Category: Plants

photos of plants

Posted on in Botany for Gardeners

Getting to the Root of the Matter

Phalenopsis orchid roots_DBG_LAH_6672We all know what roots are—they’re the part of the plant that’s usually underground. If we have a mental image, it’s probably a mass of wiggly, white strings poking their way through the soil. We should pay more attention to roots. After all, they’re an essential part of a plant (as well as the only part remaining after some hail storms!). Knowing a little about how roots work will make us more successful gardeners.

Before I get any further, I should point out that I’ll be talking about your average, every day root. Life is an amazing phenomena, so diverse that there are always exceptions. So let’s skip the orchids (left) and other epiphytes, and the mangroves and other plants with roots growing in water, and focus on our garden flowers, shrubs, and trees.

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Posted on in Gardening, Photography, Surviving Winter

Missing Spring?

Muted reds, soft blues, maize yellow—winter isn’t the monotone black, gray, and white that I expected when I moved to Colorado over twenty years ago. But even after twenty years, I still have trouble with January. Like many Colorado transplants, I grew up in California, and I miss the year-round green, the earthy smell of growing things, and the bright hues of flowers. Perhaps you do too.

Today’s post is designed to help dispel those mid-winter blahs. I offer a rainbow of colors to cheer you up and remind us all that spring is coming! (more…)

Posted on in Conservation, Green Gardening Tips

Pesticide-free? Forget It!

059 fruit @PikeMarSea LAHI was at the market picking out some grapes when a large woman ran up to me and grabbed my arm. “Don’t buy those!” She looked alarmed. “They’re not organic!”

Thankfully, I’m rarely accosted in the produce department , but I frequently hear the same lecture from many of my friends. Don’t take man-made drugs. Don’t use artificial sweeteners. Don’t eat food that isn’t organic. You’re poisoning yourself. Natural is safe. Everything else isn’t.

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Posted on in Gardening, Veggies

What to Grow?

Seed catalogs_LAH_2733January. The start of a new year. The start of a new garden. As I contemplate my empty veggie beds, I feel like a race car driver waiting at the starting line. “Gentlemen (gentlewomen?), start your engines!”

This year is truly new in another way. We moved last year, and I no longer have a my huge veggie garden. I used to have twelve, 4ˈ x 12ˈ beds, plus four 4ˈ x 4ˈ herb beds, plus a series of 2ˈ wide border beds around the entire area, ideal for pole beans, peas, and perennials (lovage, currants, berries, asparagus). Now I have two, 4ˈ x 10ˈ raised beds. Two. Well, we intended to downsize, right?

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Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping, Surviving Winter

Snowy Blankets

Snow-covered yard_NSFT_COS_LAH_9309We have a lot of snow in our front yard. It may not seem like much to those who live in Minnesota, upstate New York, or Maine, but for us here along the Front Range of the Rockies, it’s a lot of snow. Colorado is dry. Colorado is sunny. We don’t get all that much snow, and what we do get melts the next day. The “real” snow is supposed to stay up on the ski slopes, not in our front yards.

When we picked out a lot for our new house, we were thinking about a longer growing season from our south-facing backyard, the spectacular view of Pikes Peak out the living room picture windows, the warmth of sunshine filling our bedroom. We carefully oriented our house to take advantage of all these.

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Posted on in Landscaping, Plant Profiles

Colorado’s Iconic Blue Spruce

Bowman's Root and Blue Spruce_DBG_LAH_4163Colorado has a love affair with the blue spruce (Picea pungens). Perhaps we’re enamored with the striking, steel-blue tint to the needles, and the way the color causes fall’s orange leaves to glow. Perhaps we appreciate the towering, pyramidal shape of a mature tree, or the short and squat dimensions of a dwarf cultivar.

A number of gardeners I’ve talked to added a blue spruce to their yard because it’s Colorado’s state tree. Blue spruces may not be the easiest species for Front Range landscapes, but they’re definitely worth the effort.

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Posted on in Gardening

Gardening Advice: Clearing Up a Few Misconceptions

Raised bed along walkway @DBG 2008jun26 LAH 106In my recent web-browsing, I’ve come across some garden advice that made me stop, blink, and yell loudly at my screen, “No, you idiot, that’s not true!” Since I didn’t want to be the only one yelling at my computer screen, I thought I’d share some of this sage advice with you, along with what I think about it. Besides, we’re all idiots until we learn better!

Don’t throw your eggshells away. They are great for the garden in so many ways! And they’re a cheap way to make diatomaceous earth. (Bugs don’t like it)

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Posted on in Gardening, House Plants, Surviving Winter

Boozing Your Bulbs

Daffodil in snow_LAH_ 004Your knees were creaking and your back was aching, but your bulbs were now nestled in their holes, safely underground, waiting for spring. All winter, with its bare branches and mono-colored landscape, you dreamed of sunshiny daffodils, pastel hyacinths, an entire palette of tulips. Then, finally, the weather warmed and the first green leaves appeared. With mounting anticipation, you checked the daily progress of those early flowering bulbs. And then—finally!—the buds appeared, the flowers opened… and flopped over.

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Posted on in Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter

Green Leaves, Red Berries, Kinnikinnick!

arctostaphylos-uva-ursi-kinnickinnick-bearberry-csutilxeriscapegarden-9aug2006-lah166 Looking for year-round beauty and a plant that can handle a northern exposure, I planted six bearberries (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) in our front yard this summer. Also known as kinnikinnick, bearberry is a good choice for Colorado, where it is native to the foothills and mountains. So far, I’m delighted to report that the plants are thriving. In fact, I can see a few green leaves poking up through the two feet of snow we got this week!

For our front yard, I wanted some plants that would stay green all year. Picking a few conifers was easy, even without resorting to junipers (which are not among my favorites!). Hoping for some variety, I wanted broadleafed evergreens too, and there aren’t many to choose from.

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