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| Photo: Sue Parilla |
I had a few clusters of winter sown Aquilegia caerulea
or Rocky Mountain columbines that I had not yet planted. I knew they were crowded in their current
container and wanted to get them in the ground.
If you must put a plant in the ground during the hottest
days of the summer, there are some steps you can take to improve the chance
that your new plant will survive this less than ideal time for transplanting. The
hot Colorado sun will roast a newly planted flower or shrub. Giving it a little
shade for its first couple weeks in the ground will give its roots a chance to
settle in to its new digs.
As with all plants, you must first harden
it off. You would do this at
any time during the growing season, but you’ll need an extra step in the
planting process when the temperatures are over 90 degrees. During the
hardening off phase, keep your yet-to-be planted plant out of the direct sun.  |
| Photo: Sue Parilla |
To provide sun protection, I cut a rectangle of chicken wire
into a tall cylinder using the pointy edges of the chicken wire to fold in on itself
to secure its shape. I placed a scrap of
cover cloth over the southwest facing side of the cylinder to block the strong
afternoon sun. [Any light colored, light-weight open-weave fabric should do.] I
use short pieces of wire to affix my cloth to the chicken wire. You can even use a bent paperclip.
Within this wire cylinder, my flowers were getting just a
little morning sun and lots of ventilation.
The chicken wire design also provides protection from rabbits who enjoy
eating tender seedlings. If I’m
concerned about animals eating my plants, I leave the chicken wire cylinder in
place, but remove the shade cloth until the plant is less appealing to the
critters.
Photo credit: Kenton
Seth © 2012 I Need a Cup of Tea blog
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Photo credit: Kenton Seth © 2012 I Need a Cup of Tea blog
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The idea of shading a plant from the sun for its first
couple weeks seems logical, but the idea didn’t occur to me until I read Kenton
Seth’s blog
years ago when he was using a “Stireman design” shade cloth for new
plantings. He works in Fruita, so he
knows what it’s like to plant in the full summer sun. |
Photo credit: Kenton Seth © 2012 I Need a Cup of Tea blog
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Photo: Sue Parilla
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I left the shade cloth on the chicken wire for two weeks and
watered the flowers often. After taking
the cloth away, I kept an eye on the plant to see if it showed any signs of
stress and continued to water it daily. You can water less if the temperature
eases or if we get any amount of rain.
A month and a half later, the columbines are doing well.
It is important to pamper your newly planted plants for at
least a month so they will survive and live a long life in your garden.
