August 2025 E-Magazine
- Jane Shellenberger
- Jul 30
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 31
Editor's Letter
Last weekend I was able to escape the heat because Panayoti Keladis invited members of the local rock garden society to visit a few of his favorite botanizing spots in the Snowy Mountains of Wyoming. Here are a few of the native wildflowers we saw.
These excursions are one of the great benefits of joining a local plant club. Sure, you can visit places on your own, but going with a small group of other plant enthusiasts and experts who know just what is blooming where and when, is a lot more exciting and fun.
It’s a bit like the mountain equivalent of beach combing except, of course, that the plants are alive and you don’t bring treasures home.
I’m thrilled with certain things in my veggie garden this year. The leeks and onions are huge and robust. I don’t know the varieties other than white and red since I bought sets, but I got them in early, in well-amended soil that I’ve built over the years, and with drip irrigation that makes a huge difference. The brassicas are all doing well despite the heat. With drip, hay mulch, and a fortress of garlic surrounding them I don’t have the insect problems that I keep hearing about from others.
Keith Funk’s Garden Q&A this month clarifies some often confusing gardening terms like “part sun” vs “part shade.” He also discusses zucchini withering in pots, wintering over crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, and feeding roses.
See you in September. July was a flash in the pan. It went by so fast!
Jane Shellenberger
Montrose Botanic Gardens Turns 30
By James Cencer
The Montrose Botanic Gardens thrives at 5,879 feet in the high desert country of southwest Colorado. It is an enchanting place in all four seasons. In deep winter it’s like an Ice Palace with sparkly frosting on the boulders and sculptures. In the spring, it’s a bright quilt with patches of color as the iris and crocuses emerge. In the space of just a week, the Spring Snow Crabapples turn the entry Promenade into a fairyland with a shimmering canopy over a carpet of white petals. When Summer follows, the Rose Garden bursts into a rainbow of colors. And finally, shrubs and trees turn dusky shades of red and and gold in the fall.
Back in 1995, this enchanting place was purely a vision of Jim Chaplin, who saw the promise in a 3.5 acre desert of tumbleweed, sage and cactus, and became the first president of Montrose Botanic Gardens. It has been a work in progress ever since. Always intended as more than a botanical postcard showplace, the mission statement specifies a demonstration garden as well as a place of education and leisure.
Today, there are 10 specialty gardens with best-case examples of trees, shrubs, grasses, vegetables, fruit, and, of course, flowers. Some have obvious names like Rock Garden and Native Garden. The Waterwise Garden helps home gardeners plan their own healthy, attractive, low maintenance gardens. The Valley Garden includes a Waves of Grass earthen terrace with drought-tolerant grasses and several species of flowering plants to attract native insects and pollinators. It borders an accessible space Sensory Garden with a treat for all the senses. Three varieties of lilacs bloom one after the other in spring with an exhilarating fragrance and a cascade of pastel colors.
By Keith Funk
Q: What's the difference between part sun and part shade?
A: The terms "part sun" and "part shade" frequently appear in gardening books and articles, and on plant tags. These two phrases may seem to mean the same thing, but there is a difference. Though subtle, this distinction is an important one to understand for the best performance of your plants.
When "part sun" is specified, the term is stressing that the plant prefers more sun than shade. Plant in a spot that receives at least 5 or 6 hours of strong, direct sun.
When you see "part shade" used, the plant is more of a shade lover and prefers more shade than sun. Plant where it will get less than four hours of direct sun, and preferably, here in Colorado, the gentler light of the morning hours.
This nuance can be found in the phrases "part shade to shade" (four or fewer hours of direct sun) or "full to part sun" (six or more hours of direct sun). In these, it's easy to see that the plant in question has a preference or tolerance for more shade or more sun.
Check our Colorado Gardener Calendar for an updated list of events including gardening classes, webinars, conventions, plant swaps, and presentations.Do you have some Colorado Gardening events to submit to us?
