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Issues & Articles
WE'VE GONE DIGITAL!
Our 2023 Harvest issue was our last printed issue. However, don't worry, we're not going away – we'll be adding articles regularly online and will send out our e-magazine to subscribers.
Colorado Gardener provides our readers with the ideas, information, resources, inspiration and sense of humor needed to grow ornamental and edible plants successfully in our fast changing, unpredictable climate. We emphasize waterwise and environmentally sound practices.
Colorado Gardener is an independently owned gardening newsmagazine that went all-digital in 2024.
We do have a limited number of printed back issues that are available for $3 each if desired, contact us if interested in obtaining any copies.
RECENT ARTICLES
August 2026 E-Magazine
Late summer and early fall can be a good time to plant. As we ease into a hopefully cooler part of the summer with the potential for much more moisture later this month–if the super El Niño plays out for us that way–I’m reprinting an enlightening article that Mikl Brawner wrote for us about soil.
Jul 31
Tomato Plants Flowering but are not Fruiting
Q: My tomato plants are blooming but not setting fruit. What’s up with that?
Jul 31
Bindweed Control without Herbicides
Q: Bindweed is taking over my lawn and gardens. What can I do without using synthetic herbicides.
Jul 31
Refreshing Mulch
Q: I can see the soil through my mulch. I believe it’s allowing weeds to come up. Should I be adding fresh mulch this time of year?
Jul 31
Adding Color to Perennial Flower Borders
A: First thing I do is go to the garden center and see what’s blooming there. My go to plants include the newer, dwarf, well behaved varieties of Russian Sage like Blue Jean Baby, Denim and Lace, and Little Spire.
Jul 31
What flowering trees can I plant that don't attract Japanese beetles?
A: Here are some of my favorite flowering trees that Japanese Beetles avoid. Redbud, Yellowhorn, White Fringe Tree, Japanese Tree Lilac, Magnolia, Golden Rain Tree, Pagoda Dogwood, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Catalpa, Smokebush, Seven-Son Flower, Russian Hawthorne. Thoughtful selection will provide color from early spring through mid-summer.
Jul 31
Helping Forests to Walk
By R. Gary Raham: Speaking about human beings and the ebb and flow of glaciers over the past million years, writer Loren Eiseley said, “We are things forgotten when the ice withdrew, and meant to perish really, but the ice forgot, and somehow from the ice-streams we survived—a tough, ill-mannered beast, outthinking all the rest.”
Jul 31
Building Topsoil and Soil Fertility
By Mikl Brawner: “Where can I get good topsoil?” is a question I hear frequently at our nursery. I often look wistfully towards the plains and say, half-jokingly, “You can get good topsoil about 800 miles east of here.” That’s where I grew up, in Iowa, where two tomato plants feed a family of six. It’s not that local suppliers are trying to deceive us when they sell Colorado clay as topsoil; it’s just that glaciers didn’t dump three feet of loam on top of our clay.
Jul 31
July 2026 E-Magazine
Petrichor. We had a few rumbles of thunder and a very light rain here last night, but it was enough to notice that relaxing, earthy scent that accompanies the release of aromatic compounds when moisture hits dry soil and rocks.
Jul 1
The Sting of Summer
On a scale of zero to four, zero being barely perceptible and four being agonizing, how would you rate Colorado's stinging insects?
Jul 1
Gardening with Hummingbirds
Experience the joy of seeing hummingbirds up close, busily darting from flower to flower, feeding on the natural nectar provided by your colorful flowers.
Jul 1
Specks on Cucumber Leaves
Q: My cucumber leaves have small silver specks on them. Is this normal or a problem?
Jun 30
Fertilizers: Organic vs. Natural
Q: I see fertilizers labeled as “Organic Based.” What does that mean? What’s the difference between organic and natural? A: Organic fertilizers are made from materials that were once living, such as compost, manure, bone meal, feather meal, kelp, or alfalfa. Organic means the material contains carbon atoms. The nutrients are released slowly as soil microbes break them down, feeding both your plants and the soil. Natural fertilizers simply come from naturally occurring sou
Jun 30
Hackberry “Pimples”
Q: My hackberry tree leaves have strange “pimples” on the underside of many of the leaves. Is this a problem?
Jun 30
Deformed Hollyhock Flowers
Q: My hollyhocks have lovely flower spikes and flower buds, but they fall off or open with deformed flowers. I see small brown little brown bugs among the buds at the tip of the flower spikes. Are they the culprit?
Jun 30
Is it bad to water the leaves of plants in the sun?
Q: I’m told not to get water on the leaves of my plants when the sun is out because the droplets act like a magnifying glass and burn the leaves. Is that true?
Jun 30
June 2026 E-Magazine: Greener Pastures
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.
Jun 2
Frozen Trumpet Lilies: Will they come back?
Lilium longiflorum (Easter Lily) Q: My trumpet lilies were up and growing beautifully until the freeze a few weeks ago killed them to the ground. What should I do? Will they come back? A: Yes — in most cases your lilies should come back just fine. A hard spring frost often damages the tender above-ground growth, but the underground bulb will survive. The leaves and flower buds turn black, mushy, or collapsed after the frost. Cut the damaged stems off at ground level. Do
Jun 1
Why Do Roses Change Color?
Q: One of my roses doesn’t look like it has in the past. The color and size of the flowers is different and the leaves aren’t the same. What’s going on? Is it the weird winter/spring we’ve had? A: It could be weather stress from our strange Colorado winter and spring, but when a rose suddenly changes flower color, bloom size, and leaf shape all at once, there’s a very common explanation: your original rose may have died back below the graft, and the rootstock is taking ove
Jun 1
Fastest Growing Vegetables to plant in June
Q: What vegetables can I plant in June that will give me a harvest yet this summer.
Jun 1
Can Colorado Native Plant Gardens be Beautiful?
Natives from Left to right: Artemisia frigida (Fringed Sage), Berlandiera lyrata (Chocolate Flower), and the purple Penstemon strictus (Rocky mountain penstemon) Q: I read a lot about planting natives but they are difficult to find and not always that attractive, especially as a small plant in a pot in the nursery. How can I be environmentally responsible and still have a beautiful landscape? A: In recent years native plants have garnered more and more interest for the h
Jun 1
Gardening for Night Owls & Moths
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
Jun 1
May 2026 E-Magazine
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
May 1
Will my perennials survive the watering restrictions this summer?
A: More than likely they will. Some won’t grow as large or bloom as heavily, but they should all survive. Be sure to mulch bare soil to keep the soil cooler, reduce water loss and keep down weeds.
Apr 30
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