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Jun 06
300

The Benefits of Planting Colorado Native Plants

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Colorado Native Plants

The Benefits of Growing Plants Native to Colorado

By Jodi Torpey

Native plants are the new superheroes for our gardens. In places where there’s too little water, drought-tolerant native plants add color to a dry landscape. Native plants also come to the rescue when planted as rain gardens where storms dump heavy rainfall that flood yards with the runoff.

Native plants are trees, shrubs, and wildflowers that were here long before gardeners arrived. They’re the plants that grow in a specific region where they have evolved over time and are an essential part of the landscape because they know how to survive through tough conditions.

Because they’re well-suited for growing around here, they don’t need as much water or soil amendments as non-natives do. They also provide an important food source for our other natives, like bees, butterflies, birds and pollinators of all kinds.

In our region we’re lucky to have some of the most beautiful native plants around. Colorado native herbaceous perennials, like pussytoes, purple poppy mallow and Rocky Mountain penstemon, are naturally adapted to the harsh growing conditions of our region.

They can easily be incorporated into any landscape or used  to create a water-saving xeriscape. One of the best places to plant natives is in a hellstrip, that no-man’s land of planting that lies between the sidewalk and the curb.

Penstemons are the native plants that really show off all their attributes in early spring. June is the month when blooms hit their stride in the garden. No matter what color you need to fit your garden, there’s a striking penstemon to fill that spot.

Looking for Pink Plants? The new Carolyn’s Hope Pink penstemon fits the bill. This plant is actually a hybrid between Mexican and American wild penstemons. It offers medium-pink tubular flowers on plants that reach about 15 inches tall. A Plant Select recommendation for this year, Carolyn’s Hope was developed by Brian Core in honor of his wife. A portion of proceeds from all sales will benefit breast cancer research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Looking for something white, rose or purple? Prairie Jewel penstemon offers a little of each. Large bell-shaped flowers grow on tall stems that spring up on evergreen rosettes of foliage. This penstemon loves to have dry feet and will be happy along a dry sidewalk or driveway. Plant in masses for a spectacular show through June.

Want orange flowers? Bridges’ penstemon is another Plant Select offering that has scarlet trumpet flowers that hold up through the heat. These flowers are a southwestern native wildflower meant to grow in our arid climate. This penstemon can take up some real estate, too. Plants can grow about 30 inches tall and about 24 inches wide.

Need some violet to add to the dry garden? Pikes Peak Purple penstemon is a durable hybrid developed from crosses of wild species. With a background like that, you know this has to be a hardy plant, despite its delicate violet-purple flowers.

There are many other natives with different bloom times. If you plant it right, you can have a full season of color provided by plants that are perfectly suited for our gardens.

Plants native to Colorado can withstand the heat of summer and the cold of winter with minimal maintenance. Are you looking to plant some low-maintenance Colorado native plants? Visit our store and we’ll be happy to help you pick the right plants for every region of Colorado.

May 18
300

How to Grow Tomatoes

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How to Grow Tomatoes

By Jodi Torpey

After waiting all winter to taste a garden-grown tomato, most gardeners tend to rush the season by planting too soon. It’s best to wait to plant tomatoes until night-time temperatures are a reliable 55 degrees before planting garden tomatoes in the garden.

At higher altitudes, gardeners may need to plan ways to create a warm microclimate in their

garden to ensure adequate tomato-growing time. Wall O’ Water, or other plant protectors,

make a difference in planting time. Use them to warm the soil for a week and you can then

plant while the weather is still cool.

If you want to be the first on your block to pluck a tomato from your own vines, plant short-season tomatoes. These are also called early tomatoes. These are tomatoes that will mature in 55-60 days. The less time it takes for tomatoes to mature, the more likely you’ll have a tomato crop, especially if the weather turns cold or there’s an early freeze in fall.

When choosing tomatoes at the garden center, look for plants that are dark green, 6-8 inches tall with a stem about the diameter of a pencil. Read the label and look for “VFN resistant” hybrid varieties. VFN means the plant is resistant to Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, and nematodes.

