that has offered gardeners quality products since 1907.
The annual Jung Seeds & Plants home gardening catalog is one I always look forward to reading.
Renee’s Garden is introducing a new range of organic seed for the 2013 gardening season.
Renee’s Garden, a long-time supporter of the Safe Seed Pledge developed by the Council for Responsible Genetics, has gone a step farther.
This year Renee’s has added a complete range of USDA Certified Organic vegetable and herb seeds.
Some of new line include heirlooms like ‘Chioggia’ beets, ‘Royalty Purple Pod’ bush beans, ‘Jade Green’ container lettuce, ‘Marvel Stripe’ bicolor tomato and much more. The complete line is featured in the online catalog.
As with all of the vegetable, herb and flower seeds offered by Renee’s Garden, the organics were selected after testing them in her own trial gardens. Detailed instructions for planting and growing are included on every packet.
Years ago when I first heard about Renee’s Garden, I had an image of a gifted gardener named Renee starting a specialty seed business selling based on the plants grown in her own garden.
New Gardening Seeds and Things for 2013
If it’s January, it’s time for the new seed catalogs to come rolling in.
Once the rush of holiday shopping is over and the retail catalogs slow to a trickle, it’s time for the seed catalogs to take over.
As a gardener, it has to be one of my favorite times of the year because each catalog holds the promise of warm spring days and bountiful summer harvests.
So many seeds, sow little time.
There are hundreds of new annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables just waiting to be be purchased and planted.
I’ve taken a look at what’s in store for the 2013 gardening season and I’m amazed at what I’ve seen. There are more interesting choices for gardeners than ever before:
New sunflowers that will knock your socks off.
Sweet corn for container growing.
Gorgeous pink-and-rose colored petunias with 3″ blooms.
Personal sized melons.
Two-pound tomatoes bred for making sauce.
Cantaloupe-colored echinacea.
Broccoli that looks like long stalks of asparagus.
Grafted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Cayennetta Peppers are a Blue Ribbon Winner
‘Cayennetta’ is an All-America Selections vegetable winner for 2012 and a blue-ribbon winner for me.
I’d never entered anything in a county fair until this year. And what a year it’s turned out to be.
I entered 5 different produce competitions and came home with 5 blue ribbons. Here’s to beginner’s luck!
At the Denver County Fair, my ‘Cayennetta’ entry of two fire-engine red peppers must have gained the judge’s attention. These were the only red peppers in the category that included large green jalapenos, purple jalapenos, Spanish ‘Padron’ and even a plate of Naga-Bih Jolokia ‘Ghost’ peppers.
‘Cayennetta’ is a new pepper variety and was selected by AAS as a top vegetable for 2012. AAS is a non-profit organization dedicated to testing new garden seed varieties, selecting the very best as “winners” and then introducing them to gardeners to grow in their own gardens.
Look for Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea in 2013
A new colorful and durable echinacea will keep gardening interesting next year.
I really appreciate how All-America Selections has changed its process for announcing its winners. Instead of releasing all the new plants at once, the organization makes its plant announcement as soon as the selections are made.
Gardeners can then look forward to seeing these new plants in upcoming catalogs, mail order companies and websites…and watch for them at lawn and garden retail stores next spring.
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is the perfect echinacea for gardens in our area. It’s a gorgeous, first-year flowering echinacea that captures the spirit of the North American plains.
According to the folks at AAS, this offering produces a mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ doesn’t require a lot of water and offers a wide-range of uses. AAS recommends planting in a perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
Montrose Botanic Gardens and Plant Select
If you’re thinking about a summer garden getaway, you might want to spend some time at the Montrose Botanic Gardens in Montrose, Colo.
This beautiful xeric garden was recently honored by the Plant Select program as a demonstration garden partner with the coveted Golden Shovel Award. The garden was recognized for the exceptional educational opportunities it offers visitors.
At 5600 windy feet in elevation, the garden has the San Juan Mountains as its backdrop.
More than one acre (on the almost four acre site) is planted and it features a native plant island and a promenade lined with perennials.
A dedicated group of volunteers called “The Weed Warriors” meets every Wednesday to maintain the garden.
In August the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will make a scheduled stop at the Montrose Botanic Gardens during the first leg of the race.
For more information about the Gardens, contact Sara Ungrodt or visit the garden’s website.
Hot Weather Tips for Gardening
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
Summertiiiiime and the livin’ is crazy . . . forest fires, Stage 1 drought, weeds galore, plants wilting left and right.
What’s a gardener to do?
These tips may help you cope with hot, dry weather:
Go long on grass. If you have Kentucky bluegrass, don’t mow your lawn any lower than 3 inches. Taller grass blades shade the soil and help conserve moisture. They also reduce weeds.
Bonsai Basics for Growing Miniature Trees
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
If it’s January, it’s time for the new seed catalogs to come rolling in.
Once the rush of holiday shopping is over and the retail catalogs slow to a trickle, it’s time for the seed catalogs to take over.Sweet corn for container growing.
Gorgeous pink-and-rose colored petunias with 3″ blooms.
Personal sized melons.
Two-pound tomatoes bred for making sauce.
