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.

Some Plants Do Best with Neglect by Nancy Shepard

Caring and nurturing our plants is an instinctive feeling we have as gardeners. Watering, weeding, trimming, and fertilizing are front and center in our minds throughout the growing season. But that caring can sometimes go wrong, especially as we start to use more water-wise and native plants. 

Digitalis thapsis (Spanish Peaks Foxglove)  planted in hot and dry area
Photo: Nancy Shepard

Digitalis thapsii, or Spanish Peaks Foxglove is planted in two different parts of my yard. One in a south-facing, parched area near a hot brick pathway and the other in part shade within a retaining wall that gets some moisture. The plants were put in at the same time. The hot baked location is showing incredible results, while the other is struggling to survive. While it has the name Foxglove, Spanish Peaks is nothing like its cousins which need shade when the summers get hot. 

Digitalis thapsii Spanish Peaks Foxglove in part shade with moisture
Photo: Nancy Shepard

Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon x mexicali Pikes Peak Purple)
Photo: High Country Gardens

I also planted Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon x mexicali Pikes Peak Purple) in several locations around my yard and these suffered because I watered them. They grew leggy, limp and fell over. I stopped watering them and they look great now.

Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low' Catmint
Photo: Nancy Shepard

One of my Nepeta catmints (Walker's Low) developed a big hole in the center and spread out flat because of too much water and the shade of a tree. The one out in the relentless sun didn't have that problem. Described as thriving in harsh conditions, this durable, rabbit and deer resistant perennial plant is an indispensable for use in xeriscapes. 

Linum perenne Blue Flax
Photo: Wikipedia

Same with Linum perenne Blue Flax. I planted both seeds and seedlings. As long as I leave these alone and skip watering them, they have continued to bloom straight and tall all spring.

I’ve had to relearn how and when to water if at all with these xeric specimens. It's been a little tricky because they are planted among perennials that need some water, but I'm getting better at it. As our summers in Colorado continue to get warmer, I'm seeing my garden with a different perspective. And hopefully my water bills will show it!

 

 

How to Recycle Your Plant Pots by Nancy Shepard

 

By now you’ve probably planted all your annuals and added more perennials to your garden. What to do with all those plastic pots you brought home?  In researching this topic, I had hoped to find a conclusive answer, but the recycling industry is much more complex than I thought. I used to think I could throw them in with my regular recycling routine but I found out that many recyclers don’t want these pots.

Since most flower pots are dark green or black and are made from a variety of plastic resins, they say to put them in the trash. The reason it is hard to recycle dark colored plastic is because recycling facilities sort plastics by bouncing a beam of light off them. Since black plastic absorbs light, it can't be sorted and goes straight through the system and off to the landfill or incineration. The same is true for really dark colors in general (dark grays and sometimes navy.)  It's best to either reuse them or see if any nearby nurseries or home improvement stores will take them back for reuse.

I found that Lowe’s has a recycling program for these pots, although I can’t say exactly what they do with them. They usually have a shelf inside the garden center where you can drop yours off.

Lowes pot recycling shelf in garden center

Lowes plant pot recycling

Home Depot advertises that they do plant pot recycling and use this picture on their website:

Home Depot plant container recycling program

If you do not have a Lowe’s or Home Depot nearby, ask your local garden center whether they will take back trays and pots.

Some good news I found: companies are making pots out of recyclable resins now. For example Terracast uses Linear Low Density Polyethylene to create new pots from recycled ones. Let's hope this trend continues!

https://www.terracastproducts.com/planters-from-recycled-materials-all-about-recycled-plant-pots/

Bombus, the Humble Bee by Kimberly Sheahan

Photo by Kimberly Sheahan
Bombus nevadensis #1

The bumble bee’s scientific name is Bombus and prior to the 1920’s they were more often called “humble bees” due to the soft droning noise they emit. Unfortunately, a few articles in the 1920’s referred to them as bumble bees and the new name took. (I personally vote that the internet reclaim the common name humble bee to refer to these fuzzy pollinators.)

Protecting Your Fruit Trees from Pests By Joyce D’Agostino

Photo:  Joyce D'Agostino

Many of us who have fruit trees on our property have planted them in order to enjoy the harvests. In the front range of Colorado, choosing the right variety will ensure that your tree is best suited for the climate and will produce harvests. 

Once your trees have bloomed and the pollinators have done their work you will begin to see developing fruit. The next step may be how to protect that fruit from weather, pests and animals so that the fruit matures and harvests are possible. In addition to storm damage such as high winds and hail, birds and squirrels are known to do a lot of damage to fruit crops. Often they will remove the fruit even before it is ripe or eat some of the fruit leaving the rest to spoil.

Xerces Blue Butterfly by Vicky Spelman

Photo Courtesy Xerces Society

The Xerces Society is an international environmental organization dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates considered to be essential to biological diversity and ecosystem health. Their name is in honor of the extinct California butterfly, the Xerces Blue.