Tomatoes can be planted in the ground, in raised beds or in containers. Select the sunniest spot in your garden—the one that receives 6-8 hours of sunshine each day in the summer—and an area that’s protected from wind, if possible.

Before planting in the garden or containers, move plants outdoors and gradually give them a

few hours of sun each day to get them acclimated to the outdoors.

When to plant tomatoes?

The best time to plant tomatoes in the late afternoon or on a cloudy day. Dig a small planting hole, remove some of the lower leaves from the tomato plant and plant in the soil up to the remaining leaves. For tall, leggy plants, plant lengthwise and bury some of the lower stem. Plants will grow roots all along the stem.

Tips for maintaining your tomato garden:

  • Mulch around the plant with thin layers of dry, untreated grass clippings to conserve water, control weeds and regulate soil temperature.
  • Water at the roots of the plant and water deeply to 8-10 inches. Avoid splashing water on the leaves.
  • Keep tomato beds weeded, but take care not to damage roots when weeding.
  • Tomatoes need nitrogen so fertilize tomatoes lightly with a water-soluble fertilizer when the fruits begin to grow. Make fertilizer applications every 2-4 weeks.

What other tomato tips do you have to add to the list?

May 15
300

Plant Smarter with Plant Select

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How to Plant Smarter with Plant Select

By Jodi Torpey

Ever since I discovered Plant Select plants, I’ve been a better gardener.

That’s because I know if I choose any of the plants recommended by the program, they’ll grow well in my low-water garden. I didn’t think Plant Select could get any better, but this year the collaboration between Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens, growers, landscape pros and garden centers has exceeded even my expectations.

After careful research, Plant Select envisioned a new branding strategy to make the plants in the program even more accessible to gardeners. The new message emphasizes how Plant Select helps gardens simply “Plant Smarter.”

Everything about this new approach articulates what I’ve felt were the benefits of the program all along. The new marketing materials sum it up. “Wind. Hail. Snow. Sun. Bring it on.”

Plant Select understands that all of those weather events can happen in our gardens, and sometimes in the course of just one day. The bold statement speaks to the resiliency of both the plants and the gardeners who plant them.

The more than 100 plants Plant Select has tested and introduced to Rocky Mountain gardeners are tough, adaptable, easy to care for—and beautiful. When gardeners purchase and plant the perennials, trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and vines, they can feel confident in their choices.

One of my favorite Plant Select plants is a perennial called Red feathers (Echium anoenum). This plant starts as a small rosette of dark green leaves that shoots up tall plumes of red-flowers every spring. It’s planted in a dry garden with sandy soil, and it’s a reliable performer year after year.

Another favorite in my landscape comes from the Petites division of the program. These are smaller plants meant for rock gardens, patio gardens and permanent containers. Oxlip primrose (Primula elatior) is the first flowering plant in my garden each spring. It’s a tough little primrose that shows up when the weather is still cool and blooms with soft yellow flowers on 6-inch stems.

When I planted my xeriscape garden in 2001, the first Plant Select offering I chose was a white Prairie Jewel penstemon (Penstemon grandifloras). The light-green foliage shows up early and then tall stalks grow with large flute-like flowers. The shape of these blossoms makes for a perfect landing pad for bees.

The next time you’re shopping at Nick’s Garden Center, I hope you’ll seek out the Plant Select plants by looking for the special sunrise logo on the plant stakes. Try a few in your garden and I’m sure you’ll become a better gardener just as soon as the plants take root.

May 08
304

What to Plant in May

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What to Plant in May in Colorado

By Jodi Torpey

May weather is so unpredictable, it seems like there are three gardening seasons in the span of 31 days. Make the most of this unsettled weather by dividing the month into thirds. Plan for planting in early May, the middle of May and the end of May.

In early May it’s still cool enough to plant transplants of cool-season vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

Plant trees, shrubs and container roses in early May before the weather heats up.

Add perennial fruit crops to the landscape such as blackberries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, raspberries and goji berries. Grow blueberries in acidic soil to get the best results.