Cantaloupe-colored echinacea.
Broccoli that looks like long stalks of asparagus.
Grafted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
‘Cayennetta’ is an All-America Selections vegetable winner for 2012 and a blue-ribbon winner for me.
I’d never entered anything in a county fair until this year. And what a year it’s turned out to be.
I entered 5 different produce competitions and came home with 5 blue ribbons. Here’s to beginner’s luck!
At the Denver County Fair, my ‘Cayennetta’ entry of two fire-engine red peppers must have gained the judge’s attention. These were the only red peppers in the category that included large green jalapenos, purple jalapenos, Spanish ‘Padron’ and even a plate of Naga-Bih Jolokia ‘Ghost’ peppers.
‘Cayennetta’ is a new pepper variety and was selected by AAS as a top vegetable for 2012. AAS is a non-profit organization dedicated to testing new garden seed varieties, selecting the very best as “winners” and then introducing them to gardeners to grow in their own gardens.
Look for Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea in 2013
A new colorful and durable echinacea will keep gardening interesting next year.
I really appreciate how All-America Selections has changed its process for announcing its winners. Instead of releasing all the new plants at once, the organization makes its plant announcement as soon as the selections are made.
Gardeners can then look forward to seeing these new plants in upcoming catalogs, mail order companies and websites…and watch for them at lawn and garden retail stores next spring.
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is the perfect echinacea for gardens in our area. It’s a gorgeous, first-year flowering echinacea that captures the spirit of the North American plains.
According to the folks at AAS, this offering produces a mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ doesn’t require a lot of water and offers a wide-range of uses. AAS recommends planting in a perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
Montrose Botanic Gardens and Plant Select
If you’re thinking about a summer garden getaway, you might want to spend some time at the Montrose Botanic Gardens in Montrose, Colo.
This beautiful xeric garden was recently honored by the Plant Select program as a demonstration garden partner with the coveted Golden Shovel Award. The garden was recognized for the exceptional educational opportunities it offers visitors.
At 5600 windy feet in elevation, the garden has the San Juan Mountains as its backdrop.
More than one acre (on the almost four acre site) is planted and it features a native plant island and a promenade lined with perennials.
A dedicated group of volunteers called “The Weed Warriors” meets every Wednesday to maintain the garden.
In August the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will make a scheduled stop at the Montrose Botanic Gardens during the first leg of the race.
For more information about the Gardens, contact Sara Ungrodt or visit the garden’s website.
Hot Weather Tips for Gardening
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
Summertiiiiime and the livin’ is crazy . . . forest fires, Stage 1 drought, weeds galore, plants wilting left and right.
What’s a gardener to do?
These tips may help you cope with hot, dry weather:
Go long on grass. If you have Kentucky bluegrass, don’t mow your lawn any lower than 3 inches. Taller grass blades shade the soil and help conserve moisture. They also reduce weeds.
Bonsai Basics for Growing Miniature Trees
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
A new colorful and durable echinacea will keep gardening interesting next year.
If you’re thinking about a summer garden getaway, you might want to spend some time at the Montrose Botanic Gardens in Montrose, Colo.
This beautiful xeric garden was recently honored by the Plant Select program as a demonstration garden partner with the coveted Golden Shovel Award. The garden was recognized for the exceptional educational opportunities it offers visitors.
At 5600 windy feet in elevation, the garden has the San Juan Mountains as its backdrop.
More than one acre (on the almost four acre site) is planted and it features a native plant island and a promenade lined with perennials.
A dedicated group of volunteers called “The Weed Warriors” meets every Wednesday to maintain the garden.
In August the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will make a scheduled stop at the Montrose Botanic Gardens during the first leg of the race.
For more information about the Gardens, contact Sara Ungrodt or visit the garden’s website.
Hot Weather Tips for Gardening
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
Summertiiiiime and the livin’ is crazy . . . forest fires, Stage 1 drought, weeds galore, plants wilting left and right.
What’s a gardener to do?
These tips may help you cope with hot, dry weather:
Go long on grass. If you have Kentucky bluegrass, don’t mow your lawn any lower than 3 inches. Taller grass blades shade the soil and help conserve moisture. They also reduce weeds.
Bonsai Basics for Growing Miniature Trees
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
Today’s post is from Deb Courtner, a landscape designer, garden writer and speaker who creates low-maintenance landscapes for busy homeowners. She owns and operates Blossoms & Blueprints, LLC, a landscape design and consulting firm in Denver, Colo. She also shares this image of “creative bindweed use.” Visit her blog for more helpful landscaping tips.
Sane Tips for Crazy Gardening Weather
The new Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens is now open. Here’s a little information about the ancient art of bonsai.
Despite their size, bonsai are not a species of dwarf tree, but the name of the art of growing trees in miniature. The Chinese originated bonsai over 2000 years ago, but it was the Japanese who popularized this method of cultivating a “tree in a pot.”
Although bonsai involves aspects of horticulture, this type of “gardening” is more like creating a sculpture instead of growing a tree. Each bonsai is grown in a specific style and shaped by careful pruning and wiring throughout the life of the tree. The goal is to reproduce the look of an aged tree on a miniature scale.
