Watch Out for Hail Season! by Joyce D'Agostino

 

Photo: Joyce D'Agostino

For many of us, having to deal with hailstorms is a reality. In this area of Colorado, we are in a hail zone meaning that we can experience more than the average hail events, and some of them can wipe out your garden in minutes.

Earth Day 2022 by Vicky Spelman

“This is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, and our livelihoods.”

“For Earth Day 2022, we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). It’s going to take all of us. All in. Businesses, governments, and citizens — everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable. A partnership for the planet.” ~EarthDay.org

Cheap Versus Expensive Seeds by Nancy Shepard

Seeds can cost from $1.00 to $5.00 a packet or more. Are expensive seeds that much better? Turns out that less expensive seed must meet the same minimum germination standard as expensive seed, but that’s not the whole story. Federal and state laws ensure that all commercially available farm and garden seeds are properly tested for purity, noxious weed seeds, and germination rates. The 2017 Colorado Seed Act “prevents the distribution and use of poor quality seed through the regulation of labeling, labelers, and the sellers of seed for propagation.”  https://ag.colorado.gov/plants/seed

April Fools' Day gardening... by Vicky Spelman

 Some fun April Fools' Day gardening pranks...

image courtesy of Mr. Plant Geek 

Power-flower – the USB sunflower

A press release issued by Thompson & Morgan’s horticultural innovators in 2014 was about the amazing FlowerPower product, which could charge an iPad or mobile phone and had a waterproof USB port in its stem.  Of course, it was a prank, but would have been neat and useful if real.

A Different Approach to Growing Basil by Amy Norwood

 

Photo: Amy Norwood

Basil is a wonderful herb for the summer garden because it pairs so well with tomatoes and other summer garden veggies!  Left to its own devices, the basil plant will produce a spike of small flowers on the end of each stem.  The flowers eventually become seeds.  The conventional wisdom for growing basil is to pinch off the flower spikes when they appear.  If you want to eat the basil, by pinching the flowers you encourage the plant to put its energy into growing leaves, not making seeds.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day by Vicky Spelman

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Tis a grand day to be Irish!
My wish for all of you!
May green be the grass you walk on!
May blue be the skies above you!
Pure be the joy that surrounds you!
True be the hearts that love you!
☘🍀☘🍀☘
May all your gardens be healthy
May all your gardens have wonderful veggies!
☘☘☘☘☘.

What Do Our Master Gardeners Grow? Part 3

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

Plants I'll Always Plant:  Verbena bonariensis

Plant I'm Itching to Try:   Salvia Dorris (Desert Sage)

Forget About It:  Hibiscus - I’ve tried about 6 times!
~Master Garden Cherie

What Do Our Master Gardeners Grow? Part 2

 

From Master Gardener Pam:

Plants I'll always plant:  Perennials, low water, deer and rabbit resistant, attract pollinators and hummingbirds. Butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa,) Hyssop (hyssopus officinalis,) Caryoperis, Lavender cotton (santolina chamaecyparissus,) Kannah Creek buckwheat (eriognum umbellatum v. aureum,) Penstemon, Sedum, Yarrow (achillea,) Lavender, Tickseed (coreopsis,) Salvia, Rudebeckia, Pincushion flower, Blue fescue (Festuca glauca,) Dwarf fragrant sumac (rhus aromatic,) Lemon lace elderberry (sambucus racemosa,) Hostas, Sweet woodruff (gallum ororatum,) Roses – I usually look for zone 4 or Canadian.  Morden Sunrise and Dainty Bess from Hi Country Roses are favorites.

Plants I'm itching to try:  Salvia ‘maraschino’, Lead plant (amorpha canescens),  Englemann’s daisy (englemannia peristenia)

Forget about it:  Oregano,  New Mexican privet 

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  

Science Idea for young gardeners - beans sprouting by Vicky Spelman

Do you have some old CD cases around?  They are perfect for a science experiment to show beans sprouting with some potting soil.   No CDs around – use a glass jar, and some cotton balls or crinkled up paper towels.  Beans are easy to sprout and will benefit from presoaking for several hours – or overnight (up to around 12 hours).

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. 

Early Tree Sales are Starting Up by Nancy Shepard

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese proverb

Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)  Photo: Arbor Valley Nursery

While it’s still only February, some Colorado communities are taking early orders for trees they provide to citizens free or at a low cost. Arbor Day is Friday, April 29^th and here are just a few examples of where you can get trees. Check with your local County or City for information specific to your area.