Category: Gardening

Posted on in Gardening

Swallowtail Butterflies—and Parsley, Too

black-swallowtail_david-cappaert-michigan-state-university_5255023
Photo: David Cappaert, Michigan State University

Like an bejeweled flower, the butterfly fluttered around my garden, never stopping to rest, moving from blossom to blossom until it gently drifted over the fence. I love watching butterflies flutter by, but feeding their caterpillars is another matter. I don’t want to sacrifice any of my garden plants to hungry mandibles. In at least one case, at least, I’ve discovered a compromise.

Black Swallowtails are some of the most beautiful butterflies found in Colorado. They’re large and black with a double row of yellow spots delineating their wings, and sapphire-blue sequins at the base of  their long, pointed tails. They’re the kind of butterfly that everyone oohs and aahs over. I’m no exception.

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Posted on in Gardening

Japanese Beetle Invasion

Photo: David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org
Photo: David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org

Stunning in their metallic shades of vibrant copper and emerald green, Japanese Beetles might seem like welcome immigrants to our state. However, anyone who has lived in other parts of the country knows how destructive these voracious scourges can be. Until recently, Japanese beetles were unknown in Colorado. Unfortunately, they are now prevalent both in southern Denver and in locations along the Western Slope. It is only a matter of time before they spread southward to El Paso county. Gardeners here can prepare by learning how to identify these beetles and protect their landscapes.

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Posted on in Plant Profiles

California Gold

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California Poppy—Eschscholzia californica

With their vivid orange, saucer-shaped flowers, California poppies are familiar to anyone who has lived in the West. The showy blooms are set off by gray-green, fringed foliage that grows about six inches high. Named varieties may have double flowers, frilled petals, or come in a wide assortment of colors.

Although Colorado may lack the poppy-covered hillsides of the Golden State, these wildflowers are easy to grow here. They are not fussy about soil. Sow seeds directly into the sunny garden in early spring. Melting snow should provide plenty of moisture for germination. Watering during dry spells will keep these drought-tolerant plants blooming for several months. Although the tender plants won’t survive a Colorado winter, allowing them to self-sow will ensure plenty of flowers for next year.

California Poppies are perfect for naturalizing among native grasses or in a rock garden. Try growing them in a parking strip, or along a long driveway. They quickly fill in bare spots in a new landscape.

Posted on in Landscaping, Veggies

Eating Your Landscape

Rhubarb surrounded by dianthus in a 4x4 ft bedCrunchy, greenish tomatoes at $2.75/lb. Wilted, road-weary lettuce and limp green beans. We’re supposed to eat more veggies, but the offerings at the local supermarket aren’t very appealing. You’d like to grow some of your own food but you don’t have room for a vegetable garden. What can you do?

Try edible landscaping! While it’s traditional to sequester our food plants apart from the ornamentals, many fruit and vegetable plants are very attractive. Let fruits and vegetables take center stage in your garden, as well as in your kitchen.

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Posted on in Gardening, Plant Profiles, Weeds

Dalmation Toadflax – Linaria

linaria-toadflax-santafetrailcsco-2008oct07-lah-001More charmingly known as Butter-and-Eggs, the common name “Toadflax” applies to several similar species. All sport cheerful yellow flowers resembling snapdragons, to which they are related. Two-foot tall clumps of smooth green stems are covered with narrow, pointy leaves two and a half inches long. The flowers appear whenever growing conditions permit.

Originally imported from Eurasia as ornamentals, the plants quickly escaped cultivation and are featured on many wildflower posters. Unfortunately, Toadflaxes are now officially listed as noxious weeds. As such, it is illegal to grow them or sell their seeds.

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Posted on in Plant Profiles

Dwarf Periwinkle – Vinca minor

vinca-minor-xg-may142008-lah-001rs-1Appearance
With violet-blue blossoms scattered like stars across a field of emerald green, Dwarf Periwinkle is a popular groundcover in the Pikes Peak region. Also available in white and purple-red, these 5-petaled pinwheel-shaped flowers bring welcome color to a shady spot. The shiny leaves are arranged along stems that may reach three feet in length, but the plants are only six inches high. (Another species, V. major, gets much larger.) The stems will root wherever they touch the ground.

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Posted on in Soils

Improving Your Soil

Soil is the foundation of your garden. It pays to invest in creating the best possible soil for your plants to grow in. Living along the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains has many benefits. However, no one would move here for the black topsoil! Instead of the optimal 5% humus content, most of our soils have little or none. It’s up to us to improve on Mother Nature.

shoveling-manure-home-plhYou can easily increase the percentage of organic matter in your soil by adding compost or another organic amendment. This added humus will act as a sponge, increasing water retention in sandy soils. On the other hand, in clay it acts to improve drainage by increasing the size of air and water spaces. Plus, organic matter works with your fertilizer by holding nutrients in a form that is available for absorption by roots. As you can see, organic matter is an important component of healthy soil.

It’s best not to add too much organic material at once. Many organic amendments are based on manure, and could contain harmful amounts of salt, as well as weed seeds. Plus, the nitrogen in fresh manure can burn tender roots. Make sure to let manures age before adding them to your garden. Decomposition requires nitrogen. Any form of organic matter that isn’t completely decomposed will steal that essential element from your plants.

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Posted on in Gardening, Soils

Dirt

Dirt is fascinating. Oh, I know, you’re thinking of the dirt you wash out of your clothes, or off your car. I don’t find that kind of dirt very exciting at all. But the dirt in a garden is a whole ’nother story!

life-in-soil-exhibit-desertmuseumtucsonaz-2009-03-23-991rsActually, dirt is just one component of what gardeners prefer to call “soil.” Rocks weather and break down into smaller rocks, pebbles, gravel, and finally sand and silt. These tiny particles mix with organic matter—decomposing plants and animals—called “humus.” Then there’s air, and water. Add in weed seeds, worms, bugs, and a huge variety of microorganisms, and you have the living stuff in which we plant our gardens.

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Posted on in Gardening, Seed Starting, Veggies

Peas & Carrots

Peas and carrots are a classic couple in the kitchen, but what about the garden?

Normally, peas are sown in early spring. The traditional date is St. Patrick’s Day. While that may work in gentler climes, at 7,000 ft. elevation I would need a drill to create holes in my frozen ground. I usually plant a month later, on Tax Day. At least it gives me something to enjoy on that date.

This year, weekly snowstorms have delayed all my gardening chores. I finally got my peas into the ground on May 6. I don’t have great expectations for the harvest. Maybe we’ll have a cool start to the summer, and my husband will get to enjoy his Sugar Snaps. Maybe not. That’s the gamble of gardening in Colorado.

carrots-csu-lah-058Carrots, on the other hand, are usually planted a week or two before the average last frost date. The cool temperatures and snow-damp soil help keep the seeds from drying out during the three weeks it takes them to germinate.

This year, I sowed carrots on the same day as the peas. At least they’re right on schedule. I took the time to arrange the seeds in blocks of 16 per square foot, so I won’t have much thinning to do later. In my 4 x 4 foot carrot bed, that gives me 256 carrots—plenty for our needs.

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Posted on in Landscaping, Xeriscape

Xeriscape: Which Grass?

Now that you know why you want a lawn, and how big it should be, it’s time to consider what type of grass to grow.

Bluegrass
Lawn_UplandIN_20090615_LAH_3607Kentucky Bluegrass still reigns supreme for a turf that can stand up to hard use. It spreads via runners, so it quickly fills in holes. (But beware. Those same runners have a tendency to wind up in the adjacent flower beds.) If you have children and/or dogs, this is probably your best choice.

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