Saving Soil When Planting Large Planters by Caroline Reardon

Magnificent plant pots abound, from the local discount store to upscale greenhouses. Terra cotta, glazed, even plastic that looks like pottery—or not, in hot lime green, tangerine, aquamarine. These large containers make a strong statement massed on the porch by your front door or along the patio by the lawn chairs. And then comes the fun of choosing an artistic combo of leaf shapes, colors, uprights and vines.

What's Blooming in Your Garden? by Carol King

Here's what's blooming in my garden! What's blooming in yours? Email me your pictures at jeffcogardener@gmail.com and I'll post them also.

Black Eyed Susan

Tomato Problems? Try Flea Beetles! by Stan Ames

• Do some of the leaves on your tomato plants have holes in the lower outside leaves and the leaves are turning yellow?
• What should you do?
• Any other symptoms?
• Large green worms been seen on the plant? No?
• How about little tiny white or gray little bugs (Aphids)? No again!
• Blackish spots on leaves and the edge turning yellow? No!
• Just lots of little tiny holes in the leaves and they leaves are turning yellow? Right!

All of the symptoms mentioned lead to the diagnosis of Flea beetles! These pests chew little holes in the leaves! Inspect the underside of the affected leaves and look for very shiny little brown or black beetles about the size of a straight pin head. However they may have their feast and moved on to the next plant before you noticed the damage.

Belmar Farmers' Market by Grace Olson

The Farmers’ Market season crept into Jefferson County like a late spring, and is now suddenly in full bloom.  From Evergreen to Lakewood, the weekends are alive with smells of exotic cooking stations, shouts of face-painted children skipping through the streets, and the enthusiasm of those seeking a local connection to their land, food and community. In between the booths selling seedlings, scarves, fresh produce and stuffed chili peppers, Colorado Master Gardeners (CMG) add their voices to the festival-like atmosphere.

Why Aren't My Iris Blooming by Stan Ames

While manning the Master Gardener booth at the Golden Farmer’s Market last Saturday a woman asked me why her Iris do not all bloom.

I thought for a while and suggested they might be overcrowded or stressed from last year’s dividing activities. She said she had not divided any of her Iris, ever, and asked when to do that.  I said not until after the blooming was complete and not to cut back leaves until the divisions were made. She seemed satisfied with the answers and went on to get a nice big juicy breakfast burrito from the booth next to ours.  Imagine smelling that wonderful aroma all morning and not having enough time to buy one for yourself, much less eating one.  AND they were all gone when we broke down the booth!

Cactus Garden Tour by Kim Bone

Every year in early June the cactus arboretum at Timberline Gardens explodes into blossom. The dozens of cacti species put all their energy into this grand display. Learn the history of the collection and how the garden was built. Come see the grandeur on Saturday, June 18 @ 12:00 noon, for the Desert Bloom Tour.

Kim the Gardener 

Straw Bales Garden by Duane Davidson

(Click on Image for Slide Show of Process)

The idea came from an article in a gardening magazine. I was already changing the way I gardened in the back yard, adding raised beds and converting lawn sprinkler heads into drip irrigation distributors. Why not give a corner over to a small straw bale garden and see what I might grow there? My approach to gardening has always been about trying something new and learning from my experiments. The uncertainties of gardening make it fun for me. Introducing new elements only heightens the challenge.

The author of the magazine article had some specific reasons for creating her straw bale garden – aside from the vegetables she expected to harvest. She utilized a spot in her yard where the soil was so poor she had never grown anything but weeds in it. By the following year it was covered in a thick layer of rich compost "replete with fat and happy worms." She figured she could revitalize another plot with a straw bale garden each year, progressively improving her whole yard.

The Seed Cathedral by Elaine Lockey

photo by Heatherwick Studio

In case you missed it, art and horticulture combined for an amazing exhibit last year. Called the Seed Cathedral, the sculpture was composed of 60,000 fiber optic rods with seeds implanted on the tip of each one. The Seed Cathedral’s goal was to raise awareness of the global race to save seeds and the growing number of seed banks that safely preserve these seeds. Created for the 2010 World Expo held in Shanghai, it was designed by English designer Thomas Heatherwick. 

The structure was lit from within at dark and during the day the rods captured and funneled the sunlight highlighting the seeds within.  The structure also gently swayed in the breeze giving it life.  It was nicknamed pu gong ying or “The Dandelion” by Chinese visitors. How many seeds were in it? More than 217,000! Visitors could go inside it for a completely immersive experience. 

Corn,Beans, and Squash in the White House garden

Evan Vucci

I am always interested to see what the latest "goings on"  in the White House garden are. Last week, Michelle Obama invited a group of Native American children to her plot on Friday to help plant what are called the “three sisters” — corn, beans and squash. They also harvested vegetables that were planted two months ago, and some of that will be used on Tuesday.

Here's the story.

Annual Miller Moth Migration from the Denver Post

The annual migration of miller moths from the Eastern Plains to the mountains is in full swing, confounding house cats and annoying humans trying to enjoy warm evenings outdoors.

Photo courtesy CSU

But this, too, shall pass — very quickly this time around. Entomologists say cold weather, with little snow cover to insulate soil on the plains, killed larvae and cut the population of the fluttering pests compared with years past.
"It's not going to be a year for the ages or anything," said Whitney Cranshaw, a professor and extension specialist in entomology at Colorado State University. "That's not to say there won't be problems, but it's not going to be an epic year."

Read more: Pesky Miller moths back — but not as many as in years past - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18195880#ixzz1OLHwMtJS
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Here's also a CSU Fact Sheet about the moths!

Millers on a Garden Hose:  CSU

My Poor Beloved Currant Bush by Nancy Szilagyi

I love my Black Currant bush (Ribes odoratum ‘Crandall’)!  I have had it for eight years, and I have reaped several abundant harvests.  I have sat under it on a hot day and picked off currants until my hands were purple.  I have made currant scones and given them away to many friends and fellow gardeners.  I have made three batches of Currant Liqueur (Crème de Cassis) which have all been wonderful, even heavenly!  These have also made popular, sought-after Christmas gifts, although it is hard to share very much. 

In spring I wait for it to leaf out. I wait for it to bloom with its lovely, yellow, clove-scented blossoms.  I watch the blossoms wither, and wait for the berries to form.  I have seen branches so heavy with clusters of the shiny black fruit that they are bent almost to the ground.