Forcing Cut Branches to Bloom by Nancy Shepard

 

Photo: Nancy Shepard

To help celebrate spring, I usually search the grocery stores for live pussy willows. This year they were hard to find. Yet on an accidental trip to Trader Joe’s I bought some reddish brown twigs with buds with no label. White or pink blooms or something else?

After measuring the branch length for my vase, I cut the bottoms on an angle then slightly smashed the cut bottoms and stuck them in water. The angled cut and smashing helped the branches take up water. In three days I had dainty pink flowers. Maybe cherry? Or plum? They have lasted over a week and are now sprouting leaves.

Weather – Workin’ the Swing Shift by Patti O’Neal

 [Republished from February 2011]

What is a plant to do?  It’s February and all but a few plants should be peacefully enjoying the delicious dormancy of winter.  In the restful sleep of hibernation each plant sends good thoughts to its root zone where precious nutrients are stored to be called on when the sunshine of spring and early summer tease them to life by warming the soil and sending messages of new growth.  That’s in a perfect world.  But this year as well as others we are experiencing anything but perfect. 

Garden Preparation in Spring by C J Clawson

Photo CSU

In the Spring, a gardener’s fancy turns to planting beds, soil tests and amendments, and vegetable varieties.  No one wants to think about the pests and diseases that may come later – right now, life is a vision of a beautiful, bountiful vegetable garden.  But setting ourselves up for success includes giving consideration early in the season to the types of problems we might face later in the gardening year.  We must be pro active and vigilant from the very beginning of the season to protect our precious vegetable garden.  So . . . .

Not So Fast! Gardening Tips for Early Spring by Donna Duffy

Yes, it does feel a bit like Spring outside. And yes, there are signs of life in your yard and garden. As tempting as it is, don’t go full-force into your gardening mode quite yet. Following are some gardening chores you can start right now, and others that you’ll need to wait to begin.

How plants manage the shift from winter to spring - by Richard B. Primack

Trees in cold climates have evolved protections against ice and snow.
Photo: Richard Primack CC BY-ND

If you’ve ever seen lilac bushes crushed by snowdrifts, then budding on a warm day just a few weeks later, you may wonder how plants tolerate such extremes.

Tolerating cold

On winter days when temperatures fall below freezing, animals will hibernate underground or huddle together in protected spots. But trees and shrubs have to sit there and take it - the tissues in their trunks, branches and roots are alive. How do they survive the freezing cold?

Denver Botanic Gardens Plant Sale 2021 by Nancy Shepard

Photo Denver Botanic Gardens

The Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG) is holding its popular Spring plant sale online again this year and will offer its wide selection of plants to gardeners of every skill level. It is regularly one of the most popular plant sales in the state.

The Spring or Vernal Equinox by Carol King

Photo www.almanac.com

The first day of Spring brings joy to every gardener’s heart marking the beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. 

It is the unofficial opening of the new gardening season and regardless of the weather, we’re ready! Spring arrives here along the Front Range of Colorado on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 3:47am MDT.

Early Growing Season notes and reminders By Joyce D’Agostino

Photo: Joyce D'Agostino

For those of us who regularly garden, we often are already thinking what to grow and not grow for the next season. As the seeds are sown and seedlings planted, it often doesn’t take long for gardeners to find out what is doing well and thriving.

Year of the Hyacinth by National Garden Bureau

Jan Bos Hyacinth
A tried and true performer that's big, bright and sweetly fragrant.
Longfield Gardens

Hyacinths are spring-flowering bulbs that are treasured by gardeners for their heavenly fragrance.  The blossoms open in mid-spring, at the same time as daffodils and early tulips and they come in rich, saturated colors.  

Do your roses look awful? by Dave Ingram

Photo: Vicky Spelman

As we look at many gardens around the Denver metro area, we are realizing that this has been one of the harshest winters we've had in some time. Starting with the hard freeze last October, through the mid-winter dry spells, and including mid-April's temperature drop into the teens, our rose canes have taken a beating. Hybrid teas, shrubs, climbers - lots of dead and shriveled canes, many of them just since the last storm. This note is to let you know the damage is not just in your yard - we are seeing it all over.

Spring Bulbs for Pollinators by Vicky Spelman

Hiliary Halliwell - Pexels

All those bulbs you planted last Fall should be starting to pop up.  In March and April, we will still have some colder weather but the anticipation of Spring is here. As temperatures warm up pollinators will emerge from hibernation needing food sources.  Some of the earliest flowers to bloom are bulbs helping to provide the necessary nectar for hungry bees and pollinators.

Repotting Houseplants by Vicky Spelman

Courtesy Pexels

Houseplants need repotting every few years and Spring is a good time to do it.  The actively growing roots will have enough time to get established in the new potting soil.