Anticipation by Gardener Cumax

I have 3 major projects happening at the same time:
- Prepping my veggie garden and getting ready for seeding
- Installing xeric and winter hardy succulents in the front yard
- Building 4 compost areas in the corner of the backyard.




The veggie garden prepping is basically finished. The area you see in the foreground can wait a few more weeks when I take possession of several tomato seedlings. A few weeks after that I have 6 more seedlings arriving and then I have black plastic mulch to install as well as drip irrigation.



The seed screen is that chickenwire frame you see here. The purpose of this screen is to help me plant veggie seeds. If you haven't planted lettuce and carrot seeds, then it can be rather stressful if you don't know where to look.

What I do is use the screen as a guide to poke my holes in the dirt and then drops the seed(s) in. I then pinch the hole closed.

Before I could even make this screen I had to completely dismantle a riveted patio umbrella than got knocked silly by a rogue wind storm last mid-July. Trimming trees is dangerous. I was 20' up in the huge 45 year old apple trees we have when the wind picked up. My intuition said to get down immediately; so I did. Immediately the wind blew from the south with such force that is took the umbrella and its 65 pound weighted anchor and slammed it up into the picnic table and hurled all 3 items about 25'.

Whoa!

I'm sure glad I got out of the tree because that was quite the powerful wind burst.

I retired the umbrella to the garage until I could figure out how to recycle its material; that's where the seed screen comes from. Turns out this umbrella is really, really old. The wood is teak. So I'm the proud owner of a teak seed screen that won't see much use but a few days a year.

Ten Days in April by Donna Duffy

I love to travel, but it’s difficult leaving my garden in the springtime when so many things happen at once. So when I knew I’d be gone for 10 days after Easter, I decided to take a few photos of perennials and bulbs before I left, and then again when I returned. What I hadn’t planned on was a huge Spring storm that dumped over a foot of wet, heavy snow in my yard! Here’s what I discovered when I returned home from my road trip.




Peonies are like the driver who goes the speed limit…plus 10. Not content to grow along at a normal pace, they whiz by everything else in sight. Once those dark stems break the soil, there’s no stopping them. Even though mine were buried in snow for a couple of days, they still plowed through and gained several inches in height.

Pampas grass, on the other hand, is more like your blue-haired grandmother tooling down the interstate. It’s progressing, but the slow pace can drive you crazy. Where’s the green? Why is it just sitting there? I’ll chuckle at my impatience come September when the lovely plumes tower above my head.



Tulips! They are like a carefree traveler whose journey is cut short through no fault of their own. So many dangers abound: hungry critters, snowstorms, digging pets. Before I left, my tulips were in various stages of growth. When I returned home, some had been crushed by snow, others had been chewed, and a few were strutting their stuff…survivors.



One thing I didn’t bother to photograph made its presence known anyway. Can you guess? I spotted the yellow polka dots from the end of the street. Like potholes in the road, they always come back. Ahhhhhh…the many joys of April in Colorado!

Wild About Wildflowers by Gardener Cumax

I'm not content to just yarden veggies. I love creating landscapes, too. My third big project this Spring is converting our front lawn into a showcase xeriscape.

The seedlings here are 3 weeks old. They just started sprouting right when the huge April 17-18 snowstorm slammed into the West Denver Metro area. Because they didn't have necks to break, they survived intact.

As you can see from the pictures I have about one seedling per inch, which means I have some serious and tedious thinning to do in a few weeks. Gardening is work but it's the best kind of work I can imagine.

Their common names are below followed by their latin name if I have it. They are perennials unless noted as annual with (A).
Baby's Breath (Gypsophila elegans (A)), Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus (A)), Dwarf Red Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), Lance-Leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), Missouri Primrose (Oenothera missouriensis), Red Yarrow (Achillea millefolium, rubra), Drummond Phlox (Phlox drummondii (A)), Catchfly (Silene ameria (A)), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii (A)), Blackeyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Blue Flax, Clarkia, Corn Poppy, Indian Blanket (Giallardia pulchella), Lemon Mint (Monarda citriodora), Scarlet Flax (Linum grandifloram rubra (A)), Shasta Daisy (Chrysanthemum maximum (A), Upright Prairiecone, Siberian Wallflower (Cheiranthus allioni), and Painted Daisy (Chrysanthemum carinatum (A)).

