Top 2018 New Year’s Resolutions for a Great Garden in Colorado by Carol King

Photo Wikipedia Commons

Having a thriving garden in Colorado can be a challenge with our erratic, weather, water restrictions, and heavy clay soils.  However making these seven resolutions will give you a much greater chance for a successful garden.

1. Get a soil test from a reputable soil testing lab before adding any amendments. Adding amendments without knowing what your soil needs is, at best a waste of money and at worst harmful to the soil and your plants. The Soil Testing Laboratory at Colorado State University is a great place to start: http://www.soiltestinglab.colostate.edu

2. Use mulch in the garden to suppress weeds and hold in moisture.  Mulches also improve water penetration and air movement; control soil temperature fluctuation; protect shallow-rooted plants from freeze damage and frost heave and improve soil structure and nutrient availability. This CSU fact sheet will help you choose the most appropriate mulch for your garden: http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/mulches-for-home-grounds-7-214/

Book Review: “The Flower Farmer, an Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers” by Lynn Byczynski Reviewed by: Joyce D’Agostino

Did you know that the majority of fresh cut flowers sold through the floral industry come from outside of the United States? Often this means that the flowers coming into the US for the florists shops travel very long distances, have been handled many times, cut days or weeks ago and may be exposed to herbicides and pesticides along the way.

What are “Chill Hours” (and why is this important to my fruit trees?) By Joyce D’Agostino

Golden Delicious Apples, photo courtesy Stark Bro's Nursery

If you have fruit trees in your landscape, you may have noticed that some years the trees seem to produce abundantly, other years there is less of a crop. This can be puzzling to figure out why some years are considered a ‘good fruit year’, and others are not.

Happy New Year 2018!

Great advice for all the gardeners out there. Happy New Gardening Year!

Keeping Your Poinsettia Alive for Another Christmas

Keeping your poinsettia alive for next season is actually pretty easy. Here are three great tips for doing just that from Organic Life Magazine.

It can live for more than one season: https://t.co/SWhvobRmGM

— Organic Life (@OrganicLifeMag) December 27, 2017

Christmas Tree Disposal by Carol King

Bottle Tree photo by Carol King

If you used a cut tree for your Christmas tree, chances are you are now trying to deal with disposal! There’s always the landfill of course; most trash companies pick them up without a thought. However, there are several options for your tree other than the landfill. 

Humane Society

Consider these:

• Recycle your tree. Most municipalities in the Denver area have recycling available. Contact your own city or county; many use chippers to convert trees to landscape or garden mulch. Never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace (the pitch content in the bark and needles can cause them to burst into flames from the intense heat).
• Do something whimsical: right after Christmas, move the tree outside and decorate it with popcorn, fresh cranberries, peanuts in the shell, pine cones with suet and birdseed; apples, rice cakes, dried corn bundles. Use natural string, ribbon and raffia for hanging. The birds will use this material for nesting in the spring, after the food is gone. 
• Call your favorite conservation group. They often will place trees in gullies and arroyos to slow soil erosion.
• Trim off the branches, mulch those in the garden and use the frame of the tree to create a bottle tree. Place colored bottles of all kinds on the stub ends of your tree. Put in a location to glisten in the sun and enjoy! Tradition says that bottle trees protect the home from evil spirits by trapping spirits inside the bottles, where they do no harm. 

With a little imagination, dear gardener, your tree can provide enjoyment all year: the traditional tree at Christmas; a home for birds to gather and feed, garden mulch and finally a wonderful piece of folk art created by your family.

Merry Christmas 2017!

Winter Solstice 2017!

Photo Sage Goddess

It feels like the days just can’t get any shorter, and it’s true. Today we celebrate the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. 

The 2017 December Solstice (Winter Solstice) will arrive at 9:27 am in Denver, today December 21, marking the moment that the sun shines at its most southern point (in case you are counting, the sun is about 91.473 million miles from earth today).  This day is 5 hours, 38 minutes shorter than on June Solstice. In most locations north of Equator, the shortest day of the year is around this date. To the delight of many of us, this means that the days will start getting longer, however incrementally.

United States' First Christmas Tree Farm

Ever wonder where the first "farmed Christmas tree" came from?

In 1901, a New Jersey farmer planted a crop that no one had ever thought to grow before: Christmas trees. https://t.co/l1d69VVR47

— Modern Farmer (@ModFarm) December 17, 2017

Gardening Power to the People: Avoiding Critter Damage to Your Trees in Winter Video

Rabbits and voles love to snack on the trunks of small trees in winter. This video explains four easy methods to protect your trees from their destructive nibbling.

Holiday Plant Lore: Amaryllis by Carol King

Photo by Carol King

Amaryllis bulbs are everywhere during the holiday season. As one of the easiest bulbs to force and bloom, the United States imports more than 10 million bulbs from Holland and South Africa every year to keep up with demands.  We think of amaryllis as being a winter flower because they are commonplace during the holidays but in nature the amaryllis blooms in spring and summer.

Amaryllis is the perfect gift for a gardener in your life. Greek lore tells us the flower is named after a shepherdess, Amaryllis, who was madly in love with a gardener named Alteo.  As it would be, Amaryllis’s love was unrequited.  Alteo would not love her and said that he would only love a maiden who brought him a unique flower that he had never seen before.

Amaryllis went to the Oracle of Delphi for help in winning Alteo’s heart.  She followed his advice and appeared at Alteo’s door for thirty nights, dressed in white and piercing her heart each night with a golden arrow.  Alteo did not open the door until the thirtieth night and before him stood Amaryllis with a crimson flower that had sprung from the blood of her heart. When at last he opened his door, Alteo fell in love with the maiden surrounded by beautiful Amaryllis flowers.

Easy Tricks for Pretty Treats by Carrie Garczynski

Photo by Carrie Garczynski

We all have pumpkins this time of year – either for decoration or degustation. Instead of tossing or before composting, there are a few tricks you can do to elongate your autumnal enjoyment. Not only do you have luscious pumpkin flesh to create a tasty treat, you have a perfect decorative vase for the center of your table. Decor like this can also be composted when the season is over.