What do our Master Gardeners grow? Part I ~your Blog Team

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

Plants I’ll Always Plant:  Gwen's Buffalo Currant (Ribes aureum), Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), Ninebark (Physocarpus monogynus), Blue Flax (Linum lewisii), Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome serrulata)

Plants I’m itching to try:  Dwarf Leadplant (Amorpha nana), Dotted Blazing Star (Liatris punctata), Dwarf Rabbitbrush (Ericameria viscidiflorus)

Forget About It????  NO! - I WON'T forget to leave a dead tree or 2 for the woodpeckers, who make holes for nesting habitat for over 30 species of birds.  And I WON'T be keeping my garden tidy.  Insects and birds need a messy habitat full of seeds, plant stems, leaf matter and hiding places!

~Colorado Master Gardener Molly                                             

1.) I’ll always plant:  Sun gold tomatoes, Hot Lips Salvia, Asst. salvias (annual and perennial), Agastache, Sweet basil, Portulaca, Bright pink geraniums, Calibrachoa, Coleus, Asst. Dianthus, Tulips

2.) Plants I’m itchin to try:  Agapanthus, False Indigo, White Evening Primrose, Giant alliums, Variegated upright sedum

3.) Forget about it:  Papyrus, Black cherry tomatoes 

~Colorado Master Gardener Jean

I’ll always plant:

1) Sungold tomatoes! I always plant in very large Costco size containers on my back patio so they’re easy to water and protect from hail. And it’s only a few steps to pick a handful. 

2) Iris! They’re not native or xeric but I love their showy blooms in late spring and early summer. Mine receive very little supplemental water since they’re on the lower side of a gentle slope.

3) Penstemon! My latest favorite. They’re hummingbird magnets, long blooming, xeric and the dang bunnies leave them alone.

Plants I’m itching to try:  More Plant Select plants! I’d like to eliminate more turf and convert to an all Plant Select/native garden in that area.  At this rate, the bunnies will do the work and decimate the turf while I plan the garden and save up for lots of new plants! 

Forget about it:  Not buying anything that is a ‘short lived perennial!’ Just too disappointing to lose plants in just two or three years. 

~Colorado Master Gardener Sally

I’ll always plant:  Tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, Swiss chard, kohlrabi, carrots

Plants I’m itchin to try:  Okra, butternut squash

Forget about it:  Watermelon because it takes so much space and I only have a 40' X 4' raised bed

~Colorado Master Gardener Paula

Stay tuned for Part 2 - coming to a Blog near you!