Colorado Gardener Articles

Just when you think it’s going to dry up and turn arid instead of semi-arid, Colorado’s weather surprises. Three days of steady, gentle rain and cooler temperatures in May transformed the dried out, dusty Front Range land here into green pastures.

By Marcia Tatroe: Oenothera caespitosa, Boysen Lake WY Disappearing honeybees and butterflies get a lot of press but other, less glamorous, pollinators are also in trouble. Pesticide use, habitat degradation, light pollution and predatory European wasps are all taking a toll on moths. You might be thinking “good riddance.” After all, some of the worst garden pests belong to the moth tribe. But moths pollinate more flowers than do butterflies and are essential to the reproduct

The recent hard frost hit a lot of the too-early spring growth on trees and shrubs when they were already struggling after so many hot, dry, windy days. It's been cloudy & cooler this week but we didn't get much moisture. I abandoned surface watering in favor of deep root waterers for trees. The late Steven Pfeifer, my go-to arborist for many years, always recommended them. It’s more time-consuming but more effective. I topped off all my woody plants and trees with small bark

Living in the semi-arid west doesn't have to preclude us from growing wonderful gardens, resplendent with blooms that will last in the yard as well as in the vase.

For over two weeks now the huge ‘Carol Mackie’ Daphne that’s right outside our front door has been delighting us and all visitors with its sweet scent. One of the first and best Plant Select offerings, it has put up admirably with very dry years and it never needs pruning or fussing over. Though I’ve heard these shrubs can die suddenly, mine is close to 25 years old.

I’m stretched out in my hammock, dappled light through the Box elder warming my face, bird song vibrant, and there’s a soft breeze, warmer than usual for this time of year. Ah, nothing to do but wait for spring… but then I startle awake!

The Front Range FireWise Botanical Garden is a proposed public garden concept that would bring those ideas together in one place.

By Idelle Fisher: I was fortunate to find an extra ticket to the 2026 Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference in late February since it sold out a month early. It's great news for pollinators and wildlife that so many people are excited about planting more habitat in their landscapes. It was held at the CSU Spur campus which has planted native landscapes and gardens all along the riverfront open space. Free and open to the public year-round, CSU Spur has courses f

I moved to the house where I now live in the spring of 2001. There was a lot of tall, lush brome grass in the pasture that year and I learned from my neighbor how to irrigate, to use the few shares of water that came with the place and feed my horses. There was plenty of ditch water that year and I had someone cut and bale my own hay. But the following year everything dried up. We couldn’t see any snow on the back range from the plains. Our ditch water didn’t come. Weeds emer

By Lori Wheat: Xeriscape landscaping promotes water efficiency by using plants that are native and adaptable to Colorado's semi-arid climate. A well-designed Xeriscape can invite wildlife and pollinators, provide year-round interest, and save water.

EcoArts Connections and Suelo Bueno, and with the help of Growing Gardens, are co-creating a program to encourage Boulder County gardeners and growers to grow extra flats of plant starts to distribute to low income families, especially those living at or below the poverty line in Mobile Home/Manufactured Housing Communities (MHCs).

Last week we had a freezing, foggy morning before the sun broke through. I happened to be outside feeding my horse at that moment when the fog dissipated and the iced trees were suddenly glittery against a bright blue sky. As I walked back toward the house tiny white flakes floated down around me, melting before they reached the ground, and I looked up, wondering how it could possibly be snowing under a blue sky with no wind, but it was just the trees shedding their icy coats

Tips for keeping cut flowers fresh from Lori Wheat of family-owned Lafayette Florist.

Year-Round Vegetable Gardening in Colorado is Possible with a Cold Frame or Hoop House. Cold Frames are basically a small, short version of a greenhouse – more or less a raised bed with sloped lids that trap solar heat to keep the bed warm.

Snow is falling at last! My truck is still half full of dairy compost from Soil Rejuvenation just east of Longmont. Brian, the owner, is a lanky farmer with the gift of gab. His crop is soil and it excites him. For almost 10 years he has been researching and experimenting with materials and learning in depth about soil biology and what makes it thrive.

By Idelle Fisher: Dr. Samuel Ramsey Dr. Samuel Ramsey of CU's Boulder Bee Lab was the engaging keynote speaker on the first day of this year’s Pollinator Summit. With a good dose of humor, he addressed the “wrong bees" topic, describing how our non-native honeybees have gotten a bad rap in recent years because they can negatively affect our important native bees. Honeybees are important for agriculture, but he stressed how vital it is to treat honeybees like pets or livestoc

It’s been a beautiful fall and there are plenty of leaves everywhere for the garden beds. I find there’s nothing better for building soil in veggie and perennial beds, and well as around roses and shrubs, than adding compost and leaves in the fall. Shredding the leaves, especially any thicker, leathery cottonwood leaves, helps them break down faster without matting.

Q: Over the last few years, I’ve collected a number of cacti and succulents. When I look them up online, it shows that they have gorgeous flowers. Mine never bloom. I have them in various windowsills and on tables near the window. Do they have to be older to flower? Do they need a certain kind of fertilizer?

By Penn Parmenter: “All men all the time.” That’s what I say to people when trying to explain how I live. Then I say, “In a tiny house – all men – all the time.”

Fall Harvest The other day my friend Nina stopped by with some sweet corn from Munson’s in Boulder. Munson’s Farm is well known around...

By William J. Dagendesh: Harvest supply kit Children’s old backpacks and giveaway canvas tote bags make a handy harvest kit. Fill with a...

By Pam Sherman: Do you have too many zucchinis now, but not enough in winter? How can we enjoy our garden's bounty throughout the cold...

By Jennifer Bousselot: Jump start your spring vegetable season. Growing up on a small family farm I remember how the demands of the crops increase as the season progresses.

Here is a short video from Bella Cloude, an herbalist for 50 years, who sent a short video clip showing some of her favorite immune...

In the proposed "Rescission of Conservation and Landscape Health Rule" (aka The Public Lands Rule), the Feds plan to strip conservation...

Editor’s Letter As always, just as I’d given up on watering to keep everything alive in the heat, the rains came. The big cube where I...

By John Hershey: In the hard-charging workplaces of America, a popular motivational mantra is “Failure is not an option.” At least it was...

Native columbines dominate a rocky slope. Photo: Mary Jensen Editor's Letter Last weekend I was able to escape the heat because Panayoti...

Photos: James Cencer By James Cencer: The Montrose Botanic Gardens thrives at 5,879 feet in the high desert country of southwest...

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

Photo: Jane Shellenberger Editor’s Letter After spending much of the weekend irrigating my pasture and trees in the heat and into the...

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...