Perennial plants, vines and ornamental grasses can be planted during the entire month, but the earlier the better. Cooler weather helps reduce transplant shock.

Mid-May is a good time to start planting summer bulbs, sometimes called tender bulbs. Buy gladiolus, dahlia, canna, lily, freesia and allium. These bulbs and tubers will bloom in summer and then need to be dug up and stored indoors over winter.

Purchase and plant bedding annuals like petunias, and herbs like basil, chives, parsley, dill, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage.

Seed new bluegrass lawns, overseed thin lawns or plant sod.

Wait until mid-to-late May before planting warm-season fruits and vegetables. Use a soil thermometer to make sure the vegetable garden soil is at least 50 degrees (and nighttime temperatures are a reliable 55 degrees) before planting hardened tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, corn, beans, pumpkins and cucumbers.

Plant flowers from seed or buy transplants for marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias, nasturtiums and cosmos.

Add drought-tolerant perennials to the garden like ice plants, salvias and penstemons.

May 01
304

Gardening Check List for May

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Gardening Checklist for May

By Jodi Torpey

If April showers bring May flowers, what else can gardeners expect this month? Warmer weather and that can’t-wait-to-get-planting feeling. The combination makes the gardening to-do list for May one of the longest lists of the season:

Here are the top to-do’s to get done in May:

Take care of roses. If you want beautiful roses in June, May is the time to get to work. Prune out dead canes and then clip roses into shape. If your garden suffered the quick freeze at the end of last season, you may find your roses have died back to the ground. If so, prune out all the dead canes and fertilize to encourage new growth.

Deadhead lilacs. After lilacs have finished blooming, clip off the dead flowers to keep the shrub from going to seed and to make room for next year’s flowers. If you missed out on having lilacs in your landscape this season, now’s the time to buy and plant lilac bushes. Even if you don’t have a large landscape, there are new, smaller varieties that will add color and fragrance in the future.

Use a soil thermometer. A soil thermometer is a good tool for knowing when the time is right to plant either cool-season or warm-season plants. Cool-season crops are ready to plant when the soil warms to about 35-40 degrees; warm-season crops (like peppers, corn and beans) prefer the soil to be a comfortable 65 to 70 degrees. Planting too soon can set back plant growth.

Clean containers. Before planting in last-season’s containers, clean them with soap, water and a stiff brush. This simple step keeps new plantings healthy and avoids spreading any insect or disease problems that may have lingered from last year.

Add color everywhere. After weather warms and the danger of frost has passed, fill containers and window boxes with your favorite annual colors and flavors. Combine flowers from the new HGTV home plant collection with culinary herb favorites for ornamental and edible containers that make the most of your garden space.

Plant for fruit. Start a mini-orchard in your landscape by planting fruit trees like apples, plums and sour cherries. There are newer varieties that are meant to fit smaller spaces, but will still produce good yields of fresh fruits

Give established perennials a boost. Dig several inches of compost around perennials and fertilize ornamental grasses. Afterwards, refresh the mulch around perennials to help conserve moisture and prevent weed growth.

Plant a perennial winner. The Perennial Plant Association named geranium Biokovo as the perennial plant of the year for 2015. This geranium is more commonly known as geranium cranesbill and its delicate white and pink flowers make for a great groundcover that pollinators like, too. Because cranesbill grows in a range of soils and light conditions, it’s no wonder it’s a blooming winner.

Keep evergreens in check. To keep evergreens from taking over the garden, pinch off the new growth as soon as it appears. Fingers are a better tool than clippers to trim off about one-third of the tight candle clusters to keep plant size manageable and to maintain its shape. Avoid using pruners because they can cut the remaining needles, turning them brown.

Rev up lawn care. Start up the sprinkler system and check to make sure it’s in tip-top shape. Fix leaks, broken sprinkler heads and other problems before the season gets in full swing. Follow the lawn watering rules for your city to reduce water waste. Mow turf using best practices for cutting only one-third of grass blades at each cutting. If you didn’t fertilize in fall, this is a good time for a light application of a slow-release fertilizer.