The annuals will probably provide most of the color and then the perennials will do that the following years. It's just a little different for me this year as I prefer perennials over annuals; so planting this kind of mix gets me out of my comfort zone.

Garden Serenity by Heirloom Fan

I was listening to a radio program a few days ago. The guest was a psychologist and the topic was fears and phobias and how they affected people. Listeners would call in about their problem and the psychologist would discuss it with them. The problems they mentioned included normal fears such as fear of heights, flying, roller coasters and so forth.
The psychologist then made a comment that caught my attention as a gardener. He said “there are some things that people just are not afraid of. For example, a flower”. He went on to say that it would take him a very long time, if ever, to make someone afraid of a flower. It did make me stop and realize that he was right. Flowers, and gardens in general, are places of comfort and enjoyment for people. You never hear someone say that they dislike gardens or landscapes but you do hear people talk about their gardens and say positive things such as that they are stress reducers, places just to sit and enjoy the surroundings or great places to gather and entertain friends. Even though gardeners have to weed and do other chores, most can’t wait to go to their gardens each day just for the simple enjoyment of being in the surroundings.
Given the economic challenges lately, we may be seeing more people start to garden as a way to help with their food budget. But I am sure that those who do it just for practical reasons will also soon find how enjoyable gardening can be. It’s not often we can pursue a hobby that beautifies the surrounds, creates a comforting environment for us to enjoy, and can also produce great tasting, vine-ripened produce.
Wishing all of you a happy growing season and a bountiful garden and landscape for you to enjoy all season!

Seventy Two Hours in the Life of a Jeffco Gardener by Carol King

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Monday

We Are the Rock Stars! by Carol King

Here we are, dear gardeners, cruising along in our own little nerdy world, quietly gardening, getting dirty, sunburned, scabby, and muddy. Then our First Lady Michelle Obama puts a kitchen garden on the White House lawn, calling attention to our endeavors and EVERYONE wants a piece of us. Now don’t get me wrong; I am pleased that the First Lady is bringing a garden to the White House lawn. I love this project; it is a very appropriate, wonderful thing to do. But now we are ROCK STARS and the pressure is on. The expectation is that we have to look the part and that part has changed with this rock star status.

Reporters went to great lengths to photo her gardening attire and discuss her gardening outfits. “The first lady wore a blue t-shirt covered by a red windbreaker, black pants (with dirt!) and black velcro sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun” gushed the news report. They discussed the designer belt she wore around her waist and her low heeled boots. (High heels in the garden? Please.) She did have on cute clothes, looked very well put together and while she was dirty and actually working, I did not see a single piece of twine holding her pants up and I believe that she even had on make up!

My garden attire, on the other hand, is something like this: large, man’s, long sleeved white dress shirt from the thrift shop on 50% off day, paired with old shorts or pedal pushers that are held up with a safety pin or twine because the zipper is broken and the buttons are gone. I top off this outfit with one of a collection of straw cowboy hats that I got several years ago when some movie suddenly made them popular and I found them half priced at the overstock store. My look is complete with a pair of garden clogs often worn with socks. Mrs. Obama does not look like this.

So you see, dear gardener, it’s all over for us. As Rock Stars, we now have a responsibility to look the part. No more Oskosh overalls making our hips look too wide; no more lame baseball caps; throw out those rubber boots that used to be your son’s. Our First Lady has raised the bar! I don’t know about you, but I am headed to the Smith and Hawken Designer Garden Togs Outlet Store. I hear the paparazzi circling overhead, and I see a telephoto lens between the garden gates.

Why Write in a Gardening Blog

What is there about a gardening blog that motivates people to contribute their own thoughts and experiences?

I can’t tell you what might motivate other contributors, but for me I think it’s mostly the freedom to use my own style of writing, and to pass on some of my garden experiences (via my “trowel and error” method) to others who might find them useful. Also, I sometimes become curious about certain aspects of horticulture which pique my interest enough to make me dig out more information about them and share them with you.

Fortunately (for me), I don’t feel bound to present only “dry facts”. I like to color things up a bit and maybe add a little humor wherever possible. After all, gardening is all about being good humored, optimistic, and feeling rewarded when our efforts succeed, right? We need to give accurate information, but we can also personalize it. We can also feel free to tell an anecdote or two if we think it relevant, or if we think it might interest others.

