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Night of the Living ZomBees
By R. Gary Raham: I’m old enough to remember the original Alien movie. An arthropod-style alien attacks crew member, Dallas, by latching...
2 days ago


July 2025 E-Magazine
Photo: Jane Shellenberger Editor’s Letter After spending much of the weekend irrigating my pasture and trees in the heat and into the...
2 days ago


June 2025 E-Magazine
Photo: Jane Shellenberger This gloriously cool, rainy spring, plus the number of years that many plants have had to establish, mature,...
Jun 5


Plant Establishment
By Kelly Grummons: ESTABLISHING NEW PLANTS Ensuring Success with New Plantings I can’t tell you how many times a customer has failed with...
Jun 5


May 2025 E-Magazine
Allium bulgaricum (formerly known as Nectaroscordum siculum) Photo: Jane Shellenberger May is bursting with blooms of all kinds and the...
May 2


Reading Ancient Plants for Climate Solutions Today
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...
May 2


Skincare for Colorado Gardeners: Protecting & Repairing Your Skin
By Cindy Jones, PhD Cindy on her Herb Farm, East of Longmont Gardening in Colorado is a joy and a challenge. The dry climate,...
May 2


Dwarf Leadplant
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...
May 1


April 2025 E-Magazine
Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla), an early spring bloomer and North American native, thrives in challenging environments and offers nectar to...
Apr 2


That Heady Scent of Spring: Lilacs
By Mikl Brawner: French Lilac Lilacs were brought to America by the earliest settlers and have been popular landscape shrubs ever since...
Apr 1


Potatoes: Earth Apples (as the French say)
By Jane Shellenberger: When I traveled to Peru years ago to visit my daughter, we took the bus from Arequipa, in the south, to...
Apr 1


Al Rollinger 9/2/1941 – 2/25/2025
Edward Alan Rollinger (“Al”) passed away in Denver on February 25, 2025. When young, Al moved with his family from Minnesota to Denver. ...
Mar 11


March 2025 E-Magazine
Springtime in the Rockies The recent thaw and warmup is certainly welcome after that cold snap. Our continental climate means we rarely...
Mar 3


The Promising Benefits of Biochar
By Keith Funk & Jane Shellenberger: Biochar kiln Biochar is biomass (wood, leaves, straw, manure, or other biosolids) heated at high...
Mar 3


Plant Portrait: Genista Lydia • Zone 5-9
By Marilyn Raff: Genista Lydia • Zone 5-9 A floriferous low-mounding deciduous shrub native to the Mediterranean region, Lydia thrives...
Mar 3


Casey Piscura 1985-2025
By Penn Parmenter: We lost a young visionary and rising star in the high altitude seed breeding movement last month when Casey Piscura...
Mar 3


Seed Sowing 101
By Penn Parmenter Homemade, deep wooden flats for Seed Starting Seed starting for the upcoming season is now underway! If you’ve never...
Mar 3


Jan/Feb 2025 E-Magazine
Winter and some Front Range snow finally arrive. While having brunch on a balmy Christmas Eve morning with my meteorologist friend, Matt...
Jan 9


Colorado Native Plants: Fernbush
Fernbush – Chamaebatiaria millefolium – zone 4-8 By Marilyn Raff: Fernbush, Chamaebatiaria millefolium. Photo: Plant Select A Colorado...
Jan 9


December 2024 E-Magazine
DECEMBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE The Garden Against Time I’ve been reading The Garden Against Time: In search of a common paradise by Olivia...
Dec 3, 2024


November 2024 E-Magazine / Newsletter
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...
Nov 4, 2024


NATURALIZED OR GONE TO “WEEDS”?
A Xeriscape Garden After 32 Years By Mikl Brawner: You might think a nurseryman would have a collector’s garden with rare and choice...
Nov 1, 2024


Mulching in Winter
Keep Veggie Garden Soil Covered: Add Leaves Now By Jane Shellenberger: Excerpts from Jane's book: Organic Gardeners Companion: Growing...
Nov 1, 2024


OCTOBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE
OCTOBER 2024 E-MAGAZINE It doesn’t feel much like Fall yet though the trees are getting colorful. The grasshoppers have discouraged me...
Oct 2, 2024


Mixing it Up with Spring Flowering Bulbs
By David Salman: Plant a surprise this fall. Get some spring blooming bulbs into the ground in October or November, water them in and...
Sep 30, 2024


PUMPKINS ARE KING
By Penn Parmenter: Pumpkins are King in the Parmenter mountain gardens. We love everything about them and have grown them for over 25...
Sep 30, 2024


SPLAT®
SPONSORED CONTENT Marking trees with a “No Vacancy” sign for bark beetles, ISCA®’s SPLAT® Verb goes to work at Tahoe National Forest As...
Sep 27, 2024


Free Seed Store!
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...
Sep 9, 2024


September 2024 Newsletter
August sailed by quickly. It’s been an interesting summer – certainly one to test those “drought-tolerant” plants. Heat stress is...
Sep 7, 2024


Building the Seed Bank
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...
Sep 6, 2024


The Sweet Taste of Sour
Flavored Vinegar in the Spotlight By Deb Whittaker: Move over Pepsi and Coke. After 5000 years, vinegar drinks have morphed into the...
Sep 6, 2024


Jim Borland 1946-2024
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...
Aug 2, 2024


August 2024 Newsletter
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...
Aug 1, 2024


Late Season Plant Shopping
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,...
Jul 31, 2024


Report from the Steppe Symposium
Rooted in Stone: A Geologist Connects with Gardeners By Lee Recca: Dr. Bob Raynolds kicked off the Global Steppe Symposium by taking us...
Jul 28, 2024


July 2024 Newsletter
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...
Jun 30, 2024


Not all who wander are lost
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...
Jun 30, 2024


DATURA
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...
Jun 30, 2024


Give Kale a Chance
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...
Jun 1, 2024


June 2024 Newsletter
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. ...
May 31, 2024


Bring the Wild Pharmacy to Your Home Garden
By Sara Stewart Martinelli: The diverse ecosystems of Colorado are a treasure trove of native medicinal plants and trees - a living...
May 31, 2024


Fireflies and the allure of light
By R. Gary Raham: As sunlight fades on a warm summer evening, there is something magical about lights floating through the air blinking...
May 31, 2024


Birds-Be-Safe Cat Collars
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...
May 22, 2024


Allergies Season is Here
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...
May 1, 2024


PHLOX
Photo: Plant-growing.com PHLOX Caution! Flammable! By Panayoti Kelaidis Garden phlox come in three general categories: tall ones that...
May 1, 2024


May 2024 Newsletter
Garden Phlox What’s Getting up Your Nose & Making You Sneeze When to Plant Warm Season Veggies Fernleaf Peony The bright and bloomy month...
Apr 24, 2024


April 2024 Newsletter
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...
Apr 5, 2024


Year-Round Gardening in Colorado
Year-Round Vegetable Gardening in Colorado is Possible with a Cold Frame or Hoop House By Idelle Fisher : Cold Frames are basically a...
Apr 4, 2024


Plant Select Offerings for 2024
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...
Mar 15, 2024


March 2024 Newsletter
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...
Mar 15, 2024
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