Colorado Gardener Articles

Photo: Jane Shellenberger This gloriously cool, rainy spring, plus the number of years that many plants have had to establish, mature,...

By Kelly Grummons: ESTABLISHING NEW PLANTS Ensuring Success with New Plantings I can’t tell you how many times a customer has failed with...

Allium bulgaricum (formerly known as Nectaroscordum siculum) Photo: Jane Shellenberger May is bursting with blooms of all kinds and the...

By R. Gary Raham Frog enjoying a dip in a duckweed-laden pond. Illustration by Gary Raham. As a biologist I always enjoy time in the...

By Cindy Jones, PhD Cindy on her Herb Farm, East of Longmont Gardening in Colorado is a joy and a challenge. The dry climate,...

Dwarf Leadplant (Amorpha nana) Zones 3-7 By Marilyn Raff Native to The Great Plains, this small shrub called to me at a plant sale with...

Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla), an early spring bloomer and North American native, thrives in challenging environments and offers nectar to...

By Mikl Brawner: French Lilac Lilacs were brought to America by the earliest settlers and have been popular landscape shrubs ever since...

By Jane Shellenberger: When I traveled to Peru years ago to visit my daughter, we took the bus from Arequipa, in the south, to...

Edward Alan Rollinger (“Al”) passed away in Denver on February 25, 2025. When young, Al moved with his family from Minnesota to Denver. ...

Springtime in the Rockies The recent thaw and warmup is certainly welcome after that cold snap. Our continental climate means we rarely...

By Keith Funk & Jane Shellenberger: Biochar kiln Biochar is biomass (wood, leaves, straw, manure, or other biosolids) heated at high...

By Marilyn Raff: Genista Lydia • Zone 5-9 A floriferous low-mounding deciduous shrub native to the Mediterranean region, Lydia thrives...

By Penn Parmenter: We lost a young visionary and rising star in the high altitude seed breeding movement last month when Casey Piscura...

By Penn Parmenter Homemade, deep wooden flats for Seed Starting Seed starting for the upcoming season is now underway! If you’ve never...

Winter and some Front Range snow finally arrive. While having brunch on a balmy Christmas Eve morning with my meteorologist friend, Matt...

Fernbush – Chamaebatiaria millefolium – zone 4-8 By Marilyn Raff: Fernbush,  Chamaebatiaria millefolium.  Photo: Plant Select A Colorado...

DECEMBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE The Garden Against Time I’ve been reading The Garden Against Time: In search of a common paradise by Olivia...

NOVEMBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE This must be a record setting dry late summer and fall. We’ve only had about a quarter inch of rain in the last...

A Xeriscape Garden After 32 Years By Mikl Brawner: You might think a nurseryman would have a collector’s garden with rare and choice...

Keep Veggie Garden Soil Covered: Add Leaves Now By Jane Shellenberger: Excerpts from Jane's book: Organic Gardeners Companion: Growing...

OCTOBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE It doesn’t feel much like Fall yet though the trees are getting colorful. The grasshoppers have discouraged me...

By David Salman: Plant a surprise this fall. Get some spring blooming bulbs into the ground in October or November, water them in and...

By Penn Parmenter: Pumpkins are King in the Parmenter mountain gardens. We love everything about them and have grown them for over 25...

SPONSORED CONTENT Marking trees with a “No Vacancy” sign for bark beetles, ISCA®’s SPLAT® Verb goes to work at Tahoe National Forest As...

By Penn Parmenter:   Right now seed is hanging heavy and abundant in your garden; all you have to do is go get it!  It’s the greatest...

August sailed by quickly. It’s been an interesting summer – certainly one to test those “drought-tolerant” plants. Heat stress is...

By Maggie Gaddis: Now is the time to think about starting next year's garden from seed. As summer flowers senesce, keep an eye out for...

Flavored Vinegar in the Spotlight By Deb Whittaker: Move over Pepsi and Coke.  After 5000 years, vinegar drinks have morphed into the...

By Keith Funk: It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Jim Borland, a towering figure in the world of horticulture and beloved...

AUGUST 2024 E-MAGAZINE Like most people, I've been avoiding the hot sun as much as possible during this very hot summer. But I see a lot...

How to pick a plant By John Murgel. Summer is here and most gardeners are working on keeping things growing and happy in the heat. Still,...

Rooted in Stone: A Geologist Connects with Gardeners By Lee Recca: Dr. Bob Raynolds kicked off the Global Steppe Symposium by taking us...

The Heat is On…. Of course, the heat has been on for weeks now. Other parts of Colorado have been rained and hailed on but in the Hygiene...

Some are just trying to get away from the grasshoppers By John Hershey: When you live in Colorado, there are certain things you can count...

Dangerous Beauty by Paula Ogilvie I’ve grown datura for many years and have become complacent about it in my yard. A vigorous grower with...

By John Hershey: Yes, give kale a chance! Not “give peas a chance”. If it’s cheap garden puns you want, I’m afraid you’ve come to the...

Hard to believe it’s June already but there we have it.  I just bought a new electric lawnmower, taking advantage of the state rebate. ...

By Sara Stewart Martinelli: The diverse ecosystems of Colorado are a treasure trove of native medicinal plants and trees - a living...

By R. Gary Raham: As sunlight fades on a warm summer evening, there is something magical about lights floating through the air blinking...

Excerpt from Jane's April 2024 E-Magazine Editor's Letter: And then there are cats. First let me say that I have two and they do go...

What’s really getting up your Nose By Paula Ogilvie For many people the sneezing season began in mid-to-late February when elm trees...

Photo: Plant-growing.com PHLOX Caution! Flammable! By Panayoti Kelaidis Garden phlox come in three general categories: tall ones that...

Garden Phlox What’s Getting up Your Nose & Making You Sneeze When to Plant Warm Season Veggies Fernleaf Peony The bright and bloomy month...

I am loving this so-far cool, wet spring. The bees are visiting all the cheerful blue chionodoxia flowers that have spread around in my...

Year-Round Vegetable Gardening in Colorado is Possible with a Cold Frame or Hoop House By Idelle Fisher : Cold Frames are basically a...

At least 10 years ago I was at a late spring, small early evening event at Harlequins Gardens in North Boulder. I strolled over to their...

New Plant Select list for 2024 & Tree Diversity Conference Wrap-up It seems fitting to wish you Happy Almost Spring on the cusp of the...

Urban environments are the most stressful for trees but where they are most wanted and needed. Especially in light of climate change,...

Greetings Readers! Summer at 7th Ave & Detroit gravel garden, Denver. Unlike woodchips, deep gravel retains moisture without rotting the...