More Plants for Hummingbirds by Amy Norwood

Cuphea Photo: White Flower Farms

If you’re looking to attract hummingbirds to your outdoor space this season, this blog has an excellent post titled “Plants for Hummingbirds,” dated May 20, 2021.  It mainly talks about two perennial flowers in an in-ground flower garden, Sunset Hyssop and Red Birds in a Tree that are very attractive to hummingbirds.  But, what if you want to attract hummingbirds but you don’t have an in-ground flower garden?

Are Gnats in Your Home Making You Nuts? By Amy Norwood

Adult fungus gnat showing the distinctive, curved “Y” fork in the wings. 
Photo Credit: B. Schoenmakers, via Wikipedia.

Do you have tiny flying insects in your home?  These insects don’t pose a health risk to people or animals, but they are very annoying.  They can be controlled if you know which tiny flying insect you have.

Organic Gardening in a Nutshell by Amy Norwood

Organic lawn fertilizer with an OMRI logo, Photo: Amy Norwood

Gardening season is here. If you're reading this blog post, chances are that you're a gardener who cares about the impact your garden has on nature and you want to minimize the impact. Learning about organic gardening practices and including them in your gardening routine can move you toward that goal. But what exactly are organic gardening practices?

What Do Our Master Gardeners Grow? Part 3

We polled our Master Gardeners, and this is what they said....

Plants I'll Always Plant:  Verbena bonariensis

Plant I'm Itching to Try:   Salvia Dorris (Desert Sage)

Forget About It:  Hibiscus - I’ve tried about 6 times!
~Master Garden Cherie

Grow This Cuke! by Amy Norwood

Salt and Pepper Cucumbers

Several years ago, I went to a local garden store in May looking for cucumber starts.  The store had two shelves full of cucumber plants, one shelf labeled “slicing” and the other labeled “pickling.”  I wanted to grow cucumbers for salad, so I grabbed some plants from the slicing shelf and bought them.

When I got home, I looked at the plant tags more closely and discovered they were pickling cucumbers, a white-skinned variety called “Salt and Pepper.”  Aaaaargh!  Why were pickling cucumbers on the slicing shelf? 

Name that Houseplant! by Amy Norwood

Photo:  Amy Norwood

Last fall I bought a houseplant at a big box store.  It was attractive, healthy and priced well.  The tag on the plant said “tropical plant.”  That told me I couldn’t leave the plant outside over the winter because it would freeze and die in Colorado’s climate.  The plant grew nicely in my house over the winter and it didn’t seem important for me to know exactly what plant it was.  As spring approached, however, I wanted to identify it so I’d know whether and where I could put it outside in the summer.  I also wanted to know the watering and fertilizing regimen it needed for the upcoming more active growing season.

Celebrate Daffodil Season with a Poem! By Amy Norwood

Photo courtesy of High Country Gardens

Look around outside in March and April and you might see blooming daffodils.  Daffodils are grown from bulbs planted in the fall.  They are one of the earlier bulb flowers to bloom, and have a range of colors from deep gold to white and a variety of sizes to choose from.  Daffodils are deer resistant and tend to naturalize, that is, divide on their own and expand their territory year after year.

Jefferson County Master Gardeners in Service: Call Center for Your Horticulture Questions by Amy Norwood

 Master Gardener Amy Norwood staffing the Call Center

If you are a Colorado gardener, chances are you’ve asked yourself questions like these:

• What is the best time of year to prune my apple tree?
• When I mow my lawn, what should I do with the clippings?
• What type of light does my indoor fern plant require?

You aren’t alone: questions about outdoor landscapes and indoor plantscapes arise 52 weeks a year.  Jefferson County Master Gardeners answer these questions year-round via the Master Gardener Call Center.