Sharing experiences with fellow gardeners in our own area is also valuable. Colorado is a state where there are many micro-climates, even here along the Front Range and even just in Jefferson County. That makes for unique experiences. When we have success (or none) with something, it may be because of the special environment we have provided (intentionally or accidentally) for a particular species or cultivar of plant. Local weather conditions – and I do mean LOCAL – can also contribute to our success or lack of it. For instance, frequent high winds are a factor for those of us who are close to the foothills, more so than for gardeners living further east in more protected parts of the metro area. Precipitation amounts are sometimes highly localized as well. We need to share all of that information with others who might like to try something similar. “USDA zones 4, 5a, 5b, etc.” are only general guidelines, right?

By the way, for those of you that like to use references such as the “Sunset Western Garden Book”, note that our Jeffco area on their map zones ranges from “1A through 2B”, with corresponding hardiness ratings for the plants they describe in detail. Another interesting detail is that their zonal rating system for California spans all the way from 1A (higher mountains in the north) to 24 (southern coastal areas) – wow!

So – knowing the freedom that you have here – would more of you like to write for the “JeffcoGardener” blog? Contact carolleeking@msn.com if you would like to add your own comments and experiences here. She will fill you in on any details regarding your submissions to the blog.

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Amazing Ivy by Gardener Dave

Boston Ivy



Are you an “Ivy Fan”? I am – up to a point. I use English Ivy (Hedera helix) as a groundcover for shade and semi-shade, and Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) as a wall climber/cover in sunnier areas. Ivies can be used to “soften” a bare wall behind other plantings and provide added cooling and humidity in our dry climate. They can help to alleviate scorching and discourage spider mite infestations in sunny walled areas.

Part of my fascination with ivy is its ability to cover large expanses of ground, walls or fences quite quickly. I also like the evergreen (depending on our winter) qualities of English Ivy, and I like the fall reddening of Boston Ivy. I am also fascinated with the clever means by which these ivies climb walls and other vertical surfaces.

There are many other “ivies” and climbing plants that use different means of attachment, such as tendrils which wind around any supporting structure (and itself) in order to reach and grow upwards. I am only detailing here the ivies with which I have had personal experience. I also have some Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) – also sold as Engleman’s Ivy – coming into my yard from a neighbor’s. It does turn red in the fall, and it is very hardy, but it can be extremely invasive, and it is susceptible to powdery mildew which can spoil the fall color. Of the three types, English Ivy is the only one that is “evergreen” here (* See “Cautions” below).

In 1865, Darwin wrote about ivy at length in his book The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. The following are some of my own observations: My English Ivy has little “rootlets” that grow sideways from the main stems and take advantage of any little spaces on brick or stone walls, fence slats (or almost anything) to wedge itself in. The “rootlets” also adhere to surfaces very tenaciously. My Boston Ivy has little “feet” or “hands” growing from the main stems (please excuse my not using botanic terms for these appendages). Each “foot” has several little separate sticky pads that can seemingly attach to ANY surface with an extremely strong glue-like bond. They even attach to undersurfaces such as eaves and patio ceilings!


English Ivy


Geckos are famed for their ability to walk on walls, thanks to nanoscopic hairs on their feet called “setae”. http//www.newscientist.com/article/dn14902-geckogrip-material-aims-to-be-the-end-of-glue.html Ivy uses another nano-scale trick to defy gravity. Several articles I have read lately describe an exuded form of “nano-sized [cementing] globules” that allow ivy to cling tightly to surfaces. Researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have studied the process in depth, and say their tests reveal something like 19 different primary compounds in the ivy bonding process. I promise I won’t go into the chemical analysis of their research, but they report that millions or even billions of weak adhesion or hydrogen bonds (not bombs!) that the ivies produce, add up to make a very strong adhesion to climbing surfaces.

Researchers are also working on ways to counteract these forces with the goal of making paints that can protect surfaces from ivy damage. Also, researchers at University College Dublin in Ireland think that “…studying plants like ivy could uncover entirely novel nano-materials.” Perhaps new “miracle” adhesives?

Cautions: My ivies are not parasitic; they do not obtain nourishment from the trees, etc. that they climb on. But they will take advantage of any surface they can get their little “rootlets” into, “sticky pads” onto, or “tendrils” around. My ivies climb my brick house walls and fences and trees in my yard. They can also creep into windows and between (fairly tight) window panes. It looks “quaint” on a house wall and adds green interest to the overall landscape, but if you want to remove it, it can pose some problems. In our dry climate, the problem takes the form of leftover adhesions when you pull it off. A paint scraper or similar tool can help remove them, but they will never come off 100% unless the surface is vigorously sanded. Also, (*) English Ivy may winterburn in more-exposed areas, losing attractiveness and requiring some trimming back in Spring.