Kannah Creek Sulphur Buckwheat - A Favorite Native by Nicole McCrorie

 E. umbellatum v. aureum ‘Psdowns’ Kannah Creek buckwheat

E. umbellatum v. aureun 'Psdowns' Kannah Creek buckwheat

                                                                            Photo:  Nicole McCrorie

Photo:  The pollinator garden at the Hills of Standley Lake Park, Arvada, Colorado. Kannah Creek Sulphur Buckwheat pictured at the bottom of photo with its bright showy yellow blooms. 

Watering trees and shrubs by Denver Water

Courtesy: Denver Water

Trees and shrubs need a little extra water to get through prolonged dry periods.

Tree roots are not like carrots. 

- Tree root systems can spread two to four times wider than the height of the tree. Most of the tree's absorbing roots are in the top 12 inches of soil.

Water deeply and slowly.

- Apply water so it moistens the soil in the critical root zone to a depth of 12 inches. Water with a deep root fork, soaker hose, five-gallon bucket or soft spray wand. Apply water to many locations under the drip line. If you use a deep root fork or needle, insert the device no deeper than eight inches into the soil.

Perennials for Shade by Nancy Shepard

 Mahonia repens Creeping Grape Mahonia
Photo: Monrovia

Last year with a new three foot high brick retaining wall facing north, we were faced with a planting bed that got very little sun. What would grow in this shady and somewhat dry space? Here are the plants I chose and the outcome one year later.

Bat Alert by Vicky Spelman

Courtesy: Pixabay

Bat Alert...

Have you been seeing any bats flying around in your area?  They are incredibly quick and you may have only the feeling of seeing something in the air.  Bats have started migrating to their summer roots in northern Colorado making sightings more common.

Should We Stop Using Peat in Our Gardens? by Nancy Shepard

 

Photo: Pete Stuart (Shutterstock)

[Extracted from Washington Post article May 11, 2017 and LifeHacker June 7, 2021.] 

Virtually all of the peat moss sold in the United States comes from the vast sphagnum moss bogs of Canada. Often mixed with a mineral named perlite, it is highly valued by horticulturists for its ability to retain moisture and oxygen without becoming waterlogged or heavy. It is generally sterile and naturally suppresses a fungal disease that can afflict seedlings, making it a natural choice for seed starting. So why should we avoid using it?

Reasons Why Peonies Fail to Bloom by Cindy Haynes - Iowa State University

Courtesy Iowa State University

Peonies are staples in landscapes. They are easy-to-grow, long-lived, and reliable performers in the garden. However, when they do not bloom well, those of us in extension are often inundated with calls, emails, etc. There are several possible causes for failure to bloom.

If the buds do not appear (which is normally the case) some possible causes are:

1. Planted in too much shade. Peonies need at least 4-6 hours of direct sun to bloom well.

2. Recently divided or transplanted. Peonies that are moved or divided in late summer rarely bloom well, if at all, the following spring. Sometimes it will take 2 to 3 years for plants to re-establish well enough in their new location to bloom well again.

3. Planted too deeply. When planting, position peony buds 1 to 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Nobody knows how they know if it is 2 inches versus 4 inches, but they do! When a peony is planted too deeply, it may have beautiful foliage, but few (if any) flowers.

4. Fertilized too much. Peonies that receive excessive amounts of nitrogen rarely flower well regardless of site. Nitrogen promotes foliar growth at the expense of flowers.

5. Clumps too large? Some references state that large, old clumps may not bloom well. However, I have seen several large plants in the Midwest that seem to bloom beautifully year after year. I would imagine that a clump would have to be several decades old before it would fail to bloom. If a clump is considered too large or possibly too old, this is easily remedied by dividing the plant in late summer as a means of rejuvenation.

6. Plants are too young. If a clump can be too old - then the possibility exists that it can be too young as well. While most peonies that are sold are not typically grown from seed, there are some avid gardeners that successfully attempt this process. Plants grown from seed take about 4 to 5 years to mature and ultimately bloom.

7. Premature removal of foliage. Removal of the plant foliage in July or August will weaken the plant resulting in fewer flowers.

Courtesy Utah State Extension

If buds appear - but fail to open, some other possible causes include:

1. Late freeze. A hard freeze in May (much like the one we had last year) may damage or destroy the flower buds. Fortunately, this doesn't happen often.

2. Other extreme weather conditions. Extremely dry conditions in summer may weaken plants and result in fewer flowers the following season.

3. Fungal diseases. Botrytis blight or other fungal pathogens infrequently attack the flower buds, primarily when conditions are cool and wet. For prevention, the best practices are removing the dead buds in late spring and removing any diseased foliage at the end of the growing season.

4. Insect pests. Also on rare occasions, thrips or other insect pests can damage and distort flower buds and thus reduce flowering. Insecticides are usually ineffective since the damage is often done early in the season.

5. Undernourished. This is another rarity in most Iowa soils. Plants that are growing poorly (weak, spindly, yellowish or "off-color") are not vigorous enough to bloom (but may set buds.) Transplanting into a more favorable location and fertilizing lightly after establishment would be beneficial.

That's it. The most common reasons peonies fail to bloom are cultural (planting in too much shade and planting too deeply). Remember that peonies are tough and often survive for many years in "not so ideal" sites. However, if they fail to bloom one year - watch out - everyone notices!