Apr 29
305

How to Buy Healthy Plants

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How to Buy Healthy Plants

By Jodi Torpey

Some of the best gardening advice to keep in mind as you get your garden started this season comes down to four simple words: “Cheap can be expensive.” That saying is a good reminder that price alone shouldn’t be the key consideration when purchasing plants.

Inexpensive garden plants can end up costing a lot more than you bargained for. Some will never reach their full potential because of poor care or neglect early in the season.

Remember, a healthy garden starts with healthy plants. Instead of buying based on price alone, look for quality plants that have been well tended. Your return on investment can include fewer plant problems, more flowers, bigger fruit and larger yields.

Give Plants a Health Checkup

Here are six questions to ask yourself when shopping for bedding plants, perennial plants, vegetables and herbs:

Is the plant in proportion to its pot? The answer to this question indicates the length of time the plant has been growing in the same container. Look for well-proportioned plants and avoid plants that are too tall or leggy.

Are roots growing out of the bottom of the container? Seeing roots is a sign the plant has been in the pot too long and needs to be planted quickly.

Is there healthy green growth? Leaves should be fresh and green. Check to see if there are new leaves at the end of stems and branches.

Are leaves yellowed, faded, brown or dropping? Leaf issues can signal the plant has received too much or not enough water.

Is the soil completely dry? Overly dry soil indicates the plant has received inconsistent watering and care. The potting soil should be evenly moist instead.

Are there insects on the plant? It’s best to avoid plants with insect activity because they can spread problems for the healthy plants in your garden.

After Care at Home

After you’ve selected the healthiest plants for your garden, they need some care once you get them home. Most annual plants—from bedding plants to vegetables like tomatoes and peppers—need time to get acclimated before transplanting into the garden. Then plant on a cloudy day or in the late afternoon to help reduce transplant shock.

The soil needs to be warm enough for planting tender fruit and vegetable plants. Wait until night-time temperatures are a reliable 50-55 degrees before planting. Condition plants to the outdoors before planting by exposing them to the sun slowly, over the course of about a week before planting so delicate leaves and stems have a chance to toughen up before planting.

Bedding plants also need time to get acclimated over a period of a week or more. Use row cover cloth to protect plants from wind and intense afternoon sun for 5-7 days after planting.

Perennial plants are often already acclimated to outdoor conditions and can be planted sooner.

All of these steps add up to what every gardener wants—a healthy, beautiful and productive garden.

Apr 24
305

Choosing the Right Mulch for your Landscape

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Choosing the Right Mulch for your Landscape

By Jodi Torpey

It’s easy for new gardeners to get confused when it comes to talking about soil, soil amendments, compost and mulch. So let’s set the record straight.

Soil amendments are organic materials added into the soil to improve it. Materials can include compost, well-aged manure, biosolids from treated sewage and dried, untreated grass clippings.

Mulch isn’t a soil amendment, although some mulch materials can eventually break down to enrich the soil. Instead of being dug into the soil, mulch is distributed over the top of the soil to help save water, stop soil erosion, reduce evaporation and minimize weeds.

Mulch can either be organic, like shredded bark, or inorganic, like rock. Not only does mulch give a finished look to the landscape, it helps insulate the soil by maintaining soil temperatures to keep the ground from heaving up during the predictable thaw and freeze cycles in our area.

If I had to come up with one word to describe what mulch does it would be “timesaving.”

You might not think that it saves time while you’re applying mulch after planting, but the little bit of extra effort will save time in the long run. You’ll save water because you won’t have to water as often, and there will be fewer weeds to pull. Just think of all the time that will save.

After you finish planting the perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, and even vegetables, mulching is the next step. Apply a layer of mulch at least 3 inches deep around the root zone of trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetable beds and even outdoor and indoor container plants.

For the best results, match the type of mulch with how it will be used in your landscape:

Shredded bark. Bark chips, chunk bark and chipped Christmas trees all make a long-lasting mulch for perennial beds and around trees and shrubs. Keep bark away from plant stems. Bark many need to be reapplied every season or so for the most attractive look because it can spread or blow away on its own.