By way of interest – in moist climates, large overgrowths of ivy can bring down weakened tree branches, and its long-term decay against brick or stone walls can form humic acid which is capable of dissolving carbonate stone and some mortars. I seem to remember reading where some ivies are considered noxious weeds in moist climates, but in our area this should not be a problem with the three types I have mentioned.

Virginia Creeper

So – as I said earlier – I am an “Ivy Fan” up to a point. If you are willing to cut them back when you need to, they can be a nice green addition to your landscape. Don’t let them become too invasive, especially the Virginia Creeper or Engleman’s varieties. I have learned my lesson. Use them with this in mind and you will be happy with them. They are interesting, useful and decorative plants.

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Sneaky Water Bandits or “The Great Rain Robbery” by Gardener Dave

How Much of This Will Get To Your Roots?

There are some subtle, perhaps even “insidious” natural forces at work “stealing” our water. When we hear reports of several inches or even feet of snow in our watershed areas, in the foothills, or (rarely) even on the plains near Denver, we really can’t assume that is the amount that will finally be available to us. Let’s look at these natural forces, and let’s ignore the water absorbed as it moves downslope to reservoirs. That part is very beneficial to trees, shrubs and other vegetation – I don’t consider that to be “stolen”. But, as an old English proverb says: “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip”.

1) Sublimation – This process turns snow directly into a gaseous state, bypassing the beneficial liquid water state entirely. I have no actual estimate of how much of our snow moisture is lost by this process, but it can be significant, and we certainly need all the moisture we can get. Have you ever noticed that sometimes snow can shrink a lot even before we get the warm Chinooks and sunshine? Some shrinking is from compaction, and some is because of sublimation.

Sublimation occurs at below-freezing temperatures. It is the same phenomenon used in the commercial freeze-drying process. It also explains why Grandma could hang her clothes out on the line in below-freezing temperatures and later retrieve them all nice and dry. Our very dry and many times fast-moving winter air also accelerates the sublimation process. In case you’re interested, this is also how “frost-free” freezers keep their walls and shelves free of frost and ice, by using a fan within the freezer compartment to circulate dry, cold air. Even ice cubes in open trays will sublime and get smaller if left unused for a long time.

To further illustrate the sublimation process by way of something that we may be more familiar with, frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) sublimes at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. That’s how our stage acts, plays and movies create all that spooky “fog”. The opposite of sublimation is “deposition”. Frost is an example of this. In frost deposition, water goes from a gaseous vapor directly to solid ice crystals.

2) Evaporation – We lose a lot of water by evaporation, especially from the surfaces of reservoirs, lakes and even streams. Again, our dry air and winds speed up this process. We are all familiar with this process, so I won’t belabor it here, except to give you an estimate of how much water can be lost. For arid regions, I have seen estimates of over 25% of the water, stored to be used for human purposes, can be lost to evaporation.

3) Virga – You may have said “Gee, look – it’s really raining heavily from that cloud”, only to find out that it never actually reaches the ground at all. And – you guessed it – our dry air also contributes to this effect.
Now, in my mind, virga qualifies as one of our Sneaky Water Bandits because if we see rain falling from the sky – it sure would be nice if it reached the ground and soaked into our lawn and gardens… oh well, maybe some other time!

The word virga is derived from Latin, meaning twig or branch (go figure that out), and a popular “backronym” (ever hear that word?) in meteorology is "Variable Intensity Rain Gradient Aloft”. (See, we learn something every day if we pay attention). Interestingly – one effect of virga can be pockets of cold air that descend rapidly, creating dry air called microbursts which can be extremely hazardous to aviation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virga
4) Run-off – When we see water running downhill we can all spot this one, right? But perhaps less-known is the fact that all the water that falls on our property doesn’t actually belong to us. According to Colorado Water Law, we can’t just use rain-barrels on our downspouts or a big catch basin to retain every possible drop. I may be selfish if I consider this run-off water “stolen” (from me), but if rain falls on my property – I’d like to keep it!

