Black Swallowtails by Camille Paige

Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. All photos by Camille Paige

The black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, is a large native CO butterfly with distinctive adult and larval (caterpillar) forms. The adults are striking butterflies with yellow spots lining the wings and blue spots and a “tail” on on the hind wing. Females can be distinguished by their more pronounced blue scales and smaller yellow spots.

Cold Frames - Making the Best Choice by Gregory Engel

Photo credit:  Extension, University of Maine 
https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2752e/

If you've gardened in Colorado for more than a few years, you know it's a challenging climate. Conditions vary from the drought days of the early 2000's to the unusually wet and cool spring and summer we've had here in 2023. Add to this a wide variation in elevation zones. More often than not, we wish for an extended growing season. A popular approach to achieving this goal is to set up cold frames structures that extend the growing season by creating a micro-climate favorable to either starting plants earlier in the spring or continue growing them late into fall, perhaps even throughout the winter.

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant by Megan Snow

Photo by Author

Common names: Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Bee spiderflower, Stinking-clover, Toothed spider-flower

Scientific Name: Cleome serrulata Pursh
 
I love my Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. The name caught my eye as I was looking for plants that attract pollinators to place next to my veggie beds in hopes of encouraging pollination.

A Bounty of Bees By Amy Longworth

Photo by author

One of the first things I planted was echinacea, which were being sold as a medicinal herb that spring. These perennial lovelies grow to about four feet tall and bloom prolifically from early summer until the first freeze in autumn.

The Myth of “Vine Ripe” by Amy Poinsett

When you should REALLY pick your tomatoes...

Many gardeners and tomato lovers believe that the very best tomatoes are those picked right off the vine at the moment of peak ripeness. Something like this…

Image by kie-ker from Pixabay

Unfortunately, we often find that something (I’m looking at you, squirrels!) gets to those perfect fruits before we do:

Galls on my Shrub Redleaf rose bush by Kelli Barker

Photo:  CMG Kelli Barker

Nature spared no creativity in designing its myriad of galls!  As I’ve dived deeper into my master gardener apprenticeship, I’m paying closer attention to the variety of shapes, sizes and colors of galls on various plants. Despite my increased awareness, I was still stumped in identifying what looked like large coronovirus molecules had attached themselves to my Redleaf rose bush (Rosa rubrifolia) in late May.  I planted this xeric shrub in northwest corner of my front yard, just 6 or so feet from the main road of my house in Wheat Ridge.  

The Case for Indoor Plants in the Workplace by Jen H.

Pexels - George Milton

The appreciation for the passive value of people and plants has been lauded for years. By its very definition, biophilia highlights the innate tendency of humans to associate with other living things. Humans are intrinsically wired to find connection with plants...

Look What’s Growing in My Gutter- Strawberry Container Gardening by Kara Olyowski

Photo: Kara Olyowski

There’s nothing that says summer quite like biting into a juicy, homegrown strawberry! When I lived in Golden, I had a massive strawberry bed and my biggest problem was making sure to get to the fruit before the birds. I’ve since moved up into the foothills and live around 8300 feet. Gardening at this elevation has its own challenges for sure, one of them being a short growing season, so last summer we built a greenhouse. Growing in a greenhouse is awesome, but space is definitely at a premium. I wanted to grow strawberries again and decided that growing them in a container was the best space-efficient route to go.

Are Your Lilacs Blossoms Looking “Rusty’? Time to Prune By Joyce D’Agostino

Photo Joyce D'Agostino

For those who love lilacs, having those wonderful blooms and fragrance is a welcome end of the long winter. Lilacs now come in various shades of purple, lavender, pink and white. 

But now that the season for lilac blooming is over, you may notice that those lovely flower heads are replaced with unsightly rusty colored heads. This is normal for your lilac and not an indication of a decline in the shrub or a disease. However now that the blooms are done and before the lilac prepares for next season, you have a window of time now in June to do some removal of those old flowers as well as some pruning.  

Ready to take the pledge Gardeners? by Vicky Spelman

"So, by now you have all your seed starting gear cleaned and ready. You have your seeds and sterile growing media and you have even filled your containers and watered them in so the media is moist and ready. Great job!

Next step…BEFORE you even dare to open a seed packet…. is to create name markers for each planted cell. Never ever think you will remember which is which. You will not. Your sprouts can all look alike at plant out in May! Save yourself some anguish and make your labels ahead of time! It’s a good idea also to write your starting date on the back. You won’t remember that either!

Blue Mustard by CMG Brenda Sterns

 

Photo:  Brenda Sterns

Purple Mustard, Blue Mustard or Crossflower Chorispora tenella  

With the arrival of spring, the days are getting sunnier and warmer, and the trees and ground are showing tinges of green.   Excited to see what’s growing, you stroll through your yard and come across a petite, four-petal flower in shades of purple or pink. Perhaps you've seen it before, or maybe it's your first time noticing it. 

Easter Cactus by Sally Blanchard

Move over those Easter lilies and forced bulbs and welcome the regal Easter Cactus!

Unlike its Thanksgiving and Christmas cousins, the spring blooming Easter Cactus sadly receives very little praise or publicity. All three are Brazilian native epiphytes and actually live in trees, similar to orchids.