Gravel and stone. These inorganic mulches are available in many sizes and colors so you can mix them up to add interest to the landscape. Gravel mulch works especially well around perennial plants that prefer a well-drained soil, like xeriscape plants. Gravel and stone mulches work well at stopping weeds if weed barrier cloth is placed underneath.

Dry, untreated grass clippings. This organic mulch works well in the vegetable garden. Applied in thin layers, it helps conserve water by keeping the soil moist and it prevents weeds, too. Grass clippings also make a good mulch for container plantings. Be sure to keep the grass away from plant stems.

Dry, crushed leaves. Fallen leaves from trees are also a good mulch for vegetable beds. An extra bonus is they can become a soil amendment when turned under the soil in fall.

Pine needles. Another organic mulch includes pine needles. These make an effective mulch around trees, shrubs and perennials if there’s a good supply available. When used in small amounts, pine needles won’t cause the soil to become overly acidic.

Straw. Straw is another good organic mulch for the vegetable bed and it can even be used as a planting medium. The downside to straw is that it blows away easily and may need to be reapplied often.

When calculating how much mulch to buy, consider that 1 cubic yard of mulch will cover about 324 sq. feet, approximately 1 inch deep. Add more mulch to achieve thicker coverage and to make the most of its water-saving and weed-eliminating properties.

Apr 17
308

What to Plant in April

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What to Plant in April in Colorado 

By Jodi Torpey

Timing is everything when it comes to spring planting in our region. It pays to wait until nighttime temperatures are consistently in the 50s before planting warm-season favorites like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

But there are plenty of other ways to get your vegetable garden going while the weather is still unsettled. Cool-season vegetables prefer chillier temperatures and can handle a little frost without any problems.

Here are some tips for what to plant in your Colorado garden in April:

Start planting leafy greens like kale, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach and arugula. Greens can be planted in vegetable gardens, raised gardens or patio containers. Be sure to keep seeds moist.

Plant herbs like parsley and chives. Sprinkle seeds densely because these plants can grow closely together without the need for thinning.

Start planting root vegetables. Radishes, beets, carrots and turnips can also be planted about 4 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost.

Buy transplants of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Let transplants spend a little time outside and in the sun each day to acclimate to outside conditions before planting.

Purchase and plant certified seed potatoes. For a quicker harvest, buy the potato varieties with early and mid-season maturing dates. As an alternative, harvest “new” potatoes while the vines are still green.

Plant peas at the same time as potatoes to make the special spring dish of creamed peas with new potatoes.

Try your hand at growing onions. There are three ways you can plant onions in your garden: seeds, onion sets or onion transplants. Look for long-day varieties and plant when the soil is workable. Plan to thin onions to allow for larger bulbs.

Plant bluegrass, rye and fescue as soon as nighttime temperatures are consistently above freezing.

Begin planting perennial flower seeds like columbines, delphiniums, hollyhocks and daisies in the garden. April showers will help speed germination.

More on Growing Vegetables Here

Apr 05
309

How to Maintain a Healthy Lawn

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How to Maintain a Healthy Lawn

By Jodi Torpey

Do you think of your lawn as a piece of old green carpet or as the perennial groundcover that it is?

Most folks forget that a lawn is made up of many individual plants that are all begging for some attention. With the right amount of TLC, your lush green lawn can increase the value of your home by 5-15 percent, according to the Professional Lawn Care Association.

In our climate, lawns need some kind of care during all four seasons. There’s aerating, fertilizing and watering starting in spring, mowing and managing weeds through summer, aerating and fertilizing in fall and watering during dry times in winter.

One way to keep your lawn healthy over summer is to top dress it with compost. Spreading a thin layer of compost, about ¼ to ½ inch deep, over your lawn gives your soil a boost of nutrients, helps feed beneficial soil organisms and works to hold in moisture.

Compost will also help reduce the need for weed killers because a thick, healthy lawn is the best way to prevent weed seeds from finding a place to land.

You may think watering your lawn is the key to keeping it healthy, but good mowing practices are just as important. Resist the urge to mow grass blades shorter than 2 inches tall. Mowing lower can damage or kill grass roots. Keeping grass taller (about 2-3 ½ inches tall) helps shade the roots so they can grow deeper and need less water.

Remove only 1/3 of the grass blade during each mowing. This may mean mowing more than once a week, but your lawn will be healthier and thicker.

Mowing

Speaking of mowing, if you use a mulching lawn mower, you can leave your grass clippings on the lawn instead of bagging them. Leaving grass clippings on your lawn after mowing reduces the need for extra fertilizer because clippings quickly decompose and add nutrients to your soil. (It also means you’ll be sending fewer bags of yard waste to the landfill.)

Another key to maintaining a healthy lawn is by watering deeply and infrequently. Frequent shallow waterings keeps grass roots close to the surface of the soil where they can dry out quicker.

Water only when your grass needs it. Test the soil moisture by pushing in a screwdriver about 6 or 8 inches deep. If the screwdriver goes in easily, the grass won’t need extra water. If the screwdriver goes in only a few inches, it’s time to water.

For a bluegrass lawn, apply fertilizer four times during the year: mid-March to April, May to mid-June, mid-August to mid-September, and early October to early November (while grass is still green).

The fall application is what gives lawns the nutrients needed to green up quickly in spring. Use fertilizer in the recommended amounts. Excess lawn fertilizer becomes a major source of pollution when it washes off lawns and into the storm water system.

Mar 31
311

How to Grow in Raised Planting Beds

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Raised Bed Gardening: Growing Plants & Veggies in Urban Spaces

By Jodi Torpey

Planting a garden in raised beds may seem like a modern-day gardening invention, but raised planting beds have been around for centuries. There’s evidence of raised bed gardens in ancient Rome where an Emperor’s gardeners planted warm-season fruits, like melons, in portable raised beds that could be moved indoors during cold weather.

Those early gardeners understood the advantages of planting in raised bed gardens. If you’ve tried just about everything to get plants to grow in your garden’s poor soil, raised beds offer a convenient alternative.

Instead of trying to amend soil that’s either too clayey, too sandy, or just too darn difficult to work with, raised beds can be filled with the choicest soil. You can add the perfect soil to create an ideal planting space.

Another advantage of raised beds is they can be placed anywhere in your yard to take advantage of the sunniest planting spots, even the front yard. Because the beds are above ground level, they also warm up faster in the springtime, so you can get a jump on planting vegetables and herbs.

Raised beds are also easier to maintain because dense plantings help keep weeds out.

The biggest disadvantage with planting raised beds is they dry out more quickly than a traditional garden bed because all the sides are exposed. Mulching can help maintain some soil moisture and finding ways to insulate the sides could also help.

Here are some ways to make the most of your raised planting beds:

Beds can be made of wood, bricks, cinder blocks, stacked stones, cloth smart pots, or even on four-legged elevated beds that you can work in while standing up.

Be sure each raised bed is the right size. You want to be able to reach the center from all sides without stepping in or kneeling on the bed and compacting the soil. Typical widths range from 2 ½ to 3 ½ feet. Some gardeners like the look of 4 x 4 square boxes.

If you have lots of shade in your yard, make the most of a warm microclimate by placing the bed near a fence that can absorb and reflect heat.

Be sure to break up the existing soil and dig it in deeply with the soil you use to fill the raised bed. Different layers of soil can make it difficult for roots that want to grow deep and they’ll be stopped at the soil interface.

If you place the raised bed near trees you may need to add a liner or thick layers of overlapping material (like cardboard) to keep tree roots out of the raised bed.

Mulch with dried leaves, untreated dry grass clippings or straw.

Use your raised beds for planting different kinds of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

When planting vegetables in raised beds, plant in blocks rather than rows to make better use of the existing space.

When planting flowers, go for the layered look with tall plants in middle of the bed, then medium-tall, short and ground covers around the edges where they can drape off the sides.

Do you have any tips that work for planting in raised beds?

More Vegetable Information Here