However – Colorado Water Law requires that precipitation fall to the ground, run off and into the river of the watershed where it fell. An individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. Also… the reuse of household water (gray water) is regulated by Colorado State Board of Health Guidelines. Colorado Water Law allows each customer just one use of the water before it goes down the drain, through a wastewater treatment plant and back into the river for others to use. By law, Denver Water customers are not permitted to take their bath or laundry water (“gray water”) and dump it on their outdoor plants or garden. After this water is used once by Denver Water customers, it must return to the South Platte River where it will be used seven or eight more times before it gets to the state line (Nebraska).



Cheers,
Gardener Dave

The Rhyme of the “Ancient” Gardener

The Old Gardener courtesy Brooklyn Museum

The Rhyme of the "Ancient" Gardener

Spring is coming – Hey, Hooray!
Saw my first Robin yesterday

Time to round up tools from Fall,
sharpen spades and pruners all

Find trash cans for all the clean-up
of the plants that start their green-up

Can hardly wait till April’s here,
Its warmer days are coming near

Getting Spring tools fixed is easy
It’s the other things that make me queasy

Things like getting hips and knees
to bend, and squat, and work with ease

Something I call “The Gardener’s Curse”
Ground-Level Work – there’s nothing worse!

Now, if I had been a “Snowboard Nut”
I wouldn’t have been in my Winter “rut”

I’d be all loosy-goosy jointed,
my knees and hips be well-annointed

But I preferred to take my ease
all through the Winter’s chilly breeze

Thinking of Spring and warm sun-rays,
dreaming of weather’s better days

But even if it takes some weeks
to get my “bod” to tuned-up peaks

If the ski slopes had been my gym,
I could be healing a broken limb

And that would take much time to mend
No, I’d rather stretch and stoop and bend

I’ll take my pills and Ibuprofen
and thank the Lord that nothing’s broken!

Cheers,

Gardener Dave

Is There a Bright Spot Here? by Carol King

February is a miserable month for gardeners in Front Range Colorado. It’s 60 degrees one day and 37 the next. Most warm days are too windy to be outside and even if you can there’s not much to do. It’s too early to uncover anything, maybe a little watering if you’re lucky. Mostly I just sit around and growl. Even the chores to do in the February Garden are lame.

Things like:

Clean, sharpen, and inventory your tools. Do you think someone who treats their tools this way would do that?

Plan and draw out your vegetable garden plot. I’m sorry, I’m a plunker. I plunk it where I feel like it.

Order seeds early. Let’s see: sunflowers, peas, pole beans, carrots. There that’s done.

Pick off and destroy insect eggs. Oh, Please.

Grrrrrr, dear gardener, Grrrrrr

I will take the advice of one sage about February chores: “To recover, apply cups of hot chocolate and another good catalog.”

Don't Eat Like a Bird by Carol King

Did you know, dear gardener, that February is National Bird Feeding Month? Yes, and it has been since January, 1994, when Congress passed a resolution making it so. And did you know that 1/3 of the adult population feeds wild birds in their yards? I hope you will join me in celebrating this event by putting out a feeder or two for our feathered friends. Wild birds are a very important component to our natural environment and if we don’t do something, a quarter of the world's bird species will likely be extinct or critically endangered by the end of the century, according to a new study by U.S. researchers.

The Wild Bird Center asks us to consider that:
- A typical backyard bird doesn't weigh as much as two nickels.
- Birds spend most of their waking hours searching for food -- without the help of "hands" and "fingers".
- They may consume 15% of their body weight overnight just keeping warm enough to survive.
- Like mail carriers, they're outside in sleet, snow, wind and cold.

Birds eat ALL THE TIME.

Birds are very important in the ecosystem: they eat weed seeds and harmful insects. They help in the pollination of plants, spread seeds around, and help dispose of dead animal carcasses. They also have great entertainment value. Human activities and habits have destroyed many of their natural sources of food so by providing food, water and shelter, we are helping them to survive.
Birds not only help to keep our world safe from plagues of insects and but perhaps actual plagues themselves. There is speculation that the increase in Lyme disease is a direct result of the demise of the passenger pigeon. Passenger pigeons used to occur in flocks of hundreds of millions of birds. They ate acorns. Deer mice, which harbor Lyme disease bacteria, eat acorns. Ticks get the disease from mice and infect humans. The pigeons would have limited the number by not leaving enough acorns to support a large population of deer mice thus keeping Lyme disease in check. The pigeons are all gone and the deer mice are thriving and humans get Lyme disease. See how this all works?

Feed your birds, dear gardener. But don’t eat like one.