Black Swallowtails by Camille Paige

Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. All photos by Camille Paige

The black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, is a large native CO butterfly with distinctive adult and larval (caterpillar) forms. The adults are striking butterflies with yellow spots lining the wings and blue spots and a “tail” on on the hind wing. Females can be distinguished by their more pronounced blue scales and smaller yellow spots.

Cold Frames - Making the Best Choice by Gregory Engel

Photo credit:  Extension, University of Maine 
https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2752e/

If you've gardened in Colorado for more than a few years, you know it's a challenging climate. Conditions vary from the drought days of the early 2000's to the unusually wet and cool spring and summer we've had here in 2023. Add to this a wide variation in elevation zones. More often than not, we wish for an extended growing season. A popular approach to achieving this goal is to set up cold frames structures that extend the growing season by creating a micro-climate favorable to either starting plants earlier in the spring or continue growing them late into fall, perhaps even throughout the winter.

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant by Megan Snow

Photo by Author

Common names: Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Bee spiderflower, Stinking-clover, Toothed spider-flower

Scientific Name: Cleome serrulata Pursh
 
I love my Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. The name caught my eye as I was looking for plants that attract pollinators to place next to my veggie beds in hopes of encouraging pollination.

A Bounty of Bees By Amy Longworth

Photo by author

One of the first things I planted was echinacea, which were being sold as a medicinal herb that spring. These perennial lovelies grow to about four feet tall and bloom prolifically from early summer until the first freeze in autumn.

The Myth of “Vine Ripe” by Amy Poinsett

When you should REALLY pick your tomatoes...

Many gardeners and tomato lovers believe that the very best tomatoes are those picked right off the vine at the moment of peak ripeness. Something like this…

Image by kie-ker from Pixabay

Unfortunately, we often find that something (I’m looking at you, squirrels!) gets to those perfect fruits before we do:

Galls on my Shrub Redleaf rose bush by Kelli Barker

Photo:  CMG Kelli Barker

Nature spared no creativity in designing its myriad of galls!  As I’ve dived deeper into my master gardener apprenticeship, I’m paying closer attention to the variety of shapes, sizes and colors of galls on various plants. Despite my increased awareness, I was still stumped in identifying what looked like large coronovirus molecules had attached themselves to my Redleaf rose bush (Rosa rubrifolia) in late May.  I planted this xeric shrub in northwest corner of my front yard, just 6 or so feet from the main road of my house in Wheat